The Sunday Mail
Under-rated director Joe Johnston, famed for films like October Sky and Jurassic Park III, best summed up the international film landscape when he said: “The moment that dinosaur stepped through fences and began pushing cars around, the whole industry changed.”
Now after decades teetering on the brink of collapse, Zimbabwean cinema finally has a reason to hope again and this comes on the backdrop of digitalisation of operations by Ster Kinekor.
Ster Kinekor, the wholly owned subsidiary of the Primedia group, runs movie theatres in the larger part of Southern Africa particularly South Africa, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
In Zimbabwe the group runs movie houses at Eastgate, Westgate and the newly erected complex at Sam Levy’s Village in Borrowdale aside from bases in cities like Mutare and Bulawayo.
For years now, Zimbabwe has been lagging behind in terms of technology, using the 35mm film reel compared to the state-of-the-art big screens, Dolby 5.1 surround sound and three-dimensional machines of its neighbours.
The phenomenon, coupled with the liquidity squeeze that is currently gripping the nation, had resulted in the number of movie goers declining in the last decade. And the effects have been felt, with movie houses like Rainbow City Cinema and Liberty Cinema folding operations.
However, the trend has since changed with the advent of digitalisation to match international standards.
Players in the business note attendance figures have been gradually increasing in the past months compared to the pre-digitalisation era.
A visit to the three main movie house complexes in Harare, namely Eastgate, Westgate and the Sam Levy’s Village complex, showed staff beaming with excitement and full of praise at the brisk business digitalisation has brought with it.
“The dynamics of movie-going in Zimbabwe have been changed forever with the advent of digitalisation. It’s no longer merely about simply going to watch a movie but now more of an experience,” said a staffer at one of the complexes.
Digitalisation has forced the three institutions to up their game, sprucing up their infrastructure, improving not only the quality of the product but also their service.
At the Sam Levy’s Village complex, for instance, apart from having the required five movie houses, the screening rooms have been divided to suit specific and different needs.
“We have about six screening rooms here (Sam Levy’s Village cinema) but it’s been divided into three different sections with two rooms reserved for our VIPs and these ones seat about 46 people,” said Robyn Hutchings, director of Sam Levy movie house.
According to statistics provided by officials from the movie houses, the number of movie goers is averaging 18 000 people per month, with the highest figures being recorded on Fridays and Saturdays.
“There are also bigger screening rooms which seat people ranging from 100 to 245 people and these are for everyone. Two of them have 3-D machines and these are mainly for the children who enjoy the whole 3D experience.
“We usually premiere our movies on Friday and thereby we get higher volumes that time,” she added.
Conversely, inasmuch as volumes according to movie house operators have been increasing, it is interesting to note though that figures being recorded are not reflective of populace we have in the country.
A sizeable number of people have resorted not to attend movies and use the little money they have to buy pirated movies in the streets, while others have gone on to purchase latest state-of-the-art home theatre systems that they use in the comfort of their homes.
Also, another figure of entertainment in the form of mobile cinema has fast been gaining popularity and proving to be an alternative for low-income earners that have interest in movies.
And, of course, these come free, sponsored by donors or are marketing tools for productions on sale.
The biggest advantage that digitalisation has brought with is improved quality of product.
Films now hit the big screen at the three institutions just days after their South African and American releases.
Delays in local premieres are now attributed more on the Zimbabwe Censorship Board regulations.
“Our target is to have same-day releases, but we are encountering problems with the Censorship Board that only view films on a Tuesday and we can’t really get these new releases earlier. And because of piracy, we get disadvantaged,” said one of the staffers.
But they say a coin always has two-sides.
Digitalisation has not been all fun and games, for it has come with its own drawbacks.
Chief among those is the fact that it is difficult to censor. Whereas during the 35mm film reel era the board would simply cut out the content they deemed unfit and make the film watchable, the new technology does not allow for such censorship, as the films comes in view-only format.
