CICAE at political meetings and international film industry events in autumn 2022 • CICAE

The Thessaloniki Film Festival, the Union of Greek cinemas and the CICAE co-hosted a panel at Agora, the industry programme of the festival on November 6, 2022, at 11 am.

The speakers were Dr. Christian Bräuer (President of the CICAE, CEO of Yorck Kino gruppe, Germany), Ilias Georgiopoulos (Distributor and exhibitor, Danaos Cinema and Danaos Films, Greece), Mira Staleva (Director of Cinema House and Deputy Director of Sofia Film Festival, Bulgaria) and Ifigeneia Vlachogianni (General Manager Cinema Star, Member of the Management Board of the Greek Film Centre, Greece). The moderator was Marcin Pienkowski (Head of Distribution of New Horizons Association, lecturer, film historian, Poland).

Considering that cinemas focusing on European and arthouse titles are in a phase of repositioning themselves the discussion focused on creative and collaborative strategies of creating more visibility for a rich and diverse programming.

The panel kicking off the industry programme of Thessaloniki film festival dived into case studies, looking at the main concerns of cinema owners and distributors. Some of the examples that have been brought up were related to weekly dedicated days with promotional campaigns, the involvement of local communities and minorities, how to capitalize on the FOMO effect by offering limited number of special screenings that can be extended. 

It has also come out that cinemas must rely more on their own programme with events set up with local partners, including repertoire titles in periods with less attractive releases. 

Other examples were related to how small-town cinemas can be drivers of community and be spaces for active audiences pushing forward open discussions inspired by the films screened and about the importance of Young Audience development programmes.

In all, the importance of strong partnerships between cinemas and distributors had a prominence as they can strengthen each other’s actions.

A delegation of the CICAE consisting in Ramiro Ledo (president of PROMIO, Duplex Cinema & Numax Coop. from Santiago de Compostela, Spain), Erika Borsos (vice president of the Hungarian Arthouse Cinema Association, Budapest Film Zrt., Hungary) and Mira Staleva (Cinema House, Sofia, Bulgaria) and Boglárka Nagy, general delegate of the association have attended the Marché International fu Film Classique in Lyon.

The activities on October 20 included: a panel co-initiated by the French Arthouse Exhibitors’ Association AFCAE called “Comment l’Esprit Ciné Club permet d’animer des communeautés de cinéphiles autour du cinema Classique?” where Ramiro Ledo is one of the invited speakers; a workshop with the participation of the CICAE representatives, as well as film institutions, sales agents, distributors and exhibitors on how to improve the circulation of film classics.

The Institut Francais has also invited the CICAE to be part of a round table around a case study related to European Film Factory, partner of the European Arthouse Cinema Day, taking place in the afternoon of October 20.

The invitation extended to the CICAE by the Marché International Film Classique is to set the basis for a collaboration and initiate new partnership avenues for the industry, to see more film heritage reach the cinemas that are interested in finding and programming classics, but also to encourage exhibitors to actively engage with the industry at large.

Among the outcomes of the workshop and the panels was the idea of creating a platform for ensuring visibility for reaching rights holders and copies of film classics, of rethinking the use of filmclub dynamics to enliven the cinemas’ and create stronger bonds with audiences, but also the importance of putting cinemas at the heart of film education programmes’ such as European Film Factory.

Alongside the 19th Festival de Sevilla that opened on November 4, MERCI, mercado de cine independiente (the Spanish market for independent cinemas), also took place. We are happy to collaborate with the festival for the panel “Showcase CICAE: get inspired!” where, on November 10, CICAE members Joan Parsons of Queen's Film Theatre and Frédéric Cornet of CINEMA GALERIES presented their cinemas and activities.

MERCI has been created by the festival together with ADICINE, following the model of the AG Kino-Gilde industry event Filmkunstmesse, that takes place every year in September in Leipzig, and includes private screenings, panels and talks with professionals from ComScore and European arthouse cinemas, which are organised in collaboration with the CICAE.

Main focus of this 2022 edition was to explore new strategies for establishing audience loyalty, and to tackle the decline of cinema coverage in the mainstream media.