Arthouse Exhibitors Find Winning Formulas With Community-Focused Programming, Special Events and Vegetable Markets
variety.comEd Meza @edmezavar International exhibitors gathered at Berlin’s majestic Kino International on the eve of the Berlin Film Festival on Wednesday to discuss challenges and innovative concepts that are pulling audiences back into theaters.
Opening the Berlinale edition of Cinema Vision 2030 conference, Christian Bräuer, chairman of Germany’s AG Kino – Gilde e.V.
cinema association, which organized the event, said the country’s cinemas were “still suffering from the effects of the pandemic and we still find ourselves in a world in crisis, we feel the consequences of the war, such as the massive increase in energy prices.” He therefore welcomed the opportunity to hear about new ideas and business models that could bolster the sector. “You are here today to tell us German exhibitors about your experiences and thoughts about the cinema of tomorrow,” he said, noting that the market was in a state of “rapid change.” Guest speakers Claire Binns, managing director of the U.K.’s Picturehouse; Christian Grass, CEO of New York City’s Metrograph; and Élise Mignot, director and curator of France’s Café des Images, located in Hérouville-Saint-Clair, near Caen in Normandy, offered very different examples of unique exhibition experiences that nevertheless shared similar approaches in focusing on films and community.
Picturehouse, which operates 26 cinemas throughout the U.K., offers special events, such as annual Eurovision parties and live broadcasts of opera, ballet and theater productions in addition to curated film showcases, such as the current Weimar Cinema series.
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