Round table movie theater owners : "What place for heritage cinema in cinemas in Europe? "

How much space does the heritage cinema occupy in the programming of a cinema? For how many entries? How to attract new audiences? These are all the questions that were at the heart of the conversation on Thursday morning. 

Around Anthony Bobeau, acquisition advisor at Memento Films Distribution, five European exhibitors came to share and compare their experiences in a communicative and cheerful atmosphere. This included Christian Bräuer, President of the CICAE and Managing Director of Yorck-Kino GmbH and Programmkino Ost GmbH (Germany), Maxime Iffour, programmer at Cinéma Le Bretagne, Saint-Renan (France), Andrea Crozzoli, Board Member at Cinemazero, Pordenone (Italy), David Havas, Director of NFA Cinema Ponrepo (Czech Republic) and Shira Macleod, Director of Regent Street cinema (UK). 

Different cinemas, different numbers of screening rooms, different countries but similar observation: not so simple to program heritage cinema. It's even impossible to do just that. And the risks are high if a session doesn't work. The only exhibitor dissonant in this somewhat grey balance sheet was Maxime Iffour. According to him, in France, thanks to the help of various organizations such as the SACD and the ADRC, which assist exhibitors in their approach to the dissemination of heritage, the right to make mistakes is possible and therefore risk-taking seems easier than in our European neighbours, a little left to be abandoned in this noble cause of heritage sharing. And above all, the French public seems to be a little more fond of repertoires than their EU comrades. 

But the observations are similar for our five exhibitors: heritage cinema requires a greater investment of time and ideas than so-called "fresh" cinema. It is a "guerilla" as Shira Macleod pointed out with a smile. These sessions must be event-driven, whether with specialized speakers who have come for the occasion, mediation work, the presence of a filmmaker and/or a talent, the creation of thematic festivals but also by slightly more bizarre ideas. For example, the Regent Street Cinema offers dance and film screenings on Wednesdays: you pay for your ticket (about £12, which is not particularly expensive in London) and you have access to a heritage film followed by a dance class. At the Cinemazero in Pordenone, there are silent film screenings with live concerts but also the possibility for young people supervised by a music teacher to compose their own soundtrack on silent short films. But some, such as Maxime Iffour and Christian Bräuer, insisted on the idea that heritage films should also be programmed in the same way as recent films in order not to ghettoize them, since the fact of constantly specifying that this is a feature film from the past can sometimes have a more repulsive than attractive effect. 

The other problem, which we find in all the round tables, from platforms to DVD publishers, not to mention distributors and exhibitors, is the issue of young audiences. How can we attract young people to the cinema on the one hand, and to heritage films on the other? While no one has definitive answers, everyone has gone with their ideas. Marketing on social media being one of the main solutions: we have to enter the field of the youngest generations. Sometimes even with the help of talent. As Shira Macleod points out, when a great director or actor like Edgar Wright tweet about her cinema, she is more likely to see a younger population arrive. In Prague, DJ Sets are even organized on silent films. Programming and scheduling times are also essential: it will be more difficult to attract the youngest in the morning, for example. Similarly, it is necessary to accompany them in their cinephilia: perhaps starting with popular films from the 1980s to open their horizons afterwards rather than placing them directly in front of Bergman's The Seventh Seal. We must also seize opportunities such as in Germany where Christian Bräuer organized a Tarantino cycle for the release of Once Upon a time... in Hollywood. David Havas also suggested that we get closer to the classics of television by, for example, screening old episodes of Twin Peaks. 

All also agreed on an essential point: there must be a proactive policy on the part of the exhibitors to bring this heritage cinema to the public. That's good, there were five volunteers on the stage this Thursday.