Eden is the oldest cinema in the world still open and lively. In 1893, the Lumière family settled for holidays in La Ciotat. Louis and Auguste shoot their first films there, including the famous arrival of the train at the station, and invented cinema as a technique, as a device and as an art. The two most important stories of the small town of La Ciotat are that of the origins of cinema, where it is indelibly inscribed, and that of the Shipyards which have been the main activity of the town over the last two centuries. Eden cinema is found at the unexpected junction points of these two stories, surprisingly synchronous until a very recent date.

Located in southern France, La Ciotat has a rich history as a resort town and a hub for shipbuilding due to its proximity to Marseille. In 1893, the Lumière family visited La Ciotat for vacation. The Lumière brothers, Louis and Auguste, invented the first film by filming their work The Arrival of a Train at La Ciotat. As a result, La Ciotat has become a city with two stories: the birthplace of cinema and the regional hub of the shipbuilding industry for two centuries. The Eden Theatre, which opened for theatrical performances in 1889, screened the works of the Lumière brothers in 1899, making it the world's oldest movie theater. Of course, the Eden Theatre was also in crisis due to the decline of the shipbuilding industry in the 1980s, but thanks to efforts to revive it, the Eden Theatre has been revitalized. Today, La Ciotat and the Eden Theatre are considered a mecca of cinema. In the fall of 2021, director Alain BERGALA invited the Dardenne brothers from Belgium to showcase their films, including Young Ahmed, at this historical place while examining the historical significance of La Ciotat and the origin of cinema. (CHUN Jinsu)