Night at the Movies

Big News! The first movie theatre in Saudi Arabia since the early 1980’s opened in Riyadh last month, causing much excitement among Saudis and expats alike. AMC secured a deal be the first cinema company in operation in the kingdom. Until the permanent facility is constructed, the cinema has a temporary home in an auditorium located in the King Abdullah Financial District downtown. The first screening, Black Panther, was invitation-only and the theatre did not open to the public until the following week, debuting the new Avengers movie, Infinity War. My teaching buddy is a movie buff. So much so, that he flies to Bahrain regularly just to be able to go to the cinemas there and see the new releases. Obviously he was thrilled to be  able to secure 3 tickets online and so Justin and I were able to be among some of the first to experience the Riyadh cinema.

Because the financial district is typically not open to the public in general, parking and security

attendants were placed in the traffic lanes surrounding the building and we had to pull over and show our online ticket stubs before being allowed to enter the parking lot. We were then given wristbands and allowed into the parking garage. You got the immediate feeling that this a big deal, as upon parking our car in the garage and walking inside the building, we passed no less than 14 attendants, in suit jackets and ties, greeting us and pointing us in the direction of the theatre. There was a small concession stand, offering water, soda, and either butter or caramel popcorn. Another set of attendants was also handing out complimentary bags of Lays potato chips upon entering the theatre, and marking on your wristband that you had in fact received said chips. Because the theatre is actually a business convention or lecture hall, the floor had a gentle slope from the back of the room to the front. And while the seats didn’t recline, they did come with fold out tables, originally designed for taking notes during a business meeting, but which doubled as excellent table tops for drinks and popcorn.

Because we had no idea what the traffic or seating situation would be like, we wound up arriving almost an hour before the film was scheduled to start. However, the theatre quickly filled up with both young and old couples, some children, and even some groups of young women. As I looked around the gradually filling theatre, I noticed young women wearing their abayas unzipped and several women with their niqabs flipped back and eating popcorn. One young man even walked in wearing a cosplay-style Thanos hand. There was a general buzz and excitement filling the room.
Finally the previews started, and far unlike the 15 minutes of previews one must sit through in the US, this time there were only 3, and they lasted no more than 5 minutes. The first shot was a clip from the 60 Minutes interview with the Crown Prince. He was quoted reminding the interviewer, that back in the 70’s, Saudi Arabia was “like any other country,” with women working, women driving, and movie theatres everywhere. The next clip was a “History of Film and Cinema” piece that offered a moving timeline of major accomplishments in the film industry, making note of significant Saudi filmmakers, and ending with a note that said something to the effect of, “the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, now continuing to make history in film,” and presumably referring to the re-emergence of cinema in the Kingdom. The last and final spot was a Coca-Cola commercial, featuring a father in thobe, getting out of the driver’s seat of his car and handing the car keys to his teen-aged daughter. The father then sits in the passenger seat and cringes in a fatherly way as his daughter attempts to jerkily drive the car. Finally, with the help of Coca-Cola she is able to do so successfully. I thought this was an incredibly and cool commercial and I felt like I was watching something really important happen.

Then we settled in to the almost 3-hour movie, and while there may have been one or two kissing

scenes that were cut from the film, the audience was incredibly fun. They laughed at every joke, (especially a Jesus one!) they booed when the bad guys got an advantage, they cheered when a good guy had a leg up, and they clapped at almost every small victory in the plot. It was so fun! I’ve never experienced such an engaged, happy audience during a movie before.

It was definitely a cool experience and I’m glad we were able to be there for one of the first screenings. Since there is only one screen and theatre at the moment, we may have to wait a while until the next showing comes out. But this was not only fun to experience but also a significant step towards progress that we were able to be a part of.