The Jerusalem Cinematheque (founded by Lia van Leer) existed at Agron House from 1975 until the 1980s; a 1980 grant saw construction of its own building begin.[12] After this, the cinema at Agron House and the Jerusalem Cinematheque (as separate cinemas) were the first to show films on the Sabbath, which eventually drew protest from ultra-Orthodox residents in the 1980s.[13][14] Their film screenings on Friday nights were accompanied by lectures (of debatable quality) about the film, as venues could only operate on the Sabbath for "cultural events"; the ultra-Orthodox community started protesting when other cinemas started showing films on the Sabbath, which they did without pretense of lectures, and a wider movement to have more Sabbath entertainment began.[14] Over time, as the foreign bureaus closed or reduced capacity, they left Agron House, and the GPO followed in 2011.