There is also a palpable sense of excitement about cinema in the kingdom, and its creative possibilities make for compelling viewing

sauDi film director haifa al mansour was critically acclaimed for her film Women without shadows, winning a prize at the saudi 2007 festival for best documentary

the festival took place in a local educational institute. The following year, they transferred to the larger Jeddah Chamber of Commerce. Other local mores also had to be accommodated. The first year, only ‘families’ were allowed to watch the films – in other words, no single men were permitted. In 2007, however, this rule was changed to include some seating for single men, in segregated rows at the front, while women and children, along with other family relatives, could sit at the back. There was also considerable concern about content. “Many Saudi directors try to make experimental movies that highlight feelings and social problems,” says Mamdouh Salem, the festival organiser. “These

are interesting themes, but obviously more dif ficult – women’s roles in society, relationships and so on.” One film that seemed to crystalise these concerns was female Saudi director Haifa Al Mansour’s internationally acclaimed Women without Shadows, which was critically applauded throughout the Gulf and in Europe, yet slammed inside the kingdom when it came out in 2006. Al Mansour shot the movie in Dubai; it attempts to portray the conflicts between liberal and conservative values experienced by many women living in Saudi Arabia. In 2007, the film was shown at the Jeddah festival, and received a standing ovation, a key moment for many, not only in the festival’s development but in the development of Saudi self-expression. The film festival has meanwhile had an electrifying effect on local talent. While the first festival saw some 60 movies, only eight of which were Saudi, with seven from the UAE and one from Kuwait, by 2007 the festival had grown large enough to have a separate competition for Saudi films, with 19 entrants. Audiences had also grown. While in 2006, 150 people were the maximum in attendance, by 2007, 1,000 or more were cramming into the Jeddah Chamber of Commerce for a show. The festival has managed to gain the support of the Jeddah municipality, with the Saudi media giving it positive coverage. In 2008, this is set to expand exponentially, with a full programme of press conferences and publicity events. Once again, it will be a four-day festival, held at the Chamber of Commerce, with a bumper crop of entrants expected. As one insider told TME, he had already seen 20 Saudi made shorts for this year’s competition, with none of them by filmmakers he had heard of before. The only real criticism of the event is that production standards remain low on the whole, with the sector’s long isolation and the difficulties of putting features together showing through. In 2007, the competition failed to find any real win

ners, although certificates were awarded to Children of Heaven and Hard Way – both shorts, as few, if any, feature films are being made. The competition also had categories for animation and documentary, with the latter prize going to Women without Shadows. The 2008 festival will also feature a competition for movies shot on mobile phones, a testament to the amateur nature of much of Saudi cinema, given its constraints. Searching through the kinds of movies the festival shows is therefore a journey through the eyes of many ordinary Saudis, who have some extraordinary things to say. While it is often remarked that cinema is a window into another culture, in the case of Saudi Arabia, it often feels like a window into another world entirely. Reality is often challenged via works that see the world through, in some instances, the perceptions of an altered consciousness, for example via disorientation, nostalgia and memory, often illustrating a search for traditions that are perhaps threatened by the rapid pace of the kingdom’s economic development. Some movie makers have also tackled the action movie genre, turning out a Saudi version of the Hollywood thriller, an ambitious idea that usually falls short given a reliance on special effects and large budgets. Meanwhile, commercial outfits such as Rotana have been highly supportive. This Saudi company produces music, TV and film and made the first commercial Saudi movie How are you? in 2006. Haifa Al Mansour is now working closely with Rotana. For all the misfires and technical flaws in many Saudi movies, there is also a palpable sense of excitement about cinema in the kingdom, and its creative possibilities make for compelling viewing. This is very much cinema in the raw, finding its way largely unaided, bumping into things, feeling its way around in the darkness. Eventually though, it will find its way and be the stronger, perhaps, for having done it largely alone. “The basic concept here is to build a Saudi film industry,” says Salem. “We also hope to progress in the film festival by bringing in films from more Muslim countries, with the Muslim voice that we are also interested in.” Hamzah, though, puts it in a nutshell. “Our society needs Saudi film makers to make Saudi films that talk about what it is actually like here,” he says. The Jeddah Visual Arts festival is clearly a major part of making that happen. n

58 The Middle easT June 2008
The Lure of the East

Orientalism – the representation of the East in western arts and literature – is the hot topic in London this month, although some would say the genre is never out of vogue in the British capital, one of the world’s leading cities – along with Dubai, Paris and New York – for the buying and selling of Islamic art of all descriptions, writes Pat Lancaster. April and October are traditionally the months when collectors are drawn to London for the Islamic art sales organised by leading auction houses, Christies and Sotheby’s. However, the opening at Tate Britain of the museum’s first exhibitions to survey the history of British painters’ representations of the Middle East region from the 17th-early 20th centuries, alongside a spectacular presentation of the work of both 19th century and contemporary painters, at the exclusive Mathaf Gallery in Knightsbridge has, this year, designated red letter status to much of the month of June. British artists were lured to the East by a fascination with the exotic and an improvement in conditions of travel, particularly after the advent of the steam travel in the 19th century. At Tate Modern more than 120 paintings from collections around the world will introduce visual images of the drama and

romance of the ‘mystic East’ and the wide range of artistic responses to the peoples, cities and landscapes of the regions lying just across the Mediterranean from Europe. Mathaf Gallery director Gina MacDermot, told The Middle East that the Knightsbridge exhibition is designed to complement the work on show at Tate Britain. “The attraction to the Orientalists is completely timeless,” she noted. “It is still possible today – particularly in areas of old Cairo or Damascus – to recognise areas where paintings from the 19th century are set. Some of the streets are almost unchanged.” A growing number of collectors are increasingly favouring the work of the Orientalists as a good investment prospect. With prices increasing year on year, I wondered whether the directors of the Mathaf Gallery agreed with this thinking. “Because they (Orientalist paintings) are becoming harder and harder to find, the scarcity is pushing up the price. But our advice is to buy what you love,” says Gina MacDermot, “and if it turns out to be a good investment – which very often the Orientalist paintings do – all the better.” n

The Lure of the East: British Orientalist Painters from 4 June-31 August at Tate Britain Linbury Galleries. www.tate.org.uk.

freDeriCK gooDall (1822-1904), unloading cotton on the nile, oil on canvas, signed with monogram (43.8cm x 87cm)

COURTESY OF THE MATHAF GALLERY, LONDON

Charles roberTson (1844-1891), a game of chequers, watercolour, monogrammed (47.5cm x 33cm)

COURTESY OF THE MATHAF GALLERY, LONDON

The British Orientalists: Eastern Views, Western Eyes, from 3-27 June at the Mathaf Gallery, 24 Motcombe Street, London SW1X 8JU. www.mathafgallery.com

The Middle easT June 2008 59