17/10/2002

The picture that emerged from the ”Arthouse cinema in Europe” conference that opened the second edition of the Ravenna “Arthouse Meetings” is one of a multifaceted Europe with numerous theatres proposing films of a cultural bent. Organised by FICE (the Italian Arthouse Cinema Federation) with local authorities, the keynote speakers at this event included Pierre Todeschini, the president of Cicae (International Confederation of art and arthouse cinemas) that represents 2000 theatres in 18 European countries. Todeschini drew attention to those countries, like Spain and the United Kingdom, where arthouse cinemas are not plentiful and where local government is not sensitive to this genre. Unlike France where arthouse cinemas have been plentiful and supported by the authorities since the 1950s when the culture minister was André Malraux.
Germany has 400 arthouse theatres but they suffer the consequences of competition from huge commercial theatres offering a variety of films, especially original-language films. Gabriele Rothemeyer, the president of the German association said that last year’s most popular arthouse film was Silvio Soldini’s Bread and Tulips.
Fice president Domenico Di Noia illustrated the Italian situation where the number of theatres has increased from 200 of 1994 to today’s 500. They receive a total annual subsidy of Euros2.5 million.
In concluding, Di Noia said he hoped the number of specialised exhibitors called to sit on the commission that designates given films as “arthouse” is increased.

(The article continues below - Commercial information)