{"id":2198,"date":"2017-12-12T04:02:56","date_gmt":"2017-12-12T05:02:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/madaresharghi.com\/saudi-arabia-says-it-will-allow-cinemas-to-operate-for-the-first-time-in-decades\/"},"modified":"2017-12-12T04:02:56","modified_gmt":"2017-12-12T05:02:56","slug":"saudi-arabia-says-it-will-allow-cinemas-to-operate-for-the-first-time-in-decades","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/madaresharghi.ir\/en\/saudi-arabia-says-it-will-allow-cinemas-to-operate-for-the-first-time-in-decades\/","title":{"rendered":"Saudi Arabia says it will allow cinemas to operate for the first time in decades"},"content":{"rendered":"

madaresharghi<\/a>
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Saudi Arabia said Monday that it would allow cinemas to operate in the strictly conservative kingdom for the first time in decades, in the latest sign of a broader government push to relax some social restrictions.<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n
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\n\tIn a statement, the Saudi Ministry of Culture and Information said the process of licensing commercial movie theaters \u2014 banned since the early 1980s \u2014 was underway and the first theaters would open early next year, washingtonpost.com reported.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe move is part of a social and economic reform program led by Saudi Arabia\u2019s 32-year-old Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who is increasingly at the helm of the kingdom\u2019s planning even though his father, King Salman, remains the ultimate authority.<\/p>\n

\n\tUnder the crown prince, officials have recently announced they would end a ban on women driving, allow public concerts and curb the authority of \u2018religious police\u2019 tasked with enforcing the country\u2019s strict social codes.<\/p>\n

\n\tBut Saudi Arabia has also arrested hundreds of business executives, princes and former government officials as part of an anti-corruption drive that also appeared aimed at consolidating the crown prince\u2019s authority as well as filling the state\u2019s coffers.<\/p>\n

\n\tWhile the changes have been broadly welcomed by young Saudis as long overdue, they have risked angering ultraconservatives, including powerful clerics who give the monarchy legitimacy to rule over Islam\u2019s holiest sites.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe limits of the crown prince\u2019s reforms reflect this delicate balancing act. So far, the social shifts have not included any broadening of political freedoms in Saudi Arabia or the repeal of \u2018guardianship\u2019 laws that require women to gain the consent of a male relative to travel abroad or work.<\/p>\n

\n\tYet the arrests over the last few months have included some influential clerics as well as government opponents \u2014 suggesting the crown prince could be testing how much the religious establishment will push back.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe emerging model in Saudi Arabia \u2014 of diversifying the economy and encouraging social reforms, rather than political liberalization \u2014 follows the example of the United Arab Emirates, a neighboring state that has emerged as the Saudi leadership\u2019s closest regional ally. Still, Saudi Arabia is unlikely to follow the UAE in allowing the consumption of alcohol and free mingling of genders, for instance.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tAwwad Alawwad, the Saudi minister of culture and information, called the return of movie theaters \u201ca watershed moment in the development of the cultural economy of the kingdom,\u201d according to the government statement.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe opening of cinemas also clears the way for a potentially huge market for foreign investors, according to John Fithian, president of the Washington-based National Association for Theater Owners, which led a delegation that met with Saudi officials before the announcement Monday.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cThis could be a billion-dollar market down the road\u201d and employ more than 20,000 people, Fithian said in an interview last week. Companies from the United Arab Emirates as well as the United States were bidding for a slice of the anticipated windfall, he said.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tBut there are also regulatory and logistical issues ahead. They include how strictly men and women would be segregated in the new theaters, and what kind of films would be permitted. The Saudi authorities heavily censor film content on TV, including love scenes, women\u2019s bodies or scenes that depict alcohol or drug use.<\/p>\n

\n\tSaudi officials have also discussed plans to better support the kingdom\u2019s indigenous film industry. Saudi filmmakers have produced several critically acclaimed features in recent years, including the feature-length \u2018Wadjda,\u2019 but they have been overshadowed by more seasoned and better-supported regional competitors, including Egyptian, Palestinian and Iranian filmmakers.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

madaresharghi Saudi Arabia said Monday that it would allow cinemas to operate in the strictly conservative kingdom for the first time in decades, in the latest sign of a broader government push to relax some social restrictions. In a statement, the Saudi Ministry of Culture and Information said the process of licensing commercial movie theaters […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[8],"tags":[296,118,28,31,159,639,178,56,213,84,95,82,68,22,23,27],"yoast_head":"\nSaudi Arabia says it will allow cinemas to operate for the first time in decades - madaresharghi | An Analytical Look at Middle Eastern Developments<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/madaresharghi.ir\/en\/saudi-arabia-says-it-will-allow-cinemas-to-operate-for-the-first-time-in-decades\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Saudi Arabia says it will allow cinemas to operate for the first time in decades - madaresharghi | An Analytical Look at Middle Eastern Developments\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"madaresharghi Saudi Arabia said Monday that it would allow cinemas to operate in the strictly conservative kingdom for the first time in decades, in the latest sign of a broader government push to relax some social restrictions. 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