The Libyan filmmaker who fights for the return of cinema to his country

Libya’s capital Tripoli was once home to a flourishing cinema scene. But the dictatorship by Muammar Gaddafi and the Libyan civil war led to the disappearance of all cinemas and filmmaking in the city. One director is trying to change that.

Mouayed Zabtia shoots most scenes for his latest movie in a studio he built at his Tripoli home. For the filmmaker, it is one way to overcome the obstacles he faces in a country where cinema once…