Save Cinemas in Morocco founder Tarik Mounim on the fight to preserve public art in Morocco

Tarik Mounim first learned of the derelict state of Moroccan cinemas when he returned to his home country from Paris in 2006 for a role in the film Goodbye Mothers, which included scenes shot in an old theater in Tetouan.

“When I saw how amazing the cinema was, and how run down it had become, I met with the theater owner to ask what had happened. He explained to me that as less and less people were visiting cinemas, many were in disrepair or closed,” Tarik says. Other cinema buildings were purchased and repurposed for other businesses.

Internet piracy and the rise of movie multiplexes have each played a role in the decline of traditional cinemas in Morocco. “Now you can buy a pirated movie on any street corner in Casablanca for 4 or 6 dirham,” Tarik explains. “It kills creation, it kills culture, it kills cinema.”

The Moroccan Cinematographic Center, in charge of funding and regulating film projects and institutions, put money into producing movies while neglecting to restore old cinemas; instead, they built multiplexes, and stopped sending new releases to the old theaters. At 60 dirham per ticket, the multiplexes are unaffordable for many Moroccans.

The young actor knew that to lose the historic cinemas would mean a loss of vital cultural venues for Moroccans. “It is the only place for people to share the experience of watching a movie,” Tarik says. “If you watch a movie on a big screen, you are in the movie. Cinema is a mirror to society, a way to understand society and to broach formerly taboo topics.”

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Save Cinemas in Morocco founder Tarik Mounim on the fight to preserve public art in Morocco