Cinema City Nablus

Cinema City Nablus is a movie theater in the Palestinian city of Nablus, located in the West Bank.^[1]

The cinema opened in 2009.^[2] The movie theater, built at a cost of $2 million, is in a new ten-story commercial in the city center which also includes a shopping mall.^[2] According to American National Public Radio, the theater features a "shiny" lobby with a snack bar.^[3]

Theater manager Farouk Masri told journalists that his family had decided that the political situation had calmed sufficiently to make building a modern movie house profitable in a city that had lacked one for many years. "It's been missing from Nablus, the cinema houses, been missing since the first intifada, over 20 years." He said that the new cinema was, "The talk of the street, I keep hearing ... Everybody is just excited, they're very positive about it, and they're very supportive".^[3] Among the excited children in the audience were many who had never seen a movie shown in real theater, only on the small screens of televisions and video players.^[3]

Relaxed checkpoint rules mean that Arabs from many towns can come to Nablus for shopping, dining and movies.^[3] The theater features four showings a day of international films "including the latest Egyptian movies"^[2] in addition to group screenings,^[4] corporate events,^[5] and children's birthday parties. ^[6]

The Palestinian Ma'an News Agency hailed the new cinema as "awe inspiring" but accused the international press of being "there-for-the-moment reporters" who seem "to have come down with a case of 'occupation isn't so bad' syndrome" as they focus on "the new thrills of the Nablus cinema" rather than on "the people's actual grievances".^[7]

References

1. ^ "Jenin cinema opens to fanfare," 07/08/2010, Ma'an News Agency.
2. ^ ^{a b c} "Nablus shopping festival brightens up West Bank," Mohammed Assadi, July 18, 2009, Malaysia Star.
3. ^ ^{a b c d} "Signs Of Economic Life Return To West Bank City," Peter Kenyon, July 10, 2009, National Public Radio
4. ^ Cinema City webpage accessed Aug. 9, 2010.
5. ^ Cinema City webpage accessed Aug. 9, 2010.
6. ^ Cinema City webpage accessed Aug. 9, 2010.
7. ^ "From Kalashnikovs to knafa," Jesse Aizenstat, 27/10/2009, Ma'an News Agency.

External links

• Cinema City website