"The festival is a first step to introduce the Saudi cinema and promote a cinematic culture," Ahmed al-Mulla, the chairman of the organizing committee, told IslamOnline.net.

The five-day festival, to be inaugurated on May 20, is sponsored by the state-run Dammam Literary Club and underwritten by the Saudi Society of Arts and Culture.

Prizes will be awarded in three categorize: short narrative, documentary and screenplay."So far we have sixty documentaries and 10 screenplays," Mulla said.
Planned as an annual event, the festival will see the participation of film critics from the region for the first time in Saudi Arabia.

Mulla noted that films from other Gulf and Arab states will be screened on the sideline of the festival.

He added that films will be screened in two separate halls to allow both men and woman a chance to watch.

There is no cinema industry in Saudi Arabia and cinemas and theaters are non-existent.

There have been, however, small and informal movie screenings in private clubs and cafes in recent years.

A 2007 Saudi documentary, Cinema 500 km, featured a young Saudi who crosses borders to see a film in a cinema for the first time.

Debate

The festival organizers hope the event will be the first step for a national cinema industry.

"In fact, we need more than just one film festival a year," Mulla said.

Mamdouh Salem, a movie director and critic, sees no contradiction between the conservative nature of the Saudi society and the cinema.

"Cinema is one important tool to represent our culture to the world," he told IOL.

Salem sees the festival as a good start to support Saudi actors and filmmakers who do not have a foothold in their own country.

Despite reservations of pro-conservatives, Saudis have started producing movies in recent years.

Entertainment company Rotana, owned by billionaire Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, produced in 2006 the first full-length Saudi film.

The social comedy, Keif Al-Hal, was directed by Saudi Arabia's first female director.

But the movie was done in the United Arab Emirate and curious Saudis had to travel to neighboring countries to watch it.

Yet, the unprecedented film festival is not controversy-free.

"The festival is nothing more than a publicity stunt," says Mohammed al-Munkari, a writer.

He argues that the Dammam Literary Club should have found better things to sponsor with public money.

"There are other cultural activities that are more appropriate to spend our money on."

Late last year, the Shura Council debated a proposal to allow cinemas in the kingdom.

One camp backed proposals to build movie theaters while the other dismissed them as inappropriate in the homeland of Islam.

Saudi Arabia is home to two of Islam's three holiest shrines. Millions of Muslims from the four corners of the globe flock to the kingdom year long to visit them.


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