Some 2.26 million viewers went to theaters in Venezuela in the first 5 months of the year, which represents an increase of 1,382% compared to the same period last year, when there were 152,413 people, the Association of the Film Industry (Asoinci) of the country.
The president of the guild, José Pisano, explained that this growth is mainly due to the fact that the public has felt greater confidence in attending these spaces due to the vaccination against covid-19 and some biosecurity measures that are maintained in the rooms, like leaving an empty seat among the spectators.
“There is a significant rebound in the cinema, first of all due to the confidence that has been generated in the audience regarding the vaccination issue and the additional doses of protection against covid-19,” he said.
Low budget films have not noticed the recovery
He affirmed that some great cinematographic productions have taken Venezuelans to the cinema, among them Spider-Man: No Way Home, Doctor Strange Y Top Gun: Maverickfilms that “transmit emotions supported by themes such as visual effects, superheroes or that have performers who play with a certain adrenaline, which are not given on a small screen.”
On the other hand, he pointed out that low-budget, national and international films have not seen the recovery.
30 million viewers in 2011
The movie theaters opened in January 2021 after 10 months of closure due to the pandemic, when Nicolás Maduro authorized the “scheduled and safe reopening” of the “theaters, museums, cultural centers and cinemas” under the then 7 + 7 system, which It combined a week of closure followed by another of activity.
Venezuela reached 30 million moviegoers in 2011, a number that has been reduced since then due to the economic crisis, power failures, migration and more recently the pandemic, according to Pisano.
