His new movie “Monopoly,” which was released last Wednesday, has been already seen by more than half a million viewers and circulated by a huge audience who applauded the movie.
“Monopoly” tackles the issue of the housing problem in Saudi Arabia. All characters in the short movie of 22 minutes talk about the issue of housing and the problem they face with the rising cost of rent. The movie starts with a Saudi man, Al-Qahtani, who lives in his van on the beach. In the morning, he wakes up, makes wudu (ablution) using seawater and then cooks his breakfast.
Al-Qahtani cannot afford a house nor to get married. Despite that, he says that he is one of the few lucky ones who get to live wherever they want. He can spend a few days on the beach and later in a luxury neighborhood.
In his free time, he uses his van as a cinema for the kids. He charges SR5 for each kid to watch a movie and at the same time, he hires Saudis to help him, believing in the Saudization process.
The movie then talks about Abdul Majeed Al-Kinani, who decided to migrate to Brazil to escape from the rising cost of rent. Al-Kinani chose to coach a Brazilian team, sarcastically aiming at introducing Saudi football to countries like Brazil. He says that he has tried to earn a living by teaching the Samba dance, but he could not. He lives in an underdeveloped neighborhood in Brazil, where he built a house without land deed ownership.
Like many other Saudis, Al-Kinani waits for the housing loan of SR500,000 that would enable him to buy an apartment for SR600,000. Currently, he is saving SR100,000 to make up the difference before he returns to the Kingdom.
The movie continues with a group of four young Saudis living in a small room and sharing one problem: The rising cost of housing. One of the four is a doctor who has not been able to get married for two years because he has not been capable of saving money from his SR6,000 monthly salary. He cannot rent an apartment for SR30,000 a year.
Toward the end of the movie, Al-Qahtani’s marriage proposal is rejected. Al-Kinani has been deported from Brazil after his visa ended. Later he migrates to Colombia, where he becomes a drug dealer.
The doctor has postponed his marriage for two more years. An engineer, one of the four living in the room, has been fired from his job and has applied for government aid. At the very end, the four Saudis are asked to leave the room because of an increase in the rent. Al-Qahtani, however, welcomes the four Saudis to live in his van.
The movie calls for taxing empty land, so businessmen would sell their lands for housing to solve the problem.
Watch here:
