Palestinian wedding hall preserves treasures of its cinematic past
A Palestinian worker shows film strips in a former cinema in Tulkarm, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank February 24, 2019. REUTERS/Raneen Sawafta
TULKARM, West Bank (Reuters) - Posters of classic movies are scattered on the upper floor of Abdel-Rahim Hanoun's wedding hall, signs of the building's past life as one of the few cinemas in the West Bank.
Hanoun's father built the movie house in 1965 in the Palestinian city of Tulkarm, two years before the West Bank was captured by Israel in a Middle East war.
It closed down after a Palestinian uprising against Israeli occupation erupted in 1987 and reopened temporarily in 1994 with the signing of an interim peace accord.
FILE PHOTO: A film banner is seen in the remaining part of a former cinema, in Tulkarm, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank February 27, 2019. REUTERS/Raneen Sawafta
Hanoun, 60, then turned the movie theater into Al-Andalus Cinema and Wedding Hall, keeping now-disused projectors and rolls of film on the top floor, which wedding guests often ask to see.
Posters on the floor are printed with the Hebrew names of Indian and Chinese movies. Hanoun used to buy foreign films from Israel and Arabic movies from Jordan.
"Just as the cinema was one of the first in the West Bank, I was the first to have a wedding hall where people hold their parties," said Hanoun. "There are many people who never watched a movie inside a cinema and some who yearn for the old days."
A Palestinian worker checks equipment in a former cinema in Tulkarm in the Israeli-occupied West Bank February 24, 2019. REUTERS/Raneen Sawafta
There are currently four cinemas in the West Bank.
"I hope I can operate the cinema again, but I can't afford it financially now," Hanoun said.
A Palestinian worker sits on a seat in a former cinema that was turned into a wedding hall, in Tulkarm in the Israeli-occupied West Bank February 27, 2019. REUTERS/Raneen Sawafta
(Reporting by Nidal Almughrabi and Ali Sawafta; Editing by Jeffrey Heller and Alexandra Hudson)
A Palestinian worker checks materials in a former cinema in Tulkarm in the Israeli-occupied West Bank February 27, 2019. REUTERS/Raneen SawaftaA ticket book is seen in a former cinema in Tulkarm in the Israeli-occupied West Bank February 27, 2019. REUTERS/Raneen SawaftaA Palestinian worker shows film posters in a former cinema in Tulkarm in the Israeli-occupied West Bank February 24, 2019. REUTERS/Raneen SawaftaA Palestinian worker checks materials in a former cinema in Tulkarm, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank February 24, 2019. REUTERS/Raneen SawaftaA popcorn machine and materials are seen in a former cinema in Tulkarm, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank February 27, 2019. REUTERS/Raneen SawaftaA Palestinian worker checks a film roll in a former cinema, in Tulkarm in the Israeli-occupied West Bank February 27, 2019. REUTERS/Raneen SawaftaFilm strips and a ticket are seen on the ground in a former cinema in Tulkarm in the Israeli-occupied West Bank February 24, 2019. REUTERS/Raneen SawaftaA Palestinian worker looks at equipment in a former cinema in Tulkarm in the Israeli-occupied West Bank February 27, 2019. REUTERS/Raneen Sawafta
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