“Motion pictures may broadcast shameless, immoral, atheistic or rotten films,” said the grand mufti, Sheikh Abdulaziz al-Sheikh, on his weekly television programme.
Proposals to reopen cinemas in Saudi Arabia have been strongly dismissed by the current head of the country’s religious authority.
The grand mufti added: “I hope those in charge of the entertainment authority are guided to turn it from bad to good and not to open doors to evil.”
The film, about an 11-year-old girl’s desire for a bicycle, was longlisted for a foreign language Oscar and shortlisted for the equivalent Bafta.