by Mahmoud Darwesh and Nawas Darraji
TRIPOLI, May 1 (Xinhua) -- Theaters and cinemas reflect national identity of a country, while those in Libya are facing extinction in need of solution that requires years of efforts.
The country's first cinema was established in 1908 and the cinematic movement flourished since the Italian occupation in 1911 until early 1970s, when the period known as the "setback" started and continued to present, endangering artistic movement of cinemas and theaters.
Icon Libyan director Abdullah Al-Zarroug, who lived through different film movement periods, analyzed problems that accompanied cinemas and theaters over the past four decades.
"In the 1970s, it was a private sector, and Libya was one of the leading countries where the latest Arab and foreign films were shown even before they are released in their original countries. This reflects the artistic interest and taste during that golden age," Al-Zarroug told Xinhua.
However, in late 1979, nationalization pushed all showrooms and their employees to join the General Company for Theatre (a government film organization formed during the former regime), responsible for theatre activities, such as production, shows, import, distribution and marketing of tapes, Al-Zarrough said.
All theaters joined the Company, and they began to lose balance, after Libya was a pioneer and destination for cinema works, Al-Zarroug added.
"Some criminals seized the properties of the authorities and some even demolished such properties, causing great losses of national artistic heritage," said Mohamed Al-Bayodi, head of the General Authority for Theatre, Arts and Cinema, which has faced a number of legal lawsuits by administrative courts because of disputes over theater properties.
"We will not give up on these properties and continue our battles before the court," Al-Bayodi said.
There are more than 24 cinemas all over Libya and all of them are not functioning. There are also nearly 40 theaters, some of which are partly functioning, especially in the east.
Between 2009 and 2010, foreign companies agreed to rehabilitate cinemas and theaters. However, after the revolution in 2011, everything stopped and collapsed. Most equipment was stolen. "The dream of reviving cinemas and theaters in Libya died again," Al-Zarroug said.
When walking inside cinema halls, chaos can be seen. Most of their equipment is stolen, including chairs, equipment and instruments. In one of the cinema halls, even wooden walls and floors were stolen.
"When I talked with the prime minister, we agreed on the importance of reviving cinema and theater in this particular time, as they could create patriotic awareness and unity for the people," Al-Bayodi said.
When asked about the role of theatre actors in the failure of theatre work in Libya, Al-Bayodi said "it must be noted that artists are not a machine that we can just operate whenever we want. Some artists are absent because of the lack of funding and sufficient financial income."
Al-Zarroug said that many countries in the world want to invest in cinemas and theaters in Libya. However, legislation and lack of government attention hindered their development.
"Culture and arts are soft power. People want these arts to stay away from political problems that exhausted them for years," he said.
The Libyan director recalled the golden age, in which Libya produced joint cinematographic works with Egypt, Tunisia, Morocco and France four decades ago and won international awards and critical acclaim.
The most significant film which was produced in Libya and claimed international recognition is the 1981 film Lion of the Desert or Omar Mukhtar.
It was directed by the late Moustapha Al Akkad, starring the late Anthony Quinn. It tells the story of the Libyan freedom fighter Omar and his fellow fighters in their struggle against Italian colonialism.
Libya is one of the three countries, including Kuwait and Morocco, that financed the production of the famous film 1976 the Message, which tells the story of the birth of Islam. Many of the scenes were filmed in Libya. Enditem
