Azadi Cinema Complex

Azadi Cinema Complex
Location within Iran
General information
Status	Completed
Type	Cinema
Location	Tehran, Iran
Coordinates	35°43′41″N 51°24′58″E
Opening	1969 (rebuild in 2008)
Height
Roof	60 m (200 ft)
Technical details
Floor count	10
Floor area	850 m^2 (9,100 sq ft)
References
https://web.archive.org/web/20101226094252/http://www.cinema-azadi.com/Fa/Facilities.aspx?p=fs

Azadi Cinema Complex is a cineplex building located at Beheshti Street in Tehran. It is used for movie premieres and various entertainment events.

History

The cinema was inaugurated on 23 April 1969 as Shahre Farang Cinema.^{[citation needed]} It was renamed Azadi Cinema in 1980. It had two screens.

Located on the Azadi Square,^[1] the building caught fire on numerous occasions in 1976, 1990, and on 18 April 1997,^[2] which caused its closure. Zeydabadi-Nejad writes, "Of particular importance among cinema halls was Azadi, one of the most popular in Tehran."^[3] It hosted the Imposed War Film Festival in 1983.^[4]

Reconstruction

The cinema was destroyed by a fire in 1998. The site was left vacant for 8 years.^[5]

A new cineplex was opened, in 2008. Azadi Cinema Complex now has five screens, one with 600 seats and others with 200 each.^[6] The complex is one of the major cineplexes in Tehran, with the one at Mellat Park.^[7]

The building now hosts a Cinematheque and was described in the Tehran Times as follows: "It is one of the landmarks of Tehran, marking the west entrance to the city, and is part of the Azadi Cultural and Artistic Complex, which also includes an underground museum."^[8]

Gallery

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  1997
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Notes

1. "Tehran in Iranian Post-Revolutionary Films". Cinema Iranica. Retrieved 2024-01-16.
2. Naficy, Hamid (2011). A Social History of Iranian Cinema, Volume 3: The Islamicate Period, 1978–1984. Duke University Press. ISBN 978-0-8223-4877-1.
3. Zeydabadi-Nejad, Saeed (2009-12-04). The Politics of Iranian Cinema: Film and Society in the Islamic Republic. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-135-28309-4.
4. Naficy, Hamid (2012-11-06). A Social History of Iranian Cinema, Volume 4: The Globalizing Era, 1984–2010. Duke University Press. ISBN 978-0-8223-4878-8.
5. Ginsberg, Terri; Lippard, Chris (2020). Historical Dictionary of Middle Eastern Cinema. Rowman & Littlefield. ISBN 978-1-5381-3905-9.
6. Azadi Cinema official website "وب سایت سینما آزادی". Archived from the original on 26 December 2010. Retrieved 2 January 2010. "Azadi Cinema" accessed 2 January 2011.
   - "Azadi Cinema Complex". Iran Tour Organization. Archived from the original on 7 October 2011. Retrieved 8 September 2011.
7. BalaEddy, Prerna (2023-07-04). "Political Contestation around the "Football in Cinema" Project in Iran". Project on Middle East Political Science. Retrieved 2024-01-16.
8. "Azadi Tower's cinematheque to open with "Oppenheimer"". Tehran Times. 2024-01-01. Retrieved 2024-01-16.