Cinema Jenin is a movie theater in the Palestinian

Palestinian territories

The Palestinian territories comprise the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. Since the Palestinian Declaration of Independence in 1988, the region is today recognized by three-quarters of the world's countries as the State of Palestine or simply Palestine, although this status is not recognized by the...

 city of Jenin

Jenin

Jenin is the largest town in the Northern West Bank, and the third largest city overall. It serves as the administrative center of the Jenin Governorate and is a major agricultural center for the surrounding towns. In 2007, the city had a population of 120,004 not including the adjacent refugee...

, located in the West Bank

West Bank

The West Bank ) of the Jordan River is the landlocked geographical eastern part of the Palestinian territories located in Western Asia. To the west, north, and south, the West Bank shares borders with the state of Israel. To the east, across the Jordan River, lies the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan...

.

The new building features plush seating that can accommodating over 300 people, an outdoor cafe, art gallery space, a children's park and playground, and a library that is sponsored by the German Goethe-Institut

Goethe-Institut

The Goethe-Institut is a non-profit German cultural institution operational worldwide, promoting the study of the German language abroad and encouraging international cultural exchange and relations. The Goethe-Institut also fosters knowledge about Germany by providing information on German...

. The library and cinema will offer cultural exhibitions and German language classes. 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) and the main transportation routes. The old cinema had 250 seats on the first floor and another 200 on a balcony.

The Project

The renovation was carried out as an international charitable effort intended to 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. A 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) 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.

See also

• Cinema of Palestine
  Cinema of Palestine
  Palestinian cinema is relatively young in comparison to Arab cinema as a whole, many Palestinian movies are made with European and Israeli funding and support. Palestinian movies are not exclusively produced in Arabic and some are made in English, French and Hebrew...
  
  
• Arab cinema
  Arab cinema
  Arab cinema refers to the cinema of the Arab world.-Overview:There is increased interest in films originating in the Arab world. For example, films from Algeria, Lebanon, Morocco, the Palestinian territories, Syria and Tunisia are making wider and more frequent rounds than ever before in local film...
  
  
• Israeli-Palestinian conflict
  Israeli-Palestinian conflict
  The Israeli–Palestinian conflict is the ongoing conflict between Israelis and Palestinians. The conflict is wide-ranging, and the term is also used in reference to the earlier phases of the same conflict, between Jewish and Zionist yishuv and the Arab population living in Palestine under Ottoman or...
  
  
• Al-Kasaba Theatre
  Al-Kasaba Theatre
  Al-Kasaba Theatre is a cinema in the city of Ramallah in the West Bank. It was established in 1970 for playwrights and eventually began presenting films. Al-Kasaba is the only official multipurpose cinema in the Palestinian territories.-History:...
  
  
• Cinema for Peace
  Cinema for Peace
  The Cinema for Peace initiative aims to raise awareness for the social relevance of films and to make active use of the influence of movies and documentaries on the perception and resolution of global social, political and humanitarian challenges of our time...
  
  

External links

• A revival for Cinema Jenin, video report at Reuters about the initiative
• Cinema Jenin Homepage
• Dreams of a Nation