RIYADH (The Guardian) – Saudi Arabia opened its first international film festival amid accusations that the regime is using culture to whitewash its poor human rights record, just days after similar controversy shadowed its first time hosting a Formula One race.
The Red Sea festival attracted international stars. Saudi Arabia presented it as a moment of change for a country that only lifted a ban on cinemas four years ago, The Guardian reported.
But the gala has for months been the target of boycott calls from critics who warn that the glamour of show-business is being deployed by Saudi authorities to distract international attention from rights abuses within the country and beyond.
Under Crown Prince and de facto ruler Mohammed bin Salman (MbS), Saudi officials have crushed political dissent at home and pursued critics beyond the country’s borders, most notoriously murdering journalist Jamal Khashoggi at a consulate in Turkey.
The prince has also been widely condemned for directing Saudi Arabia’s aggression in the brutal war in Yemen, which is now enduring one of the worst humanitarian crises in the world.
“A film festival without freedom of expression quickly descends into propaganda,” Madawi al-Rasheed, a professor at LSE and prominent critic of the Saudi government, stated.
“Sport and art will never be a substitute for real reform that includes civil and political rights. International films are used as a cover for a sinister scenario of detentions, beheadings and murder by a regime that is desperate to break its isolation after it committed crimes in Yemen and against its own citizens,” she continued.
When the festival was announced earlier this year, Oscar-nominated film director Sami Khan was among voices calling for artists to stay away, in protest against Saudi Arabia’s disturbing record on human rights.
“The international film community should not allow itself to be bought and used by Saudi Arabia to whitewash horrific atrocities,” he said in a public statement, adding he expected to suffer financial implications and attacks on his reputation for the public stance, but cited others who had also condemned the festival.
“I probably will pay a price for this … but I’m increasingly disturbed by the way repressive governments are using the global film industry to launder their reputations,” he announced.