Cinema Jenin is a movie theater in the

Palestinian Palestinians ( ar, الفلسطينيون, ; he, פָלַסְטִינִים, ) or Palestinian people ( ar, الشعب الفلسطيني, label=none, ), also referred to as Palestinian Arabs ( ar, الفلسطينيين العرب, label=non ...

city of

Jenin Jenin (; ar, ') is a Palestinian city in the northern West Bank. It serves as the administrative center of the Jenin Governorate of the State of Palestine and is a major center for the surrounding towns. In 2007, Jenin had a population of app ...

, located in the

West Bank The West Bank ( ar, الضفة الغربية, translit=aḍ-Ḍiffah al-Ġarbiyyah; he, הגדה המערבית, translit=HaGadah HaMaʽaravit, also referred to by some Israelis as ) is a landlocked territory near the coast of the Mediter ...

. The new building features plush seating that can accommodate more than 300 people, an outdoor café, art gallery space, a children's park and playground, and a library that is sponsored by the German

Goethe-Institut The Goethe-Institut (, GI, en, Goethe Institute) is a non-profit German cultural association operational worldwide with 159 institutes, promoting the study of the German language abroad and encouraging international cultural exchange and ...

. The library and cinema will offer cultural exhibitions and

German language German ( ) is a West Germanic languages, West Germanic language mainly spoken in Central Europe. It is the most widely spoken and Official language, official or co-official language in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, and the Ita ...

classes.Jenin cinema opens to fanfare
", 7 August 2010, Ma'an News Agency. It replaced a cinema that closed in 1987. The cinema is located in the heart of the city, next to the old church, the market (''

suq A bazaar () or souk (; also transliterated as souq) is a marketplace consisting of multiple small stalls or shops, especially in the Middle East, the Balkans, North Africa and India. However, temporary open markets elsewhere, such as in the W ...

'') and the main transportation routes. The old cinema had 250 seats on the first floor and another 200 on a balcony. The cinema is not without its critics. Many Palestinians boycotted the cinema, claiming that unmarried men and women slept together in the cinema's guest house, and drank alcohol there. Audience numbers dwindled. Following death threats that were circulated in the mosques in early 2011, many foreign nationals were evacuated from the Cinema Jenin project, at the request of their governments.

The project

The renovation was carried out as an international charitable effort intended to encourage a culture of cinema-going for the inhabitants of Jenin by showing films of various genres, including fiction films, documentaries, comedies, children’s films, Arabic classics and contemporary movies. It is planned to have six screenings along with other activities every day.
website
has been created to present the various activities of the cinema. Workshops in film making, computers and English will also be offered at the cinema. The German Government (

Auswärtiges Amt , logo = DEgov-AA-Logo en.svg , logo_width = 260 px , image = Auswaertiges Amt Berlin Eingang.jpg , picture_width = 300px , image_caption = Entrance to the Foreign Office building , headquarters = Werderscher Mark ...

) is sponsoring Cinema Jenin with a large donation
press release in German
. The Jenin cinema reopened in August 2010. For the grand reopening they showed a movie called ''The Heart Of Jenin''. In 2011, Maurizio Fantoni Minnella shot ''Tonight on Jenin'', a documentary about the experience of the cinema and Jenin's inhabitants. The documentary is part of Palestinian Quadrilogy.

External links

A revival for Cinema Jenin
video report at Reuters about the initiative
Cinema Jenin HomepageDreams of a Nation

References

3Sat, Jan 26, 2009 * ttp://www.daserste.de/ttt/beitrag_dyn~uid,8hk6b0xoimnzezxh~cm.asp Cinema Jenin - Ein Kino für Palästina MDR, Sunday, 18 January 2009
A revival for Cinema Jenin
video report at Reuters about the initiative

by

Ethan Bronner Ethan Bronner (born 1954) is a senior editor at Bloomberg News following 17 years at ''The New York Times'', most recently as deputy national editor. Biography Bronner is a graduate of Wesleyan University's College of Letters and the Columbia U ...

, ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'', September 11, 2008.
Hope, pain in film about Palestinian organ donor
By Rebecca Harrison, The Boston Globe, July 14, 2008.

by Inge Gunther, Frankfurter Rundschau, August 14, 2008.
Achmeds Tod lässt andere Kinder leben
Stuttgarter Zeitung, August 13, 2008.
Ein Herz für Kinder zwischen den Fronten
{cbignore, bot=medic Heilbronner Stimme, July 3, 2008. Cinemas in the State of Palestine Theatres in the State of Palestine 1987 establishments in the Palestinian territories Buildings and structures in Jenin

The project

See also

External links

References