Cinema of Libya
The cinema of Libya has had an uneven history. Though there was little local film production in Italian Libya and the Kingdom of Libya, cinema-going became a popular entertainment activity. From 1973 onwards, Muammar Gaddafi tried to exercise control over cinema. Though he encouraged some local filmmaking, his obstruction of foreign film consumption resulted in the closing of cinemas. In the post-2011 instability in Libya, hopes for a resurgence of Libyan cinema combine with a lack of infrastructure.
Pre-1967 cinema
The earliest recorded film to be made in Libya was a 1910 French-made documentary, Les habitants du desert de Lybie.
Despite the relative lack of cinematic production, film consumption was extremely popular as entertainment. The country's first cinema had been established as early as 1908,[3] though it was reportedly demolished after the Italian invasion of Libya in 1911. The Italians established cinemas, mostly but not exclusively for Italian audiences, in Libya's major cities.[1] From the 1940s until the mid-1960s, Libya boasted a large number of cinemas: around 14[2] or 20[4] in Tripoli, and around 10 in Benghazi. Cinemas in Tripoli included the outdoor Arena Giardino and the opulent Royal Cinema, which Gaddafi would rename Al-Shaab (The People).[4]
Cinema under Gaddafi
Gaddafi came to power in 1969. He regarded foreign films with suspicion, regarding them as American
Gaddafi exercised direct personal control over film production. For example, he censored the release of a film by Kasem Hwel, Searching for Layla al-‘Amiriya. Gaddafi established a production company to make Egyptian films. In the mid-1970s the government took increasingly direct control of all cinemas, blocking the importation of films, and cinemas began to close.[2]
Alongside Kuwait and Morocco, Gaddafi's government-sponsored
In 2009 it was announced that Gaddafi's son
Cinema since 2011
After the fall of Gaddafi, there was widespread desire for Libyan film to re-assert itself. However, cinema's resurgence has been obstructed by fighting and Islamist objections. Young Libyan filmmakers started to make short films, with support from the
In December 2017 Erato Festival, a film festival for human rights films was launched in Tripoli. It opened with Almohannad Kalthoum's docudrama Jasmine.[8]
See also
References
- ^ a b c d e f g Film in Libya, in Annette Kuhn & Guy Westwell, A Dictionary of Film Studies, Oxford University Press, online version, 2012.
- ^ a b c d e f g Hans-Christian Mahnke and Ramadan Salim, On Film and cinema in Libya – Interview with Libyan film critic and festival director Ramadan Salim, African Film Festival, Inc., 2014.
- ^ Xinhua, 1 May 2018.
- ^ a b c Rim Taher, Tripoli's 'Cinema Paradise' hold out as other cinemas shut doors, Middle East Eye, 4 September 2015.
- ^ a b Steve Rose, Lights, camera, revolution: the birth of Libyan cinema after Gaddafi's fall, The Guardian, 1 October 2012
- ISBN 978-1-5275-0414-1.
- ^ a b Ghaith Shennib, Young Libyans find escape in Tripoli's art cinema, Reuters, 16 May 2013.
- ^ Abdulkader Assad, Erato Cinema Festival kicks off in Tripoli, The Libya Observer, December 11, 2017.