Azadi Cinema Complex is a

cineplex A cineplex is a multiplex, a movie theatre with several screens, coming from the words cinema and complex. Cineplex most commonly refers to: * Cineplex Entertainment, a Canadian entertainment company based in Toronto, Ontario. Cineplex may also ...

building located at Beheshti Street in

Tehran Tehran (; fa, تهران ) is the largest city in Tehran Province and the capital of Iran. With a population of around 9 million in the city and around 16 million in the larger metropolitan area of Greater Tehran, Tehran is the most popul ...

. It is used for movie

premieres A première, also spelled premiere, is the debut (first public presentation) of a play, film, dance, or musical composition. A work will often have many premières: a world première (the first time it is shown anywhere in the world), its fir ...

and various entertainment events.

History

The cinema was inaugurated on 23 April 1969 as Shahre Farang Cinema by the Rohani Saheban brothers. It was renamed Azadi Cinema in 1980. It had two screens. The building caught fire on numerous occasions in 1976, 1990, and on 18 April 1997, at 13:50 which caused its closure.

Reconstruction

The cinema was destroyed by a fire in 1998. The site was left vacant for 8 years. An international architectural competition was held in 1998 for the reconstruction of the building (and increasing the number of theatres to 7) in which more than 160 architects participated. Babak Shokoufi (from Tavon Consulting Engineers) won the competition and later designed the final design of the new Azadi Cinema Complex. The final design was very different from the competition due to extreme changes in land size and occupancy. The new cineplex was opened, in 2008. Azadi Cinema Complex now has five screens, one with 600 seats and others with 200 each.Azadi Cinema official website "Azadi Cinema" accessed 2 January 2011.
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Gallery

image:Azadi Burnt.JPG, 1997 Azadi Cinema Complex 5.jpg Azadi Cinema Complex 4.jpg Azadi Cinema Complex 1.jpg Azadi Cinema Complex 2.jpg Azadi Cinema Complex 3.jpg

Notes

{{Reflist Buildings and structures in Tehran Cinemas in Iran Tourist attractions in Tehran