Three years ago, I was lead to the Cinema Colisee in Marrakech which, at the time, was playing one of the Harry Potter releases. I recall the plush lobby, the old-fashioned box office, the “now playing” sign (well, in French, but you get my drift).

In my own adopted city of Meknes, Cinema Camera, on the corner of Avenue Mohammed V and Avenue Hassan II, is packed to the brim every weekend. I saw the controversial film “Marock” there last year and, seated in the upper balcony, felt a twinge of jealousy - as it is, I come from the land of the sanitized multiplex with its $10 popcorn.

And yet, as Magharebia.com reports, Moroccan cinemas are, one by one, closing their doors. With the bootleg market of DVDs (which typically cost 10dh each, or about $1 USD), the affordability of home DVD players for many and the abundance of movies (in Arabic or French or with Arabic or French subtitles) on satellite TV (which even the poorest of poor seem to have), it’s no wonder the cinema (which costs between 15-50dh and is quite often the smoky haunt of teenage boys) is falling out of favor.

The abandoned Marrakesh “Cine-Palace”

And yet it isn’t all a sob story. Just last year, the Cinema Rif in Tangier’s famous Grand Socco reopened as the Cinametheque de Tanger, an arthouse cinema featuring what appeared to be surround sound, carpeting, comfortable modern seating and a gorgeously renovated interior (my photos were too dark, but there are some lovely ones here).

The Cinematheque was renovated by Yto Barrada, a French-Moroccan artist best known for her work documenting the Strait of Gibraltar and the plight of migration and immigration in a project called A Life Full of Holes: The Strait Project. Here is an excellent interview with her from openDemocracy. Laila Lalami wrote an excellent article about the Cinematheque’s opening back in February as well.

The theatre plans to show “art” films, with a focus on North African cinema, as well as children’s films and world cinema in general. Their lofty mission includes promoting world cinema in Morocco and being a focal point of cinema culture in Morocco.

I was fortunate enough to be part of a group that used the Cinematheque for the first time back in November 2006, three months before its official opening - the Annual American Language Center Conference was held in Tangier this past year, and the opening ceremony (including a wonderful performance by the ALC Tangier’s Drama Club) was held inside the theatre, which was nearly finished at the time. As soon as I walked in with my American colleagues, we were absolutely shocked at the quality of the theatre - the lighting was incredible, the chairs more comfortable than those of the multiplexes back home.

So what’s in store for the rest of Morocco’s cinemas, which are not so fortunate as the Cinema Rif? I would imagine that the free trade agreeement will have an influence, as bootleg DVD shops are rapidly being closed down - but an investment fund, as Nourredine Sail, director of the Moroccan Film Centre states, is ultimately necessary.

p.s. The Tangier Telegram, an expat (I think) Morocco blog which I had not yet discovered, has many interesting entries and thoughts on the Cinematheque.