2023-08-05 10:41:32
By Amelie Com
Posted yesterday at 08:00, Updated yesterday at 10:41
Tom Cruise on the set of Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning in Abu Dhabi Abu Dhabi Film Commission
New forty-hectare studios and reduced taxation should attract foreign producers to the Emirates. Despite local censorship.
The United Arab Emirates is attacking the cinema. But once is not custom, not brandishing censorship. After hosting several major productions in its desert, such as Dune , Star Wars or Mission Impossible , the country has decided to build a complex of new film studios in Abu Dhabi. Twofour54 is expected to open its doors by 2025, the UAE government has announced. Eleven recording studios, a water tank for aquatic filming, six permanent sets as well as offices, post-production studios, housing and projection rooms will be spread over forty hectares.
“Creative industries have been identified as one of Abu Dhabi’s priority sectors given the significant economic and social value they generate”, said Humaid Matar Al Dhaheri in an August 1 statement by twofour54. The managing director of ADNEC Group – the parent company – hopes that Abu Dhabi will become “a leading destination for content creation“. While specifying that the studio will allow “create jobs and contribute to the local economy after it opens in 2025.»
Key tax benefits
To lead the project, the cost of which has not been made public, the American Mark Whithehead was selected. For a year now, he has been managing the company twofour54. This former BBC, media strategy specialist said in the same statement that after fifteen years of having taken part in audiovisual productions, his company has “developed in-depth expertise on the demands of the global film industry.” The new studio will complement the company’s campus at the Yas Creative Hub in Abu Dhabi and production facilities across the United Arab Emirates.
The film industry is increasingly turning to the Middle East. And for good reason: the United Arab Emirates have a rather flexible tax system for international film productions. Abu Dhabi offers up to 30% discounts on certain expense items. Its neighbour, Saudi Arabia, also encourages producers to set up their film sets in Al-Ula or NEOM. All with significant tax advantages.
Read alsoAbu Dhabi celebrates the 5th anniversary of its Louvre and aims further
Censor, censor pas?
A question remains. According to the NGO Human rights watch, the United Arab Emirates have put in place a strategy of “soft power” through cultural and media diplomacy that is deceptive. In 2021, the Abu Dhabi government announced the end of censorship in cinema. Commitment quickly forgotten because big Hollywood productions have since been banned by the authorities.
Among the latest examples, the Ministry of Media Regulation announced in June that the new episode of the saga Spider-Man would not be screened. The problem ? A scene from Across the Spider-Verse in which is seen a poster with a logo of the transgender movement. A year earlier, the animated film Buzz Lightning was also banned. A scene containing a kiss between two women constituted, according to the Gulf country, a “violation of applicable media content standards».
It remains to be seen what rules will apply to the upcoming shoots that the country wants to attract with its brand new studio complex. And whether they will somehow be subject to local censorship.
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