Empire Cinema, which is one of the first cinemas in Tripoli that has been closed for over 30 years, was built in 1932. Tripoli, the second capital of Lebanon, had 35 cinemas, including the aforementioned cinema, which is a theater with 780 seats, located at Sultan Abdul Hamid Yard, well-known today as Al Tal Square.

Tiro Association for Arts (TAA) has been working for eight months on rehabilitating Empire Cinema, located in Tripoli city, North Lebanon, with the help of 25 volunteers from South and North Lebanon. TAA replicated its proven methods in rehabilitating Empire Cinema by bringing back its vitality to be the first Lebanese National Theater in Tripoli in 2022. This will help generate job opportunities for young people and free spaces for cultural and artistic events, as well as build and strengthen bonds between South and North Lebanon. Above all, it’s a forum for encounters, dialogues, artistic training workshops, theater performances, cinema, library, and a cafeteria to take place.

The association opened the cinema concurrently with the Tripoli International Theater Festival’s first edition, in which 12 theatrical performances.