A film festival took place in Riyadh this week- and sights of women and men in a theatre brought about a sentiment for residents of the city. Cinemas were banned since the 1970s, due to religiouc clerics’ belief on it. 

The rare movie night, according to YahooNews!, was a ‘precursor’ to the long- awaited formal lift of Saudi’s ban on cinemas.

This is exciting stuff. 

As Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman’s part of Vision 2030, cinemas are expected to return to the Kingdom 

Following the lift of the ban on women driving, authorities in the Kingdom left a few hints that cinemas could soon return to Saudi Arabia as part of the already- succesful reforms leading up to Vision 2030. 

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YahooNews spoke to Faisal AlHarbi, director of the “National Dialogue” where he said “cinema is like the soul of Saudi society” – during the screening in RIyadh’s King Fahd Cultural Centre. 

“It makes people see reality, a reflection of their own lives on screen.”

The hall was segregated by gender during the free screening

Everyone was in high spirits, and there were even food trucks parked outside the theatre hall. It is expected that when cinemas arrive to the Kingdom, that it’s going to be received well.