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For the first time in 28 years, Brazzaville, the capital of the Republic of Congo, has a working cinema, the AFP news agency reports.

Congolese movie goers were last able to see a film on the big screen in 1991, the year the National Film Board went bankrupt, AFP says.

The empty cinemas have since been turned into shops or places of worship, it adds.

The new 300-seat cinema was built with money from the Bollore group, a French firm, and includes an outdoor stage for cultural events.

"We would like Congolese films to be screened... not just Western films," young Congolese filmmaker Massein Pethas told AFP.

Congolese channel Vox TV reported in French on the opening of the new cinema