So, as mentioned in my last post, there are no cinemas in Saudi Arabia!
However, during a press conference held this past August, cultural official Fahd Al-Tamimi stated that the chief reason behind the absence of cinemas in the country is because of the misconceptions investors and shareholders have about the government placing a ban on the establishment of cinemas. When in fact, it doesn’t (source: Arab News).
The fact that the average Saudi investor bears such misconceptions could be due to the wave of religious austerity and conservatism* the country experienced in the late 1970s, such that conservative officials shut down the few cinemas, and possibly other recreational facilities, established at the time as a result.
 |
| Screenshot from Uturn’s Nmkosaur (Season 1, episode 17) ‘The Global Saudi Arabia’. Presenter Anmar Rodieny briefly mentioning the existence of a cinema in the City of Jeddah in the late 1970s. |
Nonetheless, 30 or so years later, Al-Tamimi reassuringly states that there is no such thing as a ‘ban’ against cinemas and instead encourages investors and business owners to start taking action.
Arguably, the absence of a national film culture and industry, in addition to the country’s conservatism, took its toll on the content broadcast on television, which was the main source of audio visual content before the introduction of the internet in the year 2000.
Moreover, in an essay titled, ‘The Social Motives for YouTube Production and Consumption in Saudi Arabia’ by Hassan Jannah, Saudi scholar Mai Yamani states that as ‘... young people are denied recreational opportunities such as cinemas, clubs, and concerts, and must conform to strict gender segregation in all public spaces, television and computer screens become their main attraction’ (source: Jannah, 2014)
Generally speaking, an imbalance was developed between national entertainment content (excluding news and current affairs, public service broadcasting, religious programmes, etc), and the abundance of imported foreign content being broadcast on Saudi television. Such that the content imported happened to surpass national content in terms of quantity, quality, relevance and audience preference.
For instance, the MBC (MENA region’s largest privately owned broadcaster), constantly broadcasts a combination of Western, Asian, and Arab content. Some of its channels are hence dedicated solely to foreign content such as MBC Bollywood, a channel that broadcasts Indian films and television programmes, as well as MBC2 and MBC MAX, both of which broadcast 24 hour Western (mainly US) movies.
Moreover, in an essay titled, ‘The Social Motives for YouTube Production and Consumption in Saudi Arabia’ by Hassan Jannah, Saudi scholar Mai Yamani states that as ‘... young people are denied recreational opportunities such as cinemas, clubs, and concerts, and must conform to strict gender segregation in all public spaces, television and computer screens become their main attraction’ (source: Jannah, 2014)
Generally speaking, an imbalance was developed between national entertainment content (excluding news and current affairs, public service broadcasting, religious programmes, etc), and the abundance of imported foreign content being broadcast on Saudi television. Such that the content imported happened to surpass national content in terms of quantity, quality, relevance and audience preference.
For instance, the MBC (MENA region’s largest privately owned broadcaster), constantly broadcasts a combination of Western, Asian, and Arab content. Some of its channels are hence dedicated solely to foreign content such as MBC Bollywood, a channel that broadcasts Indian films and television programmes, as well as MBC2 and MBC MAX, both of which broadcast 24 hour Western (mainly US) movies.
MBC2's 'Once Upon a Time' Commercial; bringing iconic film characters into the Arab World.
Here’s where the ‘restlessness’ part comes in.
One reason for this phenomenon could arguably be attributed to the fact that all major national television networks are state-owned and centralised, with almost all television studios and industries being solely located in the capital city of Riyadh. Hence being regulated, controlled by and/or closely affiliated with the government.
In an interview with Reuters, Abdullah Mando (one of Uturn's founding fathers) stated that ‘traditional media companies ... create content that is disconnected from reality’. Such that government-owned television networks tend to portray rather idealised or exaggerated visions of Saudi life. Hence generating content that can be deemed irrelevant or far-fetched. This often tends to fail to appeal to the country’s youth; of which happen to form a large portion of the population (source: Reuters).
Moreover, in an essay titled ‘The Social Motives for YouTube Production and Consumption in Saudi Arabia’ by Hassan Jannah, it is mentioned that diversity among Saudi audiences in terms of regional, social and religious backgrounds tend to influence taste and content preferences. Given that, as of 2013, 90% of Saudi households have been reported to have access to either satellite or digital TV, of which grants them access to an abundance of foreign content as a substitute to the national entertainment content being broadcast (source: Jannah, 2014).
So, by putting two and two together:
The restlessness grew to a point in which change was to occur sooner or later.
In fact, in an online interview with Wamda (a Middle Eastern platform for entrepreneurs), Abdullah Mando was asked about what personally inspired him to start the company and what he planned to achieve. In this clip, he mentions his restlessness with the lack of content in the media he was consuming.
In fact, in an online interview with Wamda (a Middle Eastern platform for entrepreneurs), Abdullah Mando was asked about what personally inspired him to start the company and what he planned to achieve. In this clip, he mentions his restlessness with the lack of content in the media he was consuming.
The full interview can be seen here.
A couple of years later, Uturn Entertainment published a video titled 'About Us' followed by the hashtag #Yes_You, in which they mention the motives for starting Uturn, as well as sending out a call for action for viewers to take part in the movement and create their own content.
Uturn's About Us video, (NB subtitles available in video settings).
Audiences were growing restless and there was a growing desire for content that was meaningful, relevant and reflective of the lives of the viewers watching it. This desire became even more apparent when original quality Saudi content, in the form of the pilot episode of 3al6ayer, was first published on YouTube and suddenly went viral. Consequently, increasing audience demand for like-minded content, as well as encouraging a new wave of content makers, writers, producers, artists, etc. to get online and start contributing.
A video which was produced and distributed by a group of restless youths with smartphones and cameras that took the first step in this venture.
 |
| The infamous group of restless youths with smartphones and cameras. |
To conclude, in an interview with Reuters, Joe Khalil, professor of Communications at Northwestern University in Qatar and author of Arab Television Industries, described online content production as a ‘do-it-yourself type of media’, or in other words, a type of User-Generated Content (UGC), such that it enables the viewers and consumers themselves to become the producers and vice-versa (source: Reuters).
In this case, the spread of UGC became more than a simple form of entertainment; it meant that the youth of the nation were taking charge of the media by utilising the resources available to create their own, of which so happens to be the first of its kind in mainstream Saudi media.
Stay tuned for more :)
----
* To clarify, conservatism in terms of Saudi media refers to a shying away from content that goes against the religious/political status quo, provocative scenes/content that are deemed too sexual/intimate, etc. (Jannah, 2014).
As an afterthought, being a Saudi Media Student myself, I am very happy that I can now watch content I actually relate to. I grew up watching Western Films & TV because it was the most appealing thing on television, so being able to finally watch programmes about people like me, that even speak in the same dialect as me means more to me than I can say.
So much in fact, that I'll just leave you here with a picture of my reaction when all these programmes started appearing.
 |
