By most definitions of the word political, “A Gift From the Desert: The Arabian Horse” is not a political film.
But the one-hour film abut Arabian horses, shot in Saudi Arabia, Oman and the United States, has run afoul of a Saudi government that has demanded that all existing copies be destroyed, according to the film’s director, Jo Franklin.
Franklin, a former "McNeil-Lehrer NewsHour" producer who has been filming in Saudi Arabia and the Middle East since 1980, including the controversial PBS program “Days of Rage,” says the Saudi government is “trying to block the film’s release” and wants existing DVD copies destroyed.
She told TheWrap that Sami Al Nohait, a Saudi official who was speaking on behalf of Prince Nawaf, flatly said, “Destroy all copies of this film.”
In an article about the film distributed via press release, Franklin says the “otherwise unfathomable answer” to the Saudi ban has two main factors: the fact that the film depicts female endurance racers and show jumpers at a time when rights for women are extremely limited in the country; and the preponderance of foreigners working with the horses.
“I filmed King Abdullah’s farm, where he has some of the most beautiful Arabian horses in the world,” she writes. “An Irish vet is in charge; the head trainer is a Brit. And the Saudis wish it were not so.”
Franklin says she was asked to remove footage of the British trainer displaying the horses, and to not show the female riders.
Currently, no screenings of airings of the film are planned. Franklin is currently selling DVD copies through the film’s website for $35. She says she plans to make additional plans for broadcast.
