Master's students at the Department of Mass Communication offered a workshop entitled, "Problems of Arabic Documentary Production", under the supervision of His Excellency Dr. Faisal Al-Shamiri.

Mr. Miteib Al-Qathami started the workshop with an introduction about documentaries, their beginnings, their scientific rooting at the hands of John Grierson, and the spread of the cinema in the Arab world and their first use as places for displaying documentaries. Al-Qathami pointed out that there are several types of documentaries: poetic, reflective, representative, and explorative. He then stated the reasons and motives behind the need of communities, and the Saudi Kingdom in particular, for documentaries. He declared that these films have promotional values for tourism and the country's achievements, and a commercial value for the kingdom internationally, as they achieved openness to the world, which is supported by the vision 2030.

Dr. Faisal Al-Shamiri asserted that documentaries offer a great service in promoting the tourism of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, as they inform about the cultural heritage of the kingdom and offer a vast picture about the archaeological remains, touristic landmarks and historical monuments that the kingdom has. Moreover, they promote these places and attract tourists from inside and outside Saudi Arabia, in the shade of the openness that the kingdom witnesses due to opening the door before external tourism.

On the other hand, Mr. Abdullah Bamusa pointed out that there are several problems that face such type of films and cause them to be neglected, such as the paucity of sponsors and advertisers in documentary channels, the scarcity of financing for documentaries, and the mental image that the Arabic audience has about them as being boring and uninteresting productions. The cause of this view is that documentaries are traditional films with a static style of display, which encourages people to view drama films instead.

Mr. Azzam Al-Abud declared that documentary programs and their production in Saudi Arabia has three main levels: governmental bodies, academic bodies, and individuals. Each of these types was displayed separately, its efficiency was determined, the extent of its influence was pointed out, and some were displayed. Next, he presented some suggestions to motivate the support and production of documentaries in Saudi Arabia, the most important of which is linking between governmental and academic fields in documentary work.

Mr. Rayyan Naitah offered some suggestions that may help in spreading documentaries, such as detailing the habits, traditions and cultures of different areas, and employing documentaries to inform about touristic places, support the policy and orientation of the state, highlight national events, and confront the campaigns that target the kingdom. Other ways of promoting these films are by holding festivals and competitions for documentaries, and concentrating on the stories of inspiring characters to convey positive messages that teach us that nothing is impossible.

The Head of the Mass Communication Department, Dr. Salim Urijah, concluded the workshop with a speech in which he expressed his thanks and appreciation for the efforts exerted by the master's students in spreading the culture of producing documentaries, and he wished them much success and progress.