Hania Mroue, founder of Metropolis Art Cinema, poses at the site of the theater’s new venue in Mar Mikhail, as it looked in mid-June, 2024. (Credit: João Sousa/L’Orient Today)
BEIRUT — “Metropolis closed in Jan. 2020,” recalls Hania Mroue. “The country was in crisis. It was a month before the pandemic lockdown. When we saw every cinema in the world closing down, we didn’t know if we’d be able to open again.“These four years felt like eternity. I expected that a lot of new places would pop up to replace Metropolis, or that commercial cinemas would start to program more independent films.” She laughs. “Maybe that was wishful thinking.”The director of Metropolis Art Cinema sits behind a busy desk at the association’s current location, a suite of offices in Mar Mikhael, shared with Abbout Productions. It’s mid-June. The heat has yet to clench the city in earnest. Looking for light reading? Sign up to Breakfast in Bed, our newsletter served sunny-side up Mroue says the Aug. 4, 2020, Beirut port blast triggered...
BEIRUT — “Metropolis closed in Jan. 2020,” recalls Hania Mroue. “The country was in crisis. It was a month before the pandemic lockdown. When we saw every cinema in the world closing down, we didn’t know if we’d be able to open again.“These four years felt like eternity. I expected that a lot of new places would pop up to replace Metropolis, or that commercial cinemas would start to program more independent films.” She laughs. “Maybe that was wishful thinking.”The director of Metropolis Art Cinema sits behind a busy desk at the association’s current location, a suite of offices in Mar Mikhael, shared with Abbout Productions. It’s mid-June. The heat has yet to clench the city in earnest. Looking for light reading? Sign up to Breakfast in Bed, our newsletter served sunny-side up Mroue says the Aug. 4, 2020,...
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