The promotional Swedish cinema pass launched in November, has had a slow start due to the pandemic, but with the lifting of restrictions, professionals have high hopes.

Run and owned jointly by the Swedish Cinema Owners' Association (Sveriges Biografägareförbund) and the Swedish Film Rental Association (Sveriges Filmuthyrareförening), with support from the Swedish Film Institute, the Swedish Cinema Club (Svenska biografklubben) is meant to boost local cinema attendance hit by Covid-19, and raise Swedes’ average 1.5 cinema visits a year.

With a formula copied on the successful Danish Cinema Club (Biografklub Danmark), which generates around 2 million visits a year through its 200,000 members, the Swedish Cinema Club and its ‘Biopasset’ (cinema pass) offers 10 hand-picked high-quality films a year at SEK149 each, almost half the full price.

“I think Biopasset is essential,” said seasoned exhibitor and distributor Jakob Abrahamson, CEO at NonStop Entertainment, who also sits on Biopasset’s film selection committee. “There is still a long way to go to bring back the pre-Covid audience, especially for the more grown-up fare which has yet to bounce back in any significant way, and Biopasset is really an important tool in this,” he insists.

Peter Frantzell, Head of the project Biopasset said: “After only three months and a severe impact from the pandemic, we have already sold close to 4,000 cinema passes, which is in line with our expectations, given the circumstances.” He is hopeful to reach the target of 20,000 cinema members by the end of 2022, thanks to the full industry’s commitment and promotional push.

“There is a high level of awareness of ‘Biopasset’ among the audience, and we still have seven films left this season, so now that the restrictions have eased, we hope that even more people will find their way back to the cinemas to experience a really good movie on the big screen,” he said.

“This is a long term bet so we have to give it time,” added Peter Fornstam, MD of the cinema chain Svenska Bio and head of the Swedish Exhibitors’ Association. “We all look at Denmark as the wunderkind but it’s taken them 23 years to get there! Even a thousand-mile journey starts with one step,” he noted.

After Ridley Scott’s House of Gucci, Pablo Larraín’s Spencer, Pedro Almodovar’s Parallel Mothers, Kenneth Branagh’s Belfast launched February 24, was the fourth release part of Biopasset’s 2021-2022 season. The film took the slot originally booked by Felix Herngren’s Day by Day, which was delayed to March 4, due to the pandemic.

Day by Day is among two Swedish films selected for Biopasset’s inaugural season, alongside Björn Runge’s Burn All My Letters, due to open September 23. Abrahamson says Biopasset offers a wide range of quality films - Swedish, English, non-English language titles, with a minimum two local films per season, as agreed with the SFI.

The next season for Biopasset will be announced this summer.

For more information: www.biopasset.se