Kassem Istanbouli has been on a mission over the past decade restoring abandoned cinema theaters and converting them into cultural hubs for marginalized communities in Lebanon.
Working under the banners of NGO the Tiro Association for Arts (TAA) and his Istanbouli Theater company, the artist, actor and filmmaker has spearheaded the renovation of cinemas in the northern Lebanese city of Tripoli as well as in Beirut and the Southern Lebanese cities of Tyre and Nabatieh.
Amid the escalating war between Israel and Iran-backed armed group Hezbollah, these cinema theaters are being repurposed yet again as shelters for people displaced from Southern Lebanon and the capital of Beirut by Israeli military action.
Lebanon’s Health Ministry has said that least at 2,000 people have been killed since Israel stepped up its bombing campaign targeting Hezbollah leaders and arms cachets on September 23, while UN refugee agency UNHCR estimates 1.2 million people have fled their homes.
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