Damascus uproar: Historic Syrian cinema ordered to vacate in one week
A lot of people on social media were upset about what they saw as the disappearance of a major cultural icon in Damascus. Some even said it was a blow to the city's film history that goes back more than a hundred years.
The General Organization for Cinema used to own Al-Kindi Cinema, which is listed under property record number 2285 in the Salhiya area. On July 10, 2025, the Directorate sent out a formal letter ending the lease. A less than $30-a-year rent has been paid for decades for the more than 700-square-meter spot.
The relatives of the original tenant, Mohammad Aref Al-Kheimi & Co., have been told by the authorities to leave the property within seven days. If they don't, the order will be enforced through the courts. The Directorate said that the site would be fixed up and turned into a culture center to "spread knowledge and enlightenment" among young Syrians.
After opening in the 1920s as "Adonis Cinema," Al-Kindi Cinema changed its name to "Balqis Cinema" before being bought by the General Organization for Cinema in 1976. It has been an important part of Syrian film culture ever since, hosting both foreign and Arab film events.
Some people are against the lease because they say it is a "automatically renewable contract," which means that it can't be broken without a change in the law. Legal experts, like lawyer Ismail Nasr, said the Directorate's action wasn't legal and that it should have waited for future changes to property rules before taking action.
Some people wanted to take back long-leased trust homes, but a lot of other people said that renegotiating the rent would have been a better option for everyone. They also didn't like the one-week date for eviction, pointing out that the cinema had valuable technical equipment and was historically important.
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