Keif al-Hal?

Infobox_Film
name = Keif al-Hal? "كيف الحال؟" | director = Izidore Musallam
producer = Ayman Halawani
starring = Hisham Abdulrahman
Hind Mohammed
Meshaal al-Mutairi
Turki Al Yousef
genre = Comedy - Drama movie_music = George Fenton
distributor = Rotana
released = November 9 2006
language = Arabic
imdb_id = 0791180

"Keif al-Hal?" (Arabic: _ar. كيف الحال؟) is Saudi Arabia's first big-budget film, produced by Ayman Halawani (of Prince Al-Walid bin Talal's Rotana Group). Directed by Izidore Musallam, it stars Hind Mohammed, the first Saudi cinema actress. [NYTimes.com: [http://www.nytimes.com/2006/04/28/world/middleeast/28saudi.html?ei=5088&en=4f73c6d010433a94&ex=1303876800&adxnnl=1&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss&pagewanted=all&adxnnlx=1163165863-motJyMqYetkaiqov8obAMw "Daring to Use the Silver Screen to Reflect Saudi Society"] ]

Mohammed, who appears unveiled, received threats from some conservative Muslims, but remained optimistic, hoping the film would encourage reform to Saudi Arabia's restrictions on cinema. Saudi audiences were able to see the film on pay-per-view through an agreement with Showtime Arabia. [cite news |author = Ali Jaafar |url = |title = First Saudi feature bows |work = Variety |publisher = Reed Elsevier Inc. |page = 19 |date = October 23, 2006 - October 29, 2006 |accessdate = 2006-11-10] The film's title roughly translates into, "How's it going?" or "How are you?". The film, shot in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, is a comedy-drama that recounts the story of a family torn between modernity and tradition in Saudi Arabia.

Although there is clerical opposition to public screenings of films in Saudi Arabia, media reports suggest that the ban on public display of movies there is also in keeping with the monarchy's refusal to permit unlicensed public gatherings. [http://www.paynesvillearea.com/news/headlinesarticles/archives/112801/karenarabia112801.html "Public gatherings are NOT allowed. There are no movie theaters or any kind of activity that would allow large numbers of people to congregate to share viewpoints, with the exception of soccer matches, which are open to men only. We've seen on television that Saudis have meetings out in the desert where they meet with the local prince to express their grievances."]

Notes

References

*cite news
url =
title = UK-Arab paper says "first Saudi film" to be shown in Cairo
work = BBC Monitoring Middle East - Political
publisher = British Broadcasting Corporation
date = 2006-10-23
accessdate = 2006-11-10

External links

* CNN video: [http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/world/2006/11/09/elwazer.saudi.film.rota news report] by Schams Elwazer
* BBC: [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/5019116.stm 'First' Saudi feature film aims high]
* Al-Jazeera: [http://english.aljazeera.net/English/archive/archive?ArchiveId=23059 Review of the film]
* Washington Post: [http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-adv/specialsales/spotlight/saudi/movies.html Review and interview]