The Algerian government has created new operating regulations for cinemas and multiplexes in the country.
Aiming to standardise and bring cinemas into conformity, these regulations establish a set of rules for everyone working in the sector. From now on every cinema is “subject to obtaining an operating license” issued by the Centre national du cinéma. A committee will be responsible for monitoring and classifying cinemas.
The new regulations specify that cinemas and multiplexes “must conform to architectural and technical standards […], particularly as regards the recline angle of seats, wheelchair accessibility and toilet facilities, acoustics, projection equipment and every aspect guaranteeing audience comfort.” By imposing standards for safety, comfort and everything technical, the government hopes to modernise the country’s cinema infrastructure.
To understand the state of Algerian cinemas the journalist Safia Ayache made a survey of them in 2021 for Le Monde. In her article she emphasises that many cinemas have disappeared, from around fifty in Algiers in 1962 to perhaps ten now. One researcher, Ammal Kessab, told her many had been converted for other uses: “They have not only lost their original layout, due to whatever work their owners have done, but because of the lack of maintenance most of them are either dilapidated or even demolished.”
