On Wednesday, during a joint press conference with Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki and Minister of Health Łukasz Szumowski, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Culture and National Heritage Piotr Gliński announced that from June 6, the possibility of defrosting, among others, cinemas. Decisions in this matter are to be made by their owners and organizers . Some want to open up as soon as possible, others need time – said the head of the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage. As he noted, “there are two basic requirements” for the functioning of cinemas. The first – he explained – is to fill the audience capacity to a maximum of 50 percent in order to “meet sanitary requirements”. The second is the obligation to wear masks.
From June 6, the audience will be able to visit, for example, the Muranów cinema in Warsaw, which, in addition to award-winning productions – such as “Parasite” by Bong Joon-ho and “Portrait of a Lady on Fire” by Celine Sciamma – will show the pre-premiere of Marc Bellocchio’s Traitor. In July, a review of Italian films is planned. It will be quite safe for your finger to travel across the screen. More viewers stay in the city due to various situations, such as a pandemic, lack of funds, but the borders are closed. This means that the screening of an Italian film brings us a little closer to the possibility of seeing another part of the world without leaving the city – said Adam Trzopek, director of the Muranów cinema.
As he noted, screenings “will be done at large intervals”. We know you only want half the audience. We will get used to the screenings very slowly, but in the context of, for example, arthouse cinema, i.e. cinema which de facto does not care that it is “James Bond” etc., our standard is screenings taking place in rooms filled with 30 percent . We can do it in such a way that everyone will sit separately, buy a ticket online, enter through one entrance and exit directly to the pavement . This is workable. Plus, of course, all those additional things like disinfection – added the manager of the Muranów cinema.
Trzopek pointed out that small cinemas “do not strive for crazy crowds, but to function in the cultural circuit”. It is about returning to pseudo-normality, so that the viewer can enter the cinema whenever he or she wants to – for a night or morning screening. It seems to me that small, boutique cinemas are part of the fabric of the city, the district. For residents, going to the cinema is as normal as going to their favorite bar – he said.
The opening of the Nowe Horyzonty cinema in Wrocław is planned for the second half of June. We still need time to properly prepare the space in terms of sanitary safety and to arrange a network of sessions as convenient as possible – informed the PR manager of the New Horizons Association, Stanisław Abramik.
Referring to the basic requirements for cinemas announced on Wednesday, Abramik emphasized that “safety is the basis”, therefore the Wrocław cinema “will certainly fulfill all the guidelines presented by the minister of health and the minister of culture .” The information about the fifty percent full screening of the screening rooms is, to some extent, good news: we expected a reduction to even 20-30 percent. available places. We will also inform viewers about the obligation to wear masks – he said.
When asked about the prepared repertoire, the PR manager of New Horizons replied that “detailed discussions with distributors have only just begun”. However, we can already confirm that we will play “Our Time” by Carlos Reygadas, the latest film by a Mexican cinema master, a director awarded in Cannes for “Post tenebras lux”; we will also recall the “Suicide Room. Hejter “- a new film by Jan Komasa, the author of the Oscar-nominated” Corpus Christi “and awarded in Cannes” White, broad daylight “by Hlynur Pálmason. For younger viewers, we have prepared “Four Children and Something” based on the best-selling novel by Jacqueline Wilson. This is, of course, the beginning – we will be confirming more titles in the coming days He said. On behalf of the New Horizons team, he also thanked the viewers for the “wonderful words and gestures of support” received during the epidemic. It is thanks to them that we have the energy to continue to create our unique cinema – he emphasized.
The Multikino chain announces the gradual opening of cinemas at a later date. The President of the Management Board of Multikino SA, Paweł Świst, justifies this decision with reasons of safety and the comfort of employees and viewers. We will inform you about the planned opening date of individual cinemas in the Multikino chain in the next announcements. We are calm about the reopening of our multiplexes and we want to be well prepared. We are waiting for the guidelines of the Chief Sanitary Inspectorate regarding the functioning of cinemas after opening. We will strictly follow them, because the safety of our viewers and employees is an absolute priority for us – he said.
As he assured, the Multikino chain will take care of sanitary facilities, which “will enable everyone to enjoy and smoothly participate in film screenings”. We will locate hand disinfection stations in the foyer of our cinemas and in toilets. In addition, we equip our cinemas with special graphic markings to help keep the distance between customers in the queues at the cash registers – explained Świst.
He added that cashless payments will be recommended to people buying tickets at the cinema premises. Tickets to the Multikino network can be purchased online through the website www.multikino.pl and through our free and fully omnichannel mobile application. In addition to the possibility of purchasing tickets for a movie screening, the application stands out for “Film alert” – a very addictive service resembling one of the popular dating applications in terms of functionality. By “liking” the film, cinema fans will be reminded of the premiere of their favorite productions, both by e-mail and by notification – reminded the president of the board of Multikino SA
The Helios cinema chain will also not open its multiplexes at the beginning of June. In the opinion of the director of corporate communications at Agora Nina Graboś, June 6 is “a surprisingly early date for opening cinemas in Poland”. The time to prepare for reopening is very short and the operating rules of theaters are unknown. It is not known what sanitary regime is to apply in cinemas and during screenings – she explained. She also announced that Helios is in talks with distributors and producers on “establishing the calendar and the availability of the repertoire”.
Cinema City is also waiting for additional sanitary guidelines , which announced that it is postponing the opening date of its cinemas . The company is in constant contact with the authorities and analyzes the situation to get to know the details and be sure that, acting in accordance with the imposed restrictions, it is able to operate without financial losses – emphasized Katarzyna Opertowska, marketing director of Cinema City.
Another reason for the postponement of the opening date of this chain’s cinemas is – as she said – the unconfirmed dates of upcoming movie premieres . As soon as clear information about the restrictions is released, and the premiere dates of major film productions are confirmed, the company will announce the opening date of theaters , Opertowska said, while assuring that Cinema City would like it to happen “as soon as possible” in order to be able to “provide customers with the best entertainment with a wide variety of movies ”.
Source: https://www.rmf24.pl/
