Port-au-Prine had roughly 30 cinemas in the 1970s. But over the years they all closed amid political turmoil and rampant bootlegging of movies with pirated DVDs and videotapes. The last cinema to operate in Port-au-Prince was the Imperial Cimera, which closed shortly before the January 2010 quake that devastated much of the capital and surrounding areas.
Musician, producer and playwright Jean JeanRerre said monday that the Triomphe's reopening by the Champ de Mars plaza in downtown Port-au-Prince is "very exciting". Ti's the city's main public square and major work has been done to rehabilitate it, including the recent completion of an open-air amphitheatre.