After Cannes and before Venice - the festivals that place the big screen in pride of place all over the world - Ciné was the first event at a national level to succeed in bringing exhibitors and distributors together face to face.
Held in Riccione from 20 to 23 July, it gave visibility to the presentation of catalogues, displaying the wealth of titles to be released in Italy in the next six months.
At the same time it turned the spotlight on the international dimension of restart and recovery.
The opening conference in fact allowed a comparison to be made of the situation in Italy and that in France and Spain.

Markets compared: France
An optimistic note regarding this country came from Xavier Albert (Managing Director of Universal Pictures International Italy & France). On 19 May French cinemas re-opened and were able to rely on a variety of titles, from domestic productions to Oscar candidates (though there were also exhibitors who placed their bets on "Demon Slayer”, the production that boasts most viewers in Japan) with results substantially in line with those of 2019. Universal supports the recovery with the release of a new film every week, such as "Présidents” (30 June) and "Fast and Furious 9” (14 July).
Of particular practical use for encouraging a return to the movie theatres was the Fête du Cinéma, which lasted 5 days instead of 4, and began on 30 June, so as to exploit the end of the curfew and of the restrictions on seating capacity in movie theatres.
The audience sector that causes most concern is that of senior citizens (over the age 50), with a 20% dip in box office.
Marc-Olivier Sebbag (Delegate General of the FNCF, the French exhibitors’ association) stressed that the Fête du Cinéma, reintroduced in 2021 after the cancellation of the 2020 edition, experienced record admissions (3.5 million spectators), attracting mainly young audiences, but he also expressed deep concern over the possible effects of the introduction of the "pass sanitaire" - as from 21 July obligatory over the age of 17 - on a re-opening after two false starts (June and December 2020) carefully prepared by exhibitors and distributors. 
The fear is that the new measure, introduced by the Government without even giving exhibitors the time to re-organise, according to Sebagg, may determine the loss of at least 20% of the spectators recovered with so much effort.

Markets compared: Spain
Contradictory signs from Spain, represented at Ciné by Thomas J. Ciampa (Senior Vice-President Theatrical Distribution Italy, Spain & Portugal and Local Productions Italy di Warner Bros. Entertainment) and Fernando Evole (Country Manager of Yelmo Cines and Vice-President of the FECE, the Spanish exhibitors’ association).
Whilst both commented favourably on the information campaign by the Government, entitled "La Cultura es segura" and even on the role played by the royal family in encouraging a confident return to cultural activities, Evole made no mystery of the fact that the drop in admissions in 2020 amounted to 75%, and to 67% in this first half of 2021. Losses in the sector have been estimated at 90 million euros with support from the State coming to around 20 million euros. This explains why some exhibitors have failed to survive the pandemic.
Contrasting situations now exist alongside one another: on the one hand the percentage of the fully vaccinated stands at about 50% of the target and blockbusters of international interest have re-appeared (during the pandemic the market share of the independents rose from 15% to 38%), on the other hand cases of Covid amongst the younger generation are rising and restrictions persist in some regions, as for example on the consumption of food and beverages.
The vast offer was noted by Ciampa: Warner, Spain’s biggest distributor, has distributed 97 titles. Recalling that in Spain’s 17 regions, after the closures between March and May 2020 there was no other real national lockdown but a variety of local situations, he emphasised the fact that many exhibitors chose to keep their cinemas open amidst a thousand difficulties and restrictions, as well as the reduced number of spectators. To sum up, for Ciampa Spain’s market is "suffering but still alive”. Now it’s a question of continuing with the initiatives that make audiences confident of safety in the theatres and promote the incomparable qualities of the big screen.
This is why Ciampa expressed the hope - which is in fact recurrent amongst distributors - that the theatres will continue to improve their technological standards and comfort, whilst Evole repeated the classic demand from exhibitors, for a variety of films with strong commercial attraction appropriately scheduled for release.

Markets compared: Italy
A contribution on this subject came from Luigi Lonigro (President of ANICA distributors and Senior Manager of 01 Distribution), who deplored the fact that the work done in Italy in 2019 with the combined exhibition and distribution sectors to ensure a stronger summer season in terms of offer, had all came to nothing: the month of July 2021 recorded a drop of 50% compared to 2019. The whole market in Italy since 26 April - the date on which theatres were authorised to re-open - counted 3.6 million spectators in July, or the number France had recovered in the 5 days of the Fête du Cinéma.
Briefly, not only were Italian movie theatres released from lockdown at the start of the low season, but they also had to contend with the acceleration that took the Italian team into the finals of the European Football Championship, as well as with the absence of rain.

The debate on windows
In this context - added Mario Lorini, President of ANEC - the subject of windows comes up. One of the effects of cinema in times of pandemic was the shake-up that came almost everywhere to the rules - whether written or based on custom - that guarantee theatrical exclusivity.
Whilst a willingness emerged on the part of the exhibitors to discuss the conditions for this exclusive window - seen as a pre-condition for the commercial advantage of the entire chain of value of the film’s exploitation - any curtailing of the window should take place in a broader discussion between exhibition and distribution. For example, Evole spoke of adjusting the movie rental fee and Lorini of the practical conditions for making screen sharing possible, a practice that is still not well established on the Italian market compared to the situation internationally.

The short- and medium-term challenges
To sum up, at Ciné 2021 the discussion centred on how the cinema and cinemas should face the most urgent challenges posed today by the lasting spread of Covid and the now generalised introduction of the green pass, but also on broader prospects. At the cost - insisted Sebagg - of making decisions that are unpleasant in the short term but fruitful in the medium- long-term. The "road map” for the cinemas of the future - in Ciampa’s view - includes increasingly differentiated and advanced services in the theatres and an adequate response to the growing demand by society for closer attention to environmental issues, as well as the use of big data for better targeted promotion, calibrated on the film and potential audience sector. Lastly, again concluding with Sebagg’s words, the theatres must shake off the image of being a thing of the past and instead demonstrate that they know how to keep up with the modern world.