It may have been one of the world's most watched film openings, even though the theatre had a capacity for just 1,300 people. When Rotana, the Saudi-owned media conglomerate, rented out a cultural centre in Jeddah last month to debut its new comedy, Manahi, the lines stretched around the block and ticket demand was so high they had to add extra showings after midnight. But the eyes on the eight-day screening included many more than just those peering through the darkness at the makeshift movie screen.
As the first feature film to be shown in public in the kingdom since ultraconservative Wahhabi clerics banned cinemas in the 1970s, Manahi was regarded by many in the film industry as the first sign of a thaw in Saudi's strict cultural regulations on the medium - and therefore the first reason to believe that the Gulf's largest market might soon be open to theatrical exhibition. "It's very good advancement for Saudi Arabia," says Ayman Halawani, the general manager of film production for Rotana. "I was there at the opening, and it was a lot like a movie theatre. We even bought popcorn for the kids."
The screening of Manahi was the result of much political jockeying by Rotana, which is owned by the Saudi media mogul, Prince Alwaleed bin Talal. Mr Halawani said it was a matter of getting the approval of the Ministry of Information and the Jeddah municipality, which is part of the province of Makkah. Agence France-Presse reported that it also required the support of Prince Khalid Al Faisal, the governor of Makkah, himself a poet and supporter of the arts.
"The movie didn't have anything the Saudi public or regulators would object to," Mr Halawani says. "It was a movie from Saudi Arabia, and I believe they wanted to support that." These two arguments of morally benign content and cultural pride were put forward by Mr Halawani to justify the 2006 production, Keif al Hal (How are you?), which Rotana touted as the first big-budget Saudi film. It debuted in Cannes, where Mr Halawani told the BBC that he hoped, over time, to change the Saudi government's mind about allowing cinema. One of his strongest arguments in favour of lifting the ban is economic.
"Right now, 20 to 40 per cent of revenue from Arabic films comes from theatrical revenue," he says. "A country like Saudi Arabia would have about 500 to 1,000 theatres, and that's more than what is in the Gulf and Egypt combined. So... in the future, that would double our revenues." Higher revenues from theatrical releases mean more money to spend on production and, ultimately, better films for Arabic-language speakers to watch, he argues.
Such a scenario has attracted the attention of film industry executives in the Gulf, particularly in the UAE, where the film industry has been growing rapidly in the past few years. Earlier this week, Imagenation Abu Dhabi, the billion-dollar film fund subsidiary of the Abu Dhabi Media Company (ADMC), launched a division dedicated to making films based on stories from the Middle East, using regional talent. ADMC owns The National.
Edward Borgerding, the chief executive at Imagenation, welcomed the news that Saudi Arabia's restrictions on cinema may be easing. "It would clearly have a big impact on the film industry because it's the biggest market in the GCC," he said. "If you were able to generate revenue out of that market, obviously it would be a lot more revenue than any other country if your films were successful. So you would be able to spend more money on producing a higher quality of film."
Already, Imagenation has benefited from Saudi Arabia's gradual opening to the film industry. Last week, it presented the world premier of Journey To Mecca, co-produced by its partner, National Geographic Films, which featured the first large-screen shots ever taken of Islam's holiest site, the Grand Mosque, and the first large-screen aerial shots of the Haj. At the press conference announcing the premiere, the film-makers said they hoped their work would help to bridge the gap between western and Middle-Eastern cultures and one day remove Saudi Arabia's restrictions on cinema.
"We hope that this film, Journey to Mecca, will help to open up the possibility of cinema in Saudi Arabia," said Dominic Cunningham-Reid, the chairman of Cosmic Picture, the film's producer. "We are working to open up the possibility that maybe this film will be shown in Riyadh, for example. That's a very important goal for us." In fact, Imax films have quietly broken through the cinema ban. For the past year the Sultan Bin Abdulaziz Science and Technology Center in Al Khobar has been showing the large-format films, according to Jonathan Barker, the president and chief executive of SK Films, a large-format film company. Journey to Mecca is also scheduled to screen there.
"When the museum was built, I think that the feeling was because it's a science museum, it's not really a cinema," Mr Barker says. "And because the content is about science and nature, it's not like dramatic movies." Other small signs of change have accrued in recent years. Last year saw the first annual Saudi Film Competition at the Saudi Arabian Society of Arts and Culture in Dammam. Considered a success, the event packed more than 650 people into the men's section and also invited women to attend, sitting in a separate hall. It was organised by the Dammam Literary Club in conjunction with the Saudi Society of Arts.
There have also been short documentaries and more informal screenings in recent years, in addition to the rise of films shown on satellite television and bought on DVD. However, to watch a film in a theatre, Saudis had to travel to neighbouring countries such as Bahrain and the UAE. Abdullah al Eyaf, the director of Cinema 500km, about Saudi people's forbidden love of film said the cinema manager in Bahrain shown in his film claimed that until Saudi audiences started flocking to his theatre a decade ago, it didn't make any money.
Nezar Nagro, the president of Rotana Media Services, the Dubai-based arm of Rotana in charge of advertising and value-added services, believes the Gulf film industry still has a way to go before it makes a dent in the larger Middle East market. "The Gulf is still a small market," he said. "It's not ready for cinema. But soon I think producing movies for the Gulf will become very important. It was the same with songs. Before it was Egyptian songs. Today we have Gulf songs - the melody, the composer, it's especially for the Gulf. I think the same will be for cinema."
khagey@thenational.ae
