Cinemas across Germany have joined the chorus of criticism towards COVID-19 cultural sector restrictions. Germany’s largest film association, HDF, issued a joint statement with all the major cinema companies this week.
They claim cinemas have fallen through the cracks when it comes to state subsidies, reimbursement for lost sales and protection from rent disputes. This is largely due to the conditions for receiving subsidies, which disadvantage the particular corporate structure of cinema companies.
These conditions take into account factors such as the number of employees per cinema, rather than the needs of individual cinema branches and the benefit they bring to their respective communities.
Accordingly, a long-term ‘Rettungsschirm Kino’ rescue package will be crucial to save the sector. Culture minister Monika Grütters has yet to respond.
'Globale Perspektiven' film prize
In far more joyous news for the film industry, filmmakers from Afghanistan, Austria and Germany have received the first-ever ‘Globale Perspektiven’ film prize.
The prize was conceived by the Evangelische Akademie Frankfurt to support filmmakers seeking to make a social impact. Watch the stunning trailer for first-prize winner Aboozar Amini’s film, ‘Kabul, City in the Wind’, about daily life in war-torn Afghanistan, right here.
