The matter in summary Several cinemas in Norway are struggling to fill up the theaters, and many believe that a lack of good films is one of the reasons. Pandemic, streaming services and Hollywood strike are other reasons that are highlighted. In Svolvær, a town with 10,000 inhabitants, proposals have been made to close the doors of the only cinema. Young people in Svolvær believe that more people would go to the cinema if the tickets were cheaper and there was a bigger offer for young people. The cinema in Steinkjer, on the other hand, has seen an increase in visitor numbers of 352 per cent after they got a new cultural center in September last year. The summary is made by an AI service from OpenAI. The content is quality assured by news’s journalists before publication. People go to the cinema less. Pandemic, streaming services and Hollywood strike are the three things that people in the industry highlight when they talk about poor attendance figures in Norwegian cinemas. But Oliver Engstad (15) in Svolvær does not think that it is the reasons alone. – I think it is the new generation. That people are a little less social and such. And “no offense”, there have been slightly fewer good films lately. – There’s a bit more atmosphere, and then there’s the big screen and the whole thing, says Oliver Engstad about going to the cinema, even if he doesn’t go there that much himself. Photo: Trude Furuly / news Proposal to close the cinema In his municipality, Svolvær, with just under 10,000 inhabitants, a proposal to close the doors to the cinema has recently been put forward. Not long ago, Løten rural cinema in Inlandet had to propose the same. In Vennesla in Southern Norway, the politicians decided to close the cinema in April, and in Tønsberg, zealots are now fighting for the cinema to continue. Engstad believes that the residents of Svolvær will miss the cinema if he disappears. – Yes, because if a good film comes out, it’s fun to see him in the cinema. If you can’t do it, it will be a bit awkward, says Engstad. But he admits that he doesn’t go to the cinema very often. He mostly watches films at home, unless it’s a really good film at the cinema. The same applies to Marius Pedersen (13) and Mima Vassøy Elvestad (13) in Svolvær. Elvestad believes that more people would have gone to the cinema if the tickets were a little cheaper. – It will be stupid if the cinema wakes up. I think they will miss it, most of them, instead of having to wait until it comes on Netflix and such. While Pedersen believes there is little on offer for young people. – Most of it is for children, and for young people it is a little less. Because films for adults you don’t let go, and those for children can be boring. The three young people have one thing in common: It takes a really good film for them to make the trip. Eva Mette Lundahl is the day-to-day manager of Svolvær film theater and Lofoten cultural center, which operates the cinema. She saw early on that the number of visitors was down this year. – The cinema as of this year seems to be operating with a deficit of closer to 200,000. And it may be that when we have to save 50 million, it doesn’t sound like much, but all in all it helps. – The cinema in Norway is struggling at the moment and 2024 has not been a good year. There are as many people going to the cinema this year as in 2019, but they go to the cinema fewer times, says Lundahl. Photo: Trude Furuly / news – Now Svolvær may soon be without a cinema, what do you think of that? – We work quite hard to avoid exactly that. We have Excel sheets up absolutely all the time and look around with lights and lanterns. Now a partner has knocked on the door in the hope of helping to save the cinema. Claims throughout the country The northern Norwegian cinema chain Aurora is in a critical situation with a deficit of NOK 5.5 million. Therefore, they have now been granted an application for a loan guarantee of NOK 2.2 million, and Ida Kathrine Balto is breathing a sigh of relief. She is acting managing director. – It’s not nice at all, and of course I would like us to get rid of it, she says. – Habits change a lot during covid. People came up with other things, in addition there is of course this with the economy, we see it around all the municipalities, says Balto. Photo: Privat She points to two things that explain the low visitor numbers: The exceptionally nice summer in northern Norway, which makes people want to be outside. It has been difficult to find balance after the corona pandemic. – There is definitely more we can do to get them back. We try to work with the concept to find opportunities where people both want and can afford to visit. For the cinema in Narvik, which is also operated by the cinema chain Aurora, there was a big drop in the number of visitors in 2023, much because the film “The Battle of Narvik” was so well seen in 2022. Photo: Eirik Linder Aspelund / Eirik Linder AspelundNordisk Film Distribusjon AS Espen L. Pedersen, managing director of Film og kino, calls the financial situation for Norwegian cinemas demanding. – With a decrease so far this year of 19.1 per cent compared to 2023, he informs news. But it is for more reasons than the pandemic and Netflix. 7 out of 10 want to see more Among several reasons, Pedersen points out: The already mentioned Hollywood strike, which led to delayed recordings and launches. A major failure in visits to Norwegian films with a decrease of 27 per cent from 2023 to this year. – According to Norwegian film producers and distributors, changes in the subsidy schemes at the Norwegian Film Institute have made it almost impossible to produce broad audience winners without prior subsidies in the marketing scheme from NFI, says Pedersen. Photo: Kristoffer Sandven According to Virke’s survey Kulturpuls, seven out of ten state that they want to use cultural services more often than they do today. Many state a lack of relevant content as a reason for preferring to stay at home. The Norwegian Film Institute’s audience survey for 2023 indicates that the cinema technical equipment must be of good quality to get more bums in the set. And it may not come as a shock that the biggest platforms are streaming services. Nevertheless, the number increased in 2023 from 2022 because the year offered big cinema successes such as “Barbenheimer”. But it was not enough to reach the same heights as before the pandemic. In Steinkjer, there is nevertheless an exception to the negative trend. Barbenheimer became a source of “memes” and humor all over the world, when Barbie and Oppenheimer were to go to the cinemas in 2023. They were both nominated for an Oscar in the category of best film. Oppenheimer ran away with the victory. Light point in Steinkjer: – Mine or your cup holder? In light of the fact that Steinkjer got a new cultural center in September last year, they have increased interest in the cinema. With that, they went from 6,945 visitors in September 2023, to 31,395 visitors in the same month this year. That is an increase of 352 percent. – When they designed the new cinema, they chose to invest in extra good seats, top sound, top picture, and we can see that this has paid off, says cinema manager Jonas Stakset. He believes an important keyword is to make the experience better than at home on the sofa. – If you have the framework for a good experience, then you want to see the film in the best surroundings, with the biggest screen and the best sound, says Stakset. Photo: Privat Stakset emphasizes that they do not have a golden recipe, but that people today have gotten into the habit of having plenty of space around them. – The public doesn’t just come to sit down in the chair to watch a film. They want to experience more at the same time. That means wider seats, a table for yourself and your own armrests. – So you don’t have to decide whether it’s mine or your cup holder on the right and left side. – We depend on there being good films that we can offer to the guests, and then it is to create a greater experience for those who choose to spend their time with us, he says. Have faith in a promising 2025 Despite the negative development, many in the industry believe in better conditions in the coming year. – The good news is that we are over the worst of it. This weekend, both the premiere film “Love” and “Smile 2” were well attended in Norwegian cinemas, says Espen L. Pedersen. Helga Guren and Oddgeir Thune play the couple who may be separated from each other in “Love”. Photo: Øystein Mamen/ Nordisk Film Production – We have great faith that with the filmmakers we know will come in 2025, Norwegian cinemas will once again sell more than 10 million tickets, says Pedersen. That is 2 million more than this year, which has had the lowest number since the pandemic. Ida Kathrine Balto also believes in better times. – But we all have to accept that there will be different times. Published 31.10.2024, at 15.55
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Svolvær cinema struggles with Aurora Cinema – think the reason is fewer good films – news Nordland
