23/03/2006

According to the GUS (the Polish central statistics office), in 2004 there were 568 cinemas, 870 screens and 255, 500 seats. There was an increase in 2005, albeit less than in previous years, in the number of multiplexes which currently number 46 in Poland. The majority of them are owned by foreign groups: Cinema City (18 cinemas, 189 screens), Multikino (8 cinemas, 80 screens), Silver Screen (5 cinemas, 44 screens), Kinepolis (1 cinema, 20 screens) and one single network in the Polish capital Helios (14 cinemas, 48 screens).

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Alongside this is a noticeable trend to shut down single-screen cinemas. The total number of cinemas in Poland is on the decrease, while at the same time there is an increase in the number of screens. Polish and European films are suffering the most.
Small local and regional cinemas, as well as the majority of arthouse cinemas find it difficult to hold their ground with such competition. Distributors first send prints to multiplexes and do not distribute to smaller cinemas until much later. Often films are shown in cinemas only when they are released on DVD or shown on certain television channels. The chronology of media therefore varies according to circumstances and it is not rare that a film that is not a hit in cinemas is released only four months later on DVD. That is why there is an urgent need to support small cinemas and arthouse cinemas in Poland.

In 2004 the Sieć Kin Studyjnych (Arthouse Cinemas Network) was founded in 2004, with the aim of saving cinemas on the verge of extinction. The network is made up 57 cinemas (especially in the south and west of the country) to support the distribution of European and Polish films, high artistic quality productions, films with an educational value, as well as international cinema classics. A large chunk of funding is also assured by the Europa Cinemas network (19 Polish cinemas), but in comparison to the SKS its entry criteria are more difficult to fulfil for an average Polish cinema. The small cinema crisis is also addressed by the brand new Polish Film Institute which offers a special subsidy programme.