Arthouse Europa Cinemas Network Celebrates 20 Years

The initiative backed by the MEDIA Programme, plays a central role in helping arthouse cinemas offer an alternative to mainstream programming.

With its annual financial support ranging from €15,000 for single-screen cinemas to €45,000 for multiplexes of 15 or more screens, Europa Cinemas encourages exhibitors to programme a wide range of European non-national films (often above 50% of the overall programming), to develop initiatives targeting young audiences and create cinema networks on a national or European level.

In the Nordic region, European non-national films usually account for 14-15% of total admissions.

With 42 cinemas under the EC label, Sweden is by far the biggest member due to the country's larger cinema market and presence of mini-cinema networks. Folkets Hus och Parket (FHP) which controls 5.30% of Swedish admissions has 17 of its 222 small arthouse cinemas within the EC network, including four inner city cinemas (Spegeln-Malmö, Rio-Stockholm, Roy-Gothenburg and Röda Kvarn-Helsingborg) and 13 rural single screeners. The cinema chain linked to unions and community centres has been programming predominantly European films for the last three-four decades, so when it first received support from EC in 2008, it was like a ‘boost of confidence' to the company's programming policy, notes FHP programmer Matthias Holz. "Being part of EC is a way to tell our audiences that we are unique, 'like a brand of arthouse cinemas showing quality films, different from multiplexes,'" he says.

The other cinema network Folkets Bio has is its 15 independently-run cinemas under the EC label. The chain received in 2003 the Europa Cinemas Award for Best Young Audience Activities. The third mini-network Biografcentralen has three of its 15 small independent cinemas under EC.

Denmark has 12 arthouse cinemas in the EC network, including four in Copenhagen (the Dagmar, Gloria, Vester Vov Vov, and Grand Teatret). The Grand's managing director Kim Foss who also runs the distribution company Camera Film says: "Fighting the Hollywood machinery demands strong measures and means, so obviously the EC support means a great deal. It surely helps us stay afloat and make fewer compromises dictated by commercial needs."

Norway and Finland have only eight and five cinemas respectively under the EC label. Part of the reasons is that in Norway, most cinemas are run by local municipalities and it is already within their cultural remit to screen a large variety of films, while in Finland, arthouse independent cinemas remain scarce. "There are very few independent cinemas in Finland, especially in Helsinki, which would have really benefited from a good arthouse venue," notes Jukka-Pekka Laako who runs the Niagara Cinema in Tampere under the EC label.

Iceland's only arthouse cinema Bíó Paradís in Reykjavik supported by EC. Unlike most other cinemas in the Icelandic capital, the film venue has not yet been digitized and is having problems with its programming and access to prints. Hrönn Sveinsdóttir, director of Bíó Paradís says: "We rely on Europa Cinemas for support, information, networking and it is an important validation for a cinema like ours that is struggling for its existence."

For all programmers of quality European films, getting together and sharing ideas and experiences at a time when digital technology is radically modifying the way films are viewed is of paramount importance. The 17^th Europa Cinemas Conference in Paris (where over 500 international film professional are expected) is an opportunity for them to listen and take part in discussions regarding for instance the power of cinema within the film value chain and for European films, the role of arthouse exhibitors as film curators, turning customers into communities (with social networks), the state of screen digitization in Europe and new programming possibilities with digital technology. Among the numerous key speakers are Rikke Ennis, TrustNordisk CEO and producer Tero Kaukomaa (Blind Spot Pictures).

Parallel to the Europa Cinemas event, the international sales organisation Europa International (representing 34 European sales companies) will be holding in the same premises of the Novotel Hotel in Paris its first annual conference on Saturday November 24. Under the theme ‘From Pipedreams to Pipebusiness', the conference will focus on European and US ways of distributing and marketing films. Among the US guest speakers are Ted Hope (San Francisco Film Society) Ryan Werner (IFC Films) and Richard Lorber (Kino Lorber Films).

For further details on Europa Cinemas and its conference, check: www.europa-cinemas.org.