Cinémathèque de Tanger

The Cinémathèque de Tanger was born into a void. In 2004, this artist-run non-profit organization was founded in a city with no concert hall, no theatre, no public library, and with only four cinemas surviving out of a former 20. The broader fact is that across the Maghreb and the Middle East – a region which has historically been one of the planet's most fertile cultural spaces -- the cultural infrastructure has been atrophying for decades. This is due to a lack of the state and public investment, apathy from the private donors, and an official suspicion towards culture itself as tending to encourage dissent. It has thus fallen to artists across the Middle East to fight for their societies' cultural survival, and a small number of artist-run and alternative culture spaces have bloomed across the region – art galleries, theatres, cine-clubs, cinemas and artisanal groups. In February 2007, the Cinémathèque de Tanger opened its doors on the Grand Socco plaza, in a restored Landmark building, the 1938 Cinema Rif. Today, the Cinémathèque is North Africa’s only Art House Cinema, showing the best of contemporary and classic film in the historic heart of Tangier, Morocco. The express mission of the Cinémathèque de Tanger (CdT) is to develop film culture in Morocco. It aims to provide Tangier’s public with quality programming that reflects the rich diversity of motion pictures, beyond the commercial movies which dominate Moroccan consumption. Period CdT network partner from the 1st of October 2009 till the 31st of September 2012. CdT receives the amount of 180.000 Euros for this period of three years.