Index – Culture – It should open when it is no longer scary

There may be several signs that a society is choosing to have overcome the epidemic. Perhaps the most spectacular thing is the opening of cinemas. Going to the cinema is a complex program, we usually do it in company, in front of it we are definitely online at the box office or at the buffet, and then we sit in a closed space with many unknown people for at least two hours, with commercials.

Everything in the previous sentence seems unfeasible at the end of April 2020. In addition, in Hungary, the compulsory closure also culminated in theaters that tried to move within the framework of the government’s decision and were opened for a few days for a fraction of the previous hearing.

In our previous article, Hungarian cinemas answered the question of how they lived through the last good month, when they had to keep it closed, in which it was stated that they also see foreign news, find out and wait. And there is something to learn, because there is no uniform vision in the world of how cinemas should work in the midst of a coronavirus epidemic, although anti-epidemic regulations also vary radically from country to country. For this article, we have looked at these provisions, as well as the loosening that is really on the brink, from different parts of the world.

A new world awaits us

It is fairly recent news that the world’s second-largest cinema market, China, will open its cinemas in June after they were all closed in January. It has repeatedly been rushed that China will restart theaters where Marvel movies and other box office hits will be screened to bleed from the nose, but according to official news, this decision will be made at the end of the National People’s Congress in May. Meanwhile, the Beijing authorities will also reduce the level of emergency in the Chinese capital, which is currently the most prepared.

In South Korea, by contrast, theaters were not closed for a minute, despite a rapid increase in the number of infected people in the country in February, and then intensive testing and contact investigation prevented the outbreak of the outbreak. As the problem remained manageable at all times, the cinemas, along with similar institutions, also did not close, although this did not mean that people began to walk without reason. According to the Korean Film Council, attendance fell 88 percent in March from the same period last year, although only a third of the 513 theaters in the country closed.

It was also a huge blow because it was in February when South Korea was able to experience the greatest cinematic success in its history, with the movie Parasites by Pong Junho that also won three Oscars, including a Best Picture award. It was speculated that this would give another boost to the popularity of national films, but in the end, the twenty Korean screenings scheduled for the first half of the year had to be postponed. But the Koreans have not completely ruled it out of the cinema, the twenty-one automobile theaters in the country are now experiencing a renaissance, there are places where attendance has doubled, while there is a multiplex operating with a five percent occupancy.

The other exception in the world is Taiwan, where a total of more than 51,000 tests had been carried out in mid-April and only a few hundred were infected, so the island did not need a complete closure, but they did a test a few days ago. to look like them. . The closing of the cinemas was not so on the table that almost no information could be found in English about it, the only article from a reliable source is about the British international cinema operator Vue International, which has closed its facilities in all countries. interested, a total of 228 cinemas. Except in Taiwan. When fever measurement is mandatory in theaters, and even if it is not mandatory, a face mask is a common accessory. Vue CEO Tim Richards says this could be the future of cinema. In any case, the company is working on an IT system that would automatically plan the reservation for couples and groups to enforce the mandatory distance with others. (Vue does not have a cinema in Hungary).

Not when the question is, but how

The boldest in Europe so far came from the Czech Republic in late April, where, in a fantastic sense, on the same day that the region’s most prestigious festival in Karlovy Vary exploded, authorities announced they would reopen theaters May 25. In the case of the Czechs, the government had already announced the loosening on April 14, but at that time it was still a June 8 date and with a limit of 50 people, but it finally came two weeks earlier.

The decision is not final, the Department of Health can return mandatory detention if the number of infections begins to increase. In the Czech Republic, schools, the largest stores, and cultural and religious events have been closed since mid-March. However, restaurants with gardens, shops, museums and galleries of more than 2,500 square meters could open from May 11, and originally it was possible that cinemas arrived from May 25, but suddenly the Czech government presented the date two weeks before.

There is also an intention to reopen theaters in Germany, but so far only one proposal has been submitted by the local film association HDF. According to the organization, the following steps could be taken to ensure the operation of cinemas until the epidemic ends:

• protective wall in boxes and counters, mandatory mask and gloves for workers,
• multiple disinfections,
• less direct contact, i.e. emphasis on online ticket sales, contactless payment and no movie theater tickets in the hallways,
• marks and restrictions to stay away,
• mandatory empty chairs, limited seats,
• avoiding masses by changing projections and entering,
• regular ventilation in hallways and foyers,
• raise public awareness about hygiene.

Incidentally, these proposals are almost exactly the same as those made by the Hungarian Cinema City when the government first restricted massive events in the country. German cinemas do not yet have a set date for reopening.

Despite the fact that only the Czech Republic has a specific date for reopening in the EU, it has already begun to spread that hope that can be expected in mid-July. One of the reasons for the July date is that Warner Bros. has planned to release Christopher Nolan’s latest film (Origin, Dunkirk), the time travel thriller Tenet, for this month, and the studio is still sticking to the release date while other blockbusters (like Mulan or without the sound 2.) line. This is also the reason why many people opposed previous openings, as there would be little to screen in theaters.

Nathanaël Karmitz, CEO of French film operator Mk2, says that mid-July is not realistic at all, no matter how much you want to go back to the movies, school or work, it is simply an inability to predict anything. According to Karmitz, the question is not when will they reopen, but how. He thinks that a mask or fewer seats could be the solution, but they think it is not worth it under these conditions and prefer to wait.

“You have to wait until it’s a good experience, not terrifying,” Karmitz said in an interview. Mk2 also operates several cinemas in Spain, where, according to the CEO, it is expected to open even later, in the last quarter of 2020.

In Europe, cinemas remained open only in Belarus and Sweden, which in both countries coincided with flexible regulation that dealt with the coronavirus epidemic. Sweden’s second-largest cinema network, which owns Svenska Bio, said in early April that it was open due to “respect for society, its equipment and the films shown before the epidemic”, although almost exclusively less known. Independent films were shown, with a maximum audience of fifty people per room, and for the most part only in Stockholm. The Svenska Bio website is down, they last posted on their social media in late March, when they wanted to lure people into theaters by offering to connect their game consoles to the big screen.

Theaters in some states in the USA. USA (Georgia, Tennessee, South Carolina, Mississippi) may open soon, but multiple networks are likely to wait, AMC looked in early June, Cinemark in early July, and Regal has yet to give an exact date. Regal has postponed the decision in a statement citing the health of movie workers and ticket buyers, and the network is also curious about which films they will be able to screen, as the new films were practically released in March. Additionally, there was a movie (the animation Trolls Around the World) that was released immediately on digital platforms instead of theaters, and so many networks have embarked on it that they will boycott Universal Trolls movies with the end of the epidemic. And as theaters closed in, the producers decided that after the Trolls, King Of Staten Island, which is prosecuting Pete Davidson’s comic youth, will also debut at home on June 19.

As studios change, film festivals also try to keep up. He missed Cannes, Karlovy Vary, and if he had to bet, Venice too, although Italians still tie ebony to the stake. And films planned for the festivals will make their way online, with several films from the Texas SXSW film show taking over the Amazon streaming site, while YouTube is planning a 10-day online film festival with collaborators like Sundance, Tribeca, Berlinale or the mentioned Venice. On May 29, it will be decided what it will be like to go to a film festival on the sofa instead of going to the cinema.

(Cover image: A disinfectant applied is sprayed in a Chinese cinema on March 25, 2020. Photo: STR / AFP)