Cinema 500 km is a Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabia

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia , commonly known in British English as Saudi Arabia and in Arabic as as-Sa‘ūdiyyah , is the largest state in Western Asia by land area, constituting the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and the second-largest in the Arab World...

n documentary film

Documentary film

Documentary films constitute a broad category of nonfictional motion pictures intended to document some aspect of reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction or maintaining a historical record...

 which premiered in 2006

2006 in film

- Highest-grossing films :Please note that following the tradition of the English-language film industry, these are the top-grossing films that were first released in the United States in 2006...

. Directed by Abdullah Al-Eyaf

Abdullah Al-Eyaf

Abdullah Al-Eyaf is a Saudi film director also known as Abdullah Al Eyaf and Abdullah Aleyaf. He directed four films. His first film is a 42-minutes documentary Cinema 500 km which discusses the ban on cinemas in Saudi Arabia by following a young Saudi movie fan during his first trip outside the...

, the film depicts the experiences of Tariq Al-Husaini, a 21-year-old Saudi who is a movie fan despite the fact that there are no cinemas

Movie theater

A movie theater, cinema, movie house, picture theater, film theater is a venue, usually a building, for viewing motion pictures ....

 in Saudi Arabia (motion picture

Film

A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...

s are available on home video

Home video

Home video is a blanket term used for pre-recorded media that is either sold or rented/hired for home cinema entertainment. The term originates from the VHS/Betamax era but has carried over into current optical disc formats like DVD and Blu-ray Disc and, to a lesser extent, into methods of digital...

 only). Al-Husaini is shown applying for a passport and traveling 500 kilometers to Bahrain

Bahrain

' , officially the Kingdom of Bahrain , is a small island state near the western shores of the Persian Gulf. It is ruled by the Al Khalifa royal family. The population in 2010 stood at 1,214,705, including 235,108 non-nationals. Formerly an emirate, Bahrain was declared a kingdom in 2002.Bahrain is...

 to see a movie in a cinema for the first time in his life.

Abdullah Al-Eyaf

Abdullah Al-Eyaf

Abdullah Al-Eyaf is a Saudi film director also known as Abdullah Al Eyaf and Abdullah Aleyaf. He directed four films. His first film is a 42-minutes documentary Cinema 500 km which discusses the ban on cinemas in Saudi Arabia by following a young Saudi movie fan during his first trip outside the...

 secured permission from the Saudi Ministry of Culture and Information to shoot this documentary. The film premiered at the Emirates Film Competition

Emirates Film Competition

The Emirates Film Competition is an official UAE competition targeted to encourage local film making and film production, this competition includes all short-movie categories such as: narrative/fiction, docs and animation amongst others...

 in Abu Dhabi

Abu Dhabi

Abu Dhabi , literally Father of Gazelle, is the capital and the second largest city of the United Arab Emirates in terms of population and the largest of the seven member emirates of the United Arab Emirates. Abu Dhabi lies on a T-shaped island jutting into the Persian Gulf from the central western...

, United Arab Emirates

United Arab Emirates

The United Arab Emirates, abbreviated as the UAE, or shortened to "the Emirates", is a state situated in the southeast of the Arabian Peninsula in Western Asia on the Persian Gulf, bordering Oman, and Saudi Arabia, and sharing sea borders with Iraq, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, and Iran.The UAE is a...

 in 2006 http://www.efilmc.com/english/sn_pr_e.aspx?i1=3085&i2=8053&i3=5425, but due to the lack of cinemas in Saudi Arabia there are no plans yet to show the film in its home country.

External links

• Abdullah Al-Eyaf
  Abdullah Al-Eyaf
  Abdullah Al-Eyaf is a Saudi film director also known as Abdullah Al Eyaf and Abdullah Aleyaf. He directed four films. His first film is a 42-minutes documentary Cinema 500 km which discusses the ban on cinemas in Saudi Arabia by following a young Saudi movie fan during his first trip outside the...
  
  
• "Saudi Arabian film shows theaterless kingdom", Associated Press, MSNBC.com, April 28, 2006.
• "'Cinema 500 km' — a Film About Watching a Film", Raid Qusti, Arab News, March 22, 2006.