Come 2018, Saudi Arabia says a
ban on cinemas will be lifted as the conservative kingdom confirms that the
first cinemas were likely to open early next year.
"As the industry regulator,
the General Commission for Audiovisual Media has started the process for
licensing cinemas in the Kingdom. We expect the first cinemas to open in March
2018", Minister of Culture and Information Awwad bin Saleh Alawwad said in
a statement.
The ban was made in the 1980s in
response to Islamist extremism and as recently as January the possibility of
lifting it was was still being dismissed by leading clerics.
The rules on film screenings have
been relaxed in recent weeks with some screenings taking place as a precursor
to the official lifting of the ban, according to Gulf News.
Religious hardliners see cinemas
as a threat to cultural identity and was considered one of the 'red lines' that
were not to be overturned - alongside women driving; a situation that was
reversed in September 2017.
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