When cinema in Tunisia travels to the audience

Whereas people typically go to the cinema halls to watch movies, an initiative in Tunisia is bringing the cinema to the audience.

The Cinema Tdour mobile setup travels on wheels to overlooked Tunisian communities that have no easy access to the cinema or the country's culture scene.

Some Tunisians have to travel up to 90 kilometers (56 miles) to reach a cinema hall, said Cinema Tdour project manager Meriam Ben Zayed.

"Unfortunately, the cinema halls in Tunisia are all centered in the capital. Outside the capital, there are no cinemas," she added.

Apart from simply showing movies, the mobile cinema aims to inspire young people. .

"Among those watching the film, perhaps 50 of them will develop an interest in music, cinema or theater. Instead of harming others, they will write a song," said Ines Ben Othmen, a film director.

Ben Othmen recently presented her film to the audience before it was played inside Cinema Tdour's truck.

The organizers brought atheltes and other well known people to encourage children to chase their dreams that have no limitations.

Olympic Taekwondo Champion Firas Katoussi and Olympic Karate champion Khalil Jandoubi attended a recent screening at Cinema Tdour in the Tunisian capital, and were greeted with enthusiastic applause.

"I want to tell them not to give up and to resist in order to achieve their dreams. We come from humble neighborhoods and we did not find the encouragement and support we needed. We believed in ourselves and succeeded," Jandoubi said.

The mobile cinema tries also to provide a public service for the community. Experts speak with the movie-goers in sessions organized by the World Health Organization to raise awareness about public health.

The travelling cinema has a capacity of 100 seats. While visiting areas outside the urban centres is their priority, they also made stops in Tunis during December, bringing movies to eager audiences in the city.

"The cinema comes to you wherever you are," is the project's moto so that whose who are sometimes forgotten are not left out in the world of films.