The Minister of Justice Thea Tsulukiani festively opened the Cinema Hall of the National Archives of the Ministry of Justice of Georgia on April 10.

The event was attended by the representatives of the National Film Center, “Union of Cinematographers”, “Georgian film”, Georgian directors of various generations, film critics, film actors, teachers and pupils of “Pionerfilm”, students of Shota Rustaveli Theatre and Film State University, Tbilisi State University and other higher educational institutions. The Minister of Justice asked the participants of the event to observe a moment of silence for the memory of those who died in “Mindeli” mine.

The renewed of the Cinema Hall is another large-scale project supported by the Minister of Justice for the accessibility of the materials preserved in the National Archives; In July 2016, the exhibition pavilion of the National Archives was opened, featuring diverse and unique materials of the archive during different expositions.

The Cinema Hall was opened by one of the first animated cartoon "Argonauts - Kolkhida", shot in 1934-1935. The director of the film is Lado Mujiri, painter - Lado Gudiashvili, composer - Shalva Azmaipharashvili.

The Cinema Hall, counted on 140 spectators, is equipped with multifunctional, new technologies and will be the only Cinema Hall in Georgia, where the film's projection will be available from the film typw. In the renewed Cinema Hall, along with the digital equipment, the projector has been installed for a high quality screening. The audio and acoustic system of the hall was equipped with modern standards.

While opening the Cinema Hall, the works of the self-taught sculptor from Oni, Zaur Gamkrelidze were exhibited in the foyer. Since the age of 14 he began to create conceptual exhibits with plasticine.

After the opening ceremony of the Cinema Hall, the guests moved to the Exhibition Pavilion of the National Archives, where the exhibition "Georgian Film in Photos" was presented. The exposition includes unique photographs of Georgian feature films that reflect not only the shots from the films, but the shooting locations also.

The guests were invited to offer their own versions of the name for the newly opened Cinema Hall, one will be selected for the hall.

The Cinema hall was functioning in the building of the National Archives since the late 1970s till the beginning of the 1990s. At that time, its main purpose was to organize thematic film screenings. Due to technical problems, the cinema hall lost its main function for more than 25 years and was used as a depository.

Throughout Georgia, the National Archives is the largest repository of documentaries and news-reels. It preserves 5252 documentaries, 3194 news-reels, 1032 film documents, 111 feature films and 38 cartoons.

After the opening the Cinema Hall, the National Archives will organize the festivals of archival films, retrospectives and thematic shows, to acquaint the wide society with the richest film collection.