Endangered species …

… These Photographs Capture Cuba’s Fading Cinema Culture | Travel | Smithsonian. (Hat tip, Rus Bowden.)

When the Cuban Revolution happened, a lot of cinema owners decided to leave the island. The government took over operating their businesses, but running that amount of cinemas was absolutely impossible, so the number of cinemas slowly decreased. The 19 that remain have been updated to today’s digital world, but many of the others have been abandoned or converted into community centers, places for the elderly and centers for kids. Unlike other countries where cinemas were destroyed to make space [for new buildings], in Cuba, because of the historic bubble and the fact that there was no money to be spent on [these projects], a lot of the old cinemas are left standing.