Cultural scientist: Modern cinema is a Disneyland-like attraction
Cinema critic Anton Sidarenka comments on the closing down of the video complex “Video Centre”.
Euroradio: “Video Centre” where the so-called cinema not for all used to be shown will close down on December 1. It seems that there were few people who liked it. Why aren’t art-house and classical movies popular in Belarus?
Anton Sidarenka: The thing is the technical progress has not stopped. We watch movies on our PCs more often and we use torrents, we copy them from flash-drives and it results in economic losses for the film distribution. The less often we go to the cinema, the less money is received by the film distribution and the smaller film distributors’ income is. Naturally, art-house cinemas are becoming more and more unprofitable. As a result – they are disappearing.
Euroradio: How do you think, have art film amateurs stopped going to the cinema? Do they prefer watching films at home?
Anton Sidarenka: I cannot believe that a few shows in the cinema are not able to attract enough cinema-goers in Minsk, a city with a population of 2 millions. The thing is people “consume” such films in a different way. They watch them at home in small groups. I know that cafes with their own cinema clubs are appearing. The films are no longer distributed as there is an opportunity to watch them in other places.
Euroradio: Won’t people lose the culture of cinema going if they watch art films at home, doing chores at times?
Anton Sidarenka: You are right. Of course, cinema and film distribution are very different from those that we had 10, 23 or 30 years ago when people used to go to the cinema to join to the art rather than to have fun. The time has passed.
A movie theatre is a Disneyland-like attraction now: we come, put on our 3D glasses and watch 3D films – digital attractions. However, art house films are aimed at a niche market audience. Syarhei Laznitsa, famous Russian producer originating from Belarus, said once that if we wanted to watch a comedy, we had to go to the cinema and watch it with others. However, if we wanted to watch a drama, it had to be done on your own. You should watch it alone to get some emotional experience.
Euroradio: It turns out that humour and laughter are a group phenomenon while emotional experience is individual.
Anton Sidarenka: It was his opinion and I think that he was right. It is more convenient to watch films when you have time to do it, when you are prepared for it. Unfortunately, the modern pace of life does not always give us time to go to the cinema. So the closing down of “Video Centre” is not a tragedy. It is a pattern. New technologies are appearing. I am sure that Minsk will get an opportunity to watch new, relevant movies on the big screen soon. “Video Centre” demonstrated archive, classical movies and Minsk needs a cinema house with new productions, with movies that were shown in Cannes yesterday. They need to be shown in Minsk today. I am sure that it will happen here soon.
