Apollo Cinema in focus
By Messenger staff
Tuesday, December 10
Cinema Art Center Prometheus and Tiflis Hamqari held a demonstration in front of the Apollo Cinema at 135 Aghmashenebeli Avenue on December 2. Apollo, which is now privately owned, was Georgia’s first cinema house, opened in 1909.
Accompanied by local and international guests of the 14th Tbilisi International Film Festival (TIFF), the peaceful demonstrators addressed the government to do everything possible to return the cinema to the Georgian community.
In a statement released on December 6, the Georgian Ministry of Culture and Monument Protection said they share the public position regarding the recovery of the Apollo movie theater with its original function.
The Ministry informs that Minister Guram Odisharia carries on negotiations with the current owners of the theater. Calling the Apollo a distinguished monument of cultural heritage and one of the oldest movie theaters in Europe, the minister said it must regain its function and revive the cultural life of one of the finest districts of Tbilisi.
