RIYADH: The head of the main film festival in Saudi Arabia, where cinemas are banned, wants the government to invest in the sector as part of its campaign to encourage entertainment.
Ahmed AlMulla made the comments in an interview with AFP ahead of the fourth Saudi Film Festival, which runs from March 23-28 in the Gulf coastal city of Dhahran.
This year’s festival is the first since the kingdom late last year began a cautious push to introduce entertainment, despite opposition from conservative groups.
Among the events on offer for Saudi spectators have been the New York theatrical group iLuminate, the Comic-Con pop culture festival, and WWE wrestling.
“It’s nice to see all kinds of events here and people coming from outside,” AlMulla said.
But local talent needs to be trained, with support from the government, he said in a telephone interview.
“I think they must” fund it, he said, “because this is investment, the real investment.”
Among directors of the 59 Saudi films to be screened at this year’s festival are some who trained overseas, he said.
Saudi Arabia has created a government agency to support private firms organizing entertainment events, under a wideranging “Vision 2030” plan for economic and social reform.
The plan also calls for development of an arts and media industry, but with public theaters and cinemas banned, the sector is starting from a low base.
“We are waiting for the change, really. We want to create it from inside, not hosting events only,” AlMulla said.
“We have lots of talent working underground and nobody knows about them.”
Despite the annual film festival, Saudi Arabia lacks a film industry although female students can study filmmaking at a women’s university in Jeddah.
Saudi films have also won international recognition.
The romantic comedy “Barakah Meets Barakah” by Mahmoud Sabbagh was screened at last year’s Berlinale, and in 2013 Haifaa Al-Mansour’s “Wadjda” became the first Saudi film listed as a candidate for a foreign-language Oscar.
Saudis are voracious consumers of online videos and rank among the world’s top viewers of YouTube.
Private film screenings are also held in the kingdom, but Saudi Arabia’s highest-ranking cleric warned in January of the “depravity” of cinemas and music concerts.
This is the third consecutive annual film festival after it resumed in 2015 following an absence of seven years.
The event is organized by Dammam’s Society of Culture and Arts, and last year went ahead with permission from the local government.
AlMulla says this year’s festival will be bigger than ever, even though he laughs off a question about how it will be financed.
“We’ll arrange for that,” he says, adding that some sponsors have been found.
The festival moves this year from cramped quarters at the arts society to larger grounds near a new cultural center run by Saudi state oil giant Aramco.
The indoor and outdoor screening areas can hold almost 2,000 people.
Aside from the new venue, this year’s festival will feature a “production market” where filmmakers can meet with local production houses “to make deals,” AlMulla said.
The festival is also increasing its public education effort.
Students will be brought in to watch children’s films, local and international experts will hold panel discussions, and the festival is to issue a book on late Japanese filmmaker Akira Kurosawa.
The number of films and scripts vying for competition has increased but fewer applicants were accepted for screening in an effort to raise quality, AlMulla said.
The festival opens with a drama that resonates as the kingdom’s efforts to expand entertainment face resistance from conservatives.
“Wasati” directed by Ali Alkalthami is based on the true story of extremists trying to disrupt a play at a university theater in Riyadh 10 years ago.
Saudi film fest head says cinema needs state funding
Saudi film fest head says cinema needs state funding
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‘Cake not hate’ campaign becomes ‘Dates not hate’ in Madinah
LONDON: A British autistic and non-verbal boy who has been visiting UK mosques and distributing cakes to promote solidarity amid an increase in far-right support in the country has taken his message of love to Madinah.
Joshua Harris, or “The Joshie-Man” as the 12-year-old is known to his social media fans, has handed out hundreds of his baked goods to worshipers at mosques in major British cities over the last few months.
The “Cake not hate” campaign came about after an Islamophobic attack on a mosque in his home city of Peterborough in October 2025.
Harris and his father visited Masjid Darassalaam, the mosque that was targeted, with cakes that the boy had baked and distributed them to the congregation soon after the attack. Since then, Harris has visited dozens of mosques in the UK.
On a recent trip to the Middle East, he and his father visited Madinah. In a local twist that pays tribute to the holy city’s famous date varieties including ajwa and ambar, Harris handed out dates to people in the courtyard of the Prophet’s Mosque. The “Cake not hate” campaign became “Dates not hate” for Saudi Arabia.
“He was greeted really, really warmly. There were some really touching moments where people were kissing his hands and his head. It was really lovely,” his father, Dan Harris, said.
Dan, the founder of global charity Neurodiversity in Business, said being in Madinah exposed him to the true diversity of Islam.
“We met people from all around the world. It was amazing. It’s like the United Nations there, you get people from different countries and it just goes to show you that the Muslim community, or the Ummah more generally, is not a homogeneous group,” he said.
“We saw people from Tajikistan and Uzbekistan and it was really interesting for us.”
Dan said his visit to Madinah, considered the second holiest city in Islam after Makkah for Muslims, was “profound and life-changing.”
He added: “I would say it’s my favourite city in the world due to the peace and tranquillity I felt there.”
Dan added that he was very impressed by Saudi hospitality: “Everywhere we went, people were taking down my number and insisting that we come for dinner, insisting they pick us up from the location. They were extremely attentive to Joshie as well, making sure his needs were met. We felt a great sense of welcome, something Saudi Arabia is known for.”
