idea of movie theaters and allowed independent improvised cinemas which functioned outside of government oversight. Similar to many of the other Arab countries, cinema was introduced into Saudi Arabia by westerners, who were working for oil and gas companies in Saudi Arabia, such as Aramco, at the time. This led to the building of projector screens in residential buildings in the 1930s. The cinemas went on to screen Egyptian films of the golden era and in 1959, almost 70% of the films made in Egypt that year, were exported in 16mm film to Saudi Arabia. However, these films were censored and were only supposed to be screened privately. Later on, this move was blocked for concerns that cinema would interfere with religious public and private life, therefore leading in a total cinema blackout during the 1990s and early 2000s. the exception being the IMAX system instated by Khalid in the city of Khobar which only displayed scientific and religious oriented content. A potential explanation to why the religious scholars were not fans of cinema, according to Shafik, could be because film is seen as bringing inanimate objects to life, which was something that seemed to compete with the power of God. However, there have been reports of secret cinemas operating in recent years, with organizers denying that it promotes un-Islamic values. There are also reports of many Saudi citizens traveling to neighboring states to go to the cinema, or watching films online. Furthermore, the film industry is receiving support from Prince Al-Waleed bin Talal, owner of entertainment company Rotana, which some see as an encouraging sign for the reestablishment of cinema in Saudi Arabia. With the rise of digital and social network, pressure was mounting on Saudi Arabia in regards to the permissibility of cinemas as many were watching films online anyway. In 2005, an improvised cinema in Riyadh was officially opened though limited to men and children only to prevent gender mixing in a public space. This was not the only attempt to bring back cinema; in 2006, How’s It Going? became the first fully Saudi funded feature film. It also starred a Saudi actress. here have been several additional signs of relaxation, for example, Jeddah has started hosting a European Film Festival since 2006, and a single Saudi film festival was held in Dammam in 2008, though this did not meet with a favorable response from some of