JEDDAH, 22 May 2008 — The auditorium of the Saudi Society of Arts and Culture in Dammam was filled with more than 650 viewers in the men’s section Tuesday night attending the opening of the first annual “Saudi Film Competition.” Also in attendance was Minister of Culture and Information Iyad Madani.
“It certainly was a big success,” said festival manager and poet Ahmad Al-Mulla when he described Tuesday’s opening ceremony that launched the five-day film festival.
Women have also been invited to attend and have been provided a separate hall.
The festival is screening 54 Saudi movies, 34 of them are competing for the SR10,000 Golden Palm award, which will be awarded in two categories: best short film and best documentary. Thirteen movie scripts are also competing in the best screenplay category.
Pioneer Saudi filmmaker Abdullah Al-Mohaisen, who has been making movies since the 1970s was honored during the opening ceremony.
“My movies have been shown all over the world and I have been honored at foreign festivals, but this time it feels different because I’m being recognized here in my country,” he said.
Madani said in his opening remarks that despite the fact that Saudi cinema might still be questioned by some, he hopes that Saudi directors through their movies present Saudi society in a way that does not alienate people.
The Dammam Literary Club with the cooperation of the Saudi Society of Arts is organizing the festival.
There have been smaller and more informal movie screenings in recent years, but this competition marks the first time Saudi filmmakers not only received official blessings but also funding.
Renowned Saudi director Abdullah Al-Eyaf called this festival “the most important event in the history of Saudi cinema.”
He also said that screening his movies in a government-run establishment would boost their legitimacy and shelter them from unwelcoming remarks or actions by the anti-movie crowd. “If anyone has any objections they can simply present it to the ministry,” Al-Eyaf said. “I’m very optimistic that such competitions are paving the way for having movie theaters in the Kingdom in the very near future.”
Sources told Arab News that the four members of the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice were present at the ceremony and objected to the presence of women reporters in the men’s section and complained about the playing of music.
The sources said the festival management addressed these objections quietly and without fuss. Al-Mulla did not directly comment on the Commission members’ objections but said that everyone was welcome to attend the event.
The festival has a website: http://saudifilmc.com and a YouTube channel (http://www.youtube.com/saudifilmc) where scenes of the event can be seen.
