Editing Tyre, Lebanon (section)

== Cultural life ==
The first cinema in Tyre opened in the late 1930s when a café owner established makeshift film screenings.<ref name="Stoughton-2016">{{Cite web|url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2016/06/championing-culture-lebanon-south-160628100019493.html|title=Championing culture in Lebanon's south|last=Stoughton|first=India|date=8 August 2016|publisher=Al Jazeera|access-date=4 October 2019}}</ref> Hamid Istanbouli – a fisherman by profession, who was also a traditional storyteller (''hakawati'') and thus interested in cinema – projected films on the wall of a Turkish hammam.<ref name="Hélou-2016">{{Cite web|url=https://www.agendaculturel.com/article/Scene_Le_festival_international_de_theatre_du_Liban_a_Nabatiyeh_semer_la_culture_et_la_joie|title=Le festival international de théâtre du Liban à Nabatieh : semer la culture et la joie|last=Hélou|first=Nelly|year=2016|website=Agenda Culturel|access-date=21 December 2019}}</ref> In 1939 the Roxy opened, followed in 1942 by the "Empire":<ref name="Al-Ghorba-2018">{{Cite web|url=http://al-ghorba6.blogspot.com/2018/04/kassem-istanbouli-re-opens-rivoli-cinema.html|title=Kassem Istanbouli re-opens the Rívoli Cinema|date=April 2018|website=Al-Ghorba|access-date=5 October 2019}}</ref>

<blockquote>By the mid-1950s there were four cinemas in Tyre, and four more soon opened in nearby [[Nabatieh]]. Many also hosted live performances by famous actors and musicians, serving as community spaces where people from different backgrounds came together.<ref name="Stoughton-2016" /></blockquote>

In 1959, the "Cinema Rivoli of Tyre" opened and quickly became one of the prime movie theatres of the country. According to [[United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon|UNIFIL]], it was visited "by celebrity who's whos of the time, including [[Jean Marais]], [[Brigitte Bardot]], [[Rushdy Abaza|Rushdi Abaza]] and Omar Hariri."<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://unifil.unmissions.org/promoting-culture-peace-through-arts|title=Promoting culture of peace through arts|last=Monzer|first=Hiba|date=5 October 2018|website=United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon|access-date=4 October 2018}}</ref> In 1964, the "Dunia" opened,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://tiroarts.com/cinema-rivoli/|title=Cinema Rivoli|last=Istanbouli|first=Kassem|date=n.d.|website=Tiro Association for Arts|access-date=21 December 2019|archive-date=1 October 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191001120923/https://tiroarts.com/cinema-rivoli/|url-status=dead}}</ref> two years later followed by the "Al Hamra Cinema",<ref name="Al-Ghorba-2018" /> which became a venue for some of the Arab world's most famous performers, like [[Mahmoud Darwish]], [[Sheikh Imam]], [[Ahmed Fouad Negm]], [[Wadih El Safi|Wadih el-Safi]], and [[Marcel Khalife]].<ref name="Stoughton-2016" />

Meanwhile, two Tyrian artists had a major impact on the development of Lebanese music: [[Halim el-Roumi]] (1919–1983) and Ghazi Kahwaji (1945–2017). Some sources claim that the famous musician, composer, singer and actor el-Roumi was born in Tyre to Lebanese parents. However, others suggest that he was born in [[Nazareth]] and moved to Tyre from Palestine.<ref>{{Cite journal|url=http://www.dailystar.com.lb//Culture/Performance/2011/Jun-27/142220-majida-al-roumi-ignites-jounieh-with-an-evening-of-patriotic-songs.ashx|title=Majida al-Roumi ignites Jounieh with an evening of patriotic songs|date=27 June 2011|journal=The Daily Star|access-date=21 December 2019|archive-date=21 December 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191221105723/http://www.dailystar.com.lb//Culture/Performance/2011/Jun-27/142220-majida-al-roumi-ignites-jounieh-with-an-evening-of-patriotic-songs.ashx|url-status=dead}}</ref> For some time, he worked as a teacher at the Jafariya High School there. In 1950 he became director of [[Radio Lebanon]]'s music department,<ref>{{Cite book|last=Burkhalter|first=Thomas|title=Local Music Scenes and Globalization – Transnational Platforms in Beirut|publisher=Routledge|year=2013|isbn=978-1138849716|location=New York|pages=154–155}}</ref> where he discovered the singer [[Fairuz]] and introduced her to the [[Rahbani brothers]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://insidearabia.com/fairuz-rahbani-brothers-musical-legends/|title=Fairuz and the Rahbani Brothers: Musical Legends Who Shaped Modern Lebanese Identity|last=Rachidi|first=Soukaina|date=24 March 2019|access-date=21 December 2019}}</ref> Roumi composed music for and with them in close collaborations.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.thenational.ae/arts-culture/music/fairuz-the-voice-of-lebanon-1.553510?videoId=5747539112001|title=Fairuz: the voice of Lebanon|last=Makarem|first=Racha|date=4 November 2010|website=The National|access-date=21 December 2019}}</ref>

Kahwaji was Lebanon's first [[scenographer]] and for three decades the artistic general director for the [[Rahbani brothers]] and [[Fairuz]]. He used this prominent position to promote "against [[Confessionalism (religion)|confessionalism]] and [[fundamentalism]]".<ref name="Sarhan-2013" /> Kahwaji, who was also a professor at the [[Lebanese University]] (LU) and the [[Saint Joseph University]] in Beirut,<ref>{{Cite web|title=Ġāzī Qahwaǧī|url=https://data.bnf.fr/fr/15029098/gazi_qahwagi/|access-date=2021-09-03|website=data.bnf.fr|language=fr}}</ref> published between 2008 and 2010 the [[Sarcasm|sarcastic]] three-volume book series "Kahwajiyat" about [[Social justice|social injustice]] in the Arab world.<ref name="Sarhan-2013">{{Cite web|url=https://en.qantara.de/content/interview-with-the-lebanese-artist-ghazi-kahwaji-i-believe-that-several-paths-lead-to-god|title=I Believe that Several Paths Lead to God|last=Sarhan|first=Aladdin|date=29 May 2013|website=Qantara.de|access-date=29 October 2019}}</ref>

By then, cultural life in Tyre had been severely affected by armed conflict as well. In 1975, the commercial "Festivals de Tyr" – organised by Maha al-Khalil Chalabi, the daughter of feudal landlord and politician Kazem al-Khalil – were supposed to debut but stopped at the outbreak of the Civil War.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Henoud|first=Carla|date=6 July 2002|title=Femmes...Maha el-Khalil Chalabi, un combat incessant pour Tyr|url=https://www.lorientlejour.com/article/379690/Femmes...Maha_el-Khalil_Chalabi%252C_un_combat_incessant_pour_Tyr%2528PHOTO%2529.html|access-date=20 November 2020|website=L'Orient - Le Jour|language=fr}}</ref>

Some cinemas were damaged by Israeli bombardment in 1982 and all of them eventually closed down, the last ones in 1989:<ref name="Stoughton-2016" /> the Hamra and the AK2000.<ref name="Al-Ghorba-2018" />

In the mid-nineties though, first the idea of a commercial Tyre International Festival was revived. It has been organised since then annually in the ancient site of the Roman hippodrome, featuring international artists like [[Elton John]] and [[Sarah Brightman]],<ref>{{Cite book|title=Lebanon: The Official Guide|publisher=Paravision S.A.L. / Ministry of Tourism|year=n.d.|isbn=978-9953002880|pages=119}}</ref> as well as Lebanese stars [[Wadih El Safi]], [[Demis Roussos]], [[Kadim Al-Saher]], [[Melhem Barakat]], [[Julia Boutros]], and [[Majida El Roumi]],<ref name="Badawi-2008" /> the daughter of Halim el-Roumi.

In 2006, the "Centre de Lecture et d’Animation Culturelle" (C.L.A.C.) was opened by Tyre's municipality as the first public library of the city, with support from the Lebanese Ministry of Culture and the French Embassy in Beirut. It is located in the historical building of the "Beit Daoud" next to the "Beit El Medina", the former Mamluk House, in the old town.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://mediakitab.com/liban/le-centre-de-lecture-et-danimation-culturelle-de-tyr-sud-liban/|title=Le Centre de Lecture et d'Animation Culturelle de Tyr – Sud Liban|date=15 June 2009|website=MEDiakitab|access-date=5 October 2019}}</ref>

In 2014, the NGO Tiro Association for Arts rehabilitated the defunct cinema Al Hamra under the leadership of "Palestinian-Lebanese street theater performer, actor, comedian, and theater director"<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://homenewhome.gr/index.php/en/home-en/tutors-en/lebanon-tutors-en/istanbouli-tutor-en|title=Kassem Istanbouli|year=2017|website=Home New Home|access-date=4 October 2019}}</ref> [[:ar:مستخدم:Kassem istanbouli|Kassem Istanbouli]] (*1986). His grandfather was one of the founders of cinema in Tyre and his father used to repair cinema projectors.<ref name="Hélou-2016" />

In 2018, the Istanbouli Theatre troupe rehabilitated and moved to the Rivoli Cinema,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://tiroarts.com/tiro-arts-association/|title=About|date=n.d.|website=Tiro Association for Arts|access-date=1 October 2019|archive-date=1 October 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191001120854/https://tiroarts.com/tiro-arts-association/|url-status=dead}}</ref> which had been closed since 1988,<ref>{{Cite journal|url=http://ftp.dailystar.com.lb/Arts-and-Ent/Culture/2018/Aug-30/461642-bringing-culture-to-your-doorstep.ashx|title=Bringing culture to your doorstep|last=Ghali|first=Maghie|date=30 August 2018|journal=The Daily Star|access-date=1 October 2019|archive-date=1 October 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191001122004/http://ftp.dailystar.com.lb/Arts-and-Ent/Culture/2018/Aug-30/461642-bringing-culture-to-your-doorstep.ashx|url-status=dead}}</ref> to establish the non-commercial Lebanese National Theater as a free cultural space with free entrance and a special focus on training children and youth in arts. It also runs the "Mobile Peace Bus", which is decorated with [[graffiti]] of Lebanese cultural icons, to promote arts in the villages of the neighbouring countryside.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://unifil.unmissions.org/peace-bus-wheels-out-art-and-culture-south-lebanon|title=Peace Bus wheels out art and culture in south Lebanon|date=7 September 2018|website=United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon|access-date=28 October 2019}}</ref> Istanbouli has argued:

<blockquote>In Tyre, we have 400 shops for [[Hookah|shisha]], one library, and one theatre. But if there are places, people will come.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.thenational.ae/world/mena/meet-the-lebanese-man-trying-to-reopen-cinemas-closed-by-war-1.625832|title=Meet the Lebanese man trying to reopen cinemas closed by war|last=Enders|first=David|date=September 5, 2017|website=The National|access-date=4 October 2019}}</ref></blockquote>

In 2019, the film ''Manara'' (Arabic for "lighthouse") by Lebanese director [[Zayn Alexander]], who shot the movie at the Al Fanar resort in Tyre, won the Laguna Sud Award for Best Short Film at the [[Venice Days]] Strand festival.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.thenational.ae/arts-culture/film/manara-sheds-light-on-problems-in-lebanese-culture-1.928171|title='Manara' sheds light on problems in Lebanese culture|last=Mottram|first=James|date=24 October 2019|website=The National|access-date=28 October 2019}}</ref>

<gallery widths="200px" heights="200px">
File:RoxyCinemaRuins TyreSour RomanDeckert16082019.jpg|The ruins of the building that used to house the Empire cinema, 2019
File:HALIM EL-ROUMI.jpg|Halim El Roumi
File:Layal Abboud - Plaza Palace Ceremony - Beirut - July 2015 - Lebanon 15.jpg|Layal Abboud in 2015
File:KassemIstanbouli CinemaRivoli TyreSour-RomanDeckert30092019.jpg|Karim Istanbouli in 2019 at the Rivoli
File:BellaCiao RivoliStreetCarnival TyreSourLebanon RomanDeckert07122019.webm|Video of the carnival during the TIRO INTERNATIONAL ARTS FESTIVAL 2019
</gallery>