The Union Internationale des Cinémas/International Union of Cinemas, the trade body representing the interests of cinema operators across 39 European territories, has today issued a statement expressing its solidarity not just with Ukrainian exhibitors but also the Ukrainian people as they look to repel the attack on their country by Russian forces. The statement, issued on behalf of UNIC’s board of directors, reads as follows:
The European Cinema trade group the International Union of Cinemas today announced that Imax Corporation and Vista Group take on the role of principal sponsors of its flagship Women’s Cinema Leadership Programme, already in its fifth year. At the same time UNIC launched a call for mentors and mentees to take part in the next 2022-23 edition.
The data company Hammerspace has expanded its European presence to provide organizations with ability to consolidate datacenter and cloud storage while orchestrating global data to decentralized applications and users. Today, more than 35 percent of the Hammerspace customer base is in Europe, the Middle East and Africa. EMEA growth has been fueled by the availability of the Hammerspace software in local regions of AWS, Azure and Google Cloud. The company says the addition of a London-based hub, local sales team, and a new distribution partner enables it to support its EMEA customers most effectively and accelerate business in high-growth markets.
Omniplex Cinemas, Ireland’s largest cinema chain, has signed an agreement with Showtime Analytics to provide it with customer analytics and communication for its 33 theatres. Spanning two markets, Omniplex Cinemas has theatres in most major cities and towns in Ireland and Northern Ireland.
Based on preliminary data the European Audiovisual Observatory estimates that cinema attendance in the European Union and the United Kingdom increased to 383.2 million tickets sold in 2021. This is 83.8 million admissions more than in 2020, representing a year-on-year growth of 28 percent. The rebound was less pronounced in the European Union only (EU27), where ticket sales increased by 21 percent to 309.2 million admissions, 53.8 million visits more than in the previous year.
The European Audiovisual Observatory has announced the Lumiere film database.
Ukraine’s Most Kino is installing CinemaNext’s Sphera premium cinema concept at its theatre in the Most Shopping Mall in Dnipro. Scheduled to open this summer, Sphera at Most Kino will boast a 26-meter-wide wall-to-wall screen, making it the largest screen ever built in Ukraine and the biggest Sphera auditorium designed to date.
The International Union of Cinemas (UNIC) today released preliminary 2021 box office and admissions estimates for the territories covered by the organization. While these figures are based on initial estimates, the overview provided by UNIC represents the first wide-ranging assessment of the performance of the European cinema sector in 2021. More detailed final data on the performance of each individual UNIC territory will be released later in spring 2022.
The Writers Lab Europe has received support from Fremantle and HBO Max, Nordic for the first virtual script development program of its kind for women over 40. Submissions are open now until February 7. The Writers Lab, produced by co-founders Elizabeth Kaiden and Nitza Wilon, is the only program devoted exclusively to script development for women and non-binary writers over 40.
Director Lasse Hallström and production company Viaplay Studios transformed Vilnius, the capital of Lithuania, into 19th and early 20th century Stockholm for his latest biographical movie Hilma about Swedish artist and activist Hilma af Klint. The drama revolves around Klint’s non-traditional art and spirituality, which made her a standout Swedish artist and one of the first abstract art creators in the western countries.
