Dear readers,

this issue contains two stories from two very different islands: one tiny one surrounded by the Mediterranean Sea, halfway between Europe and Africa, the other so large that it is actually a continent, lapped by the waters of the Pacific Ocean.

Although they are so far away from one another, both Pantelleria and Australia offer us two eloquent testimonies to confidence in the future of cinema on the big screen. They come to us from the Cineteatro San Gaetano which, in ensuring programming even when the tourists have left this splendid volcanic island, consititues an authentic fortress of culture and social life, and from Palace Cinemas, the leading, independent, Australian circuit, which sees quality of hospitality and programming as the main pillars for its development in coming years.

Wishing you pleasant reading,

Elisabetta Brunella
Secretary General of MEDIA Salles

With its enormous surface area (around 26 times that of Italy), Australia has only 26 million inhabitants (less than half of Italy’s), who, however - before Covid - visited the cinema as many as three times a year, less than the citizens of the United States (whose average before the pandemic was approximately 5 times),* but decidedly more than the Europeans (who in the same few years went to the cinema even less than twice a year).**
Basically, a market of around 85 million tickets.

Due to Covid, admissions in Australian movie theatres plunged to a historical minimum of 28.2 million in 2020 (- 67% compared to 2019) later rising to 39.7 in 2021 and 57.9 in 2022 (- 32% compared to 2019). We are thus witnessing a fairly slow recovery but one which has not discouraged the resourceful exhibitors.

How to face this period, which is certainly not an easy one, was the subject of a talk by Elysia Zeccola in Berlin, during Cinema Vision 2030 (the event, organized during the 2023 Berlinale aiming to offer a chance to look towards the future of movie theatres).***

Elysia is National Festivals Director for Palace Cinemas, Australia’s main independent circuit, which today counts 24 cinemas and over 180 screens, but with concrete plans for expansion.

Founded in 1965 by Antonio Zeccola,**** an Australian of Italian origin and the son of an exhibitor from Muro Lucano, in Basilicata, Palace Cinemas experienced progressive development to become a business that is mainly active in the distribution of "specialised" films, in particular from European countries, and in the areas of exhibition as well as production.

Elysia, one of Antonio’s four children, leads the Group’s strategy, which owes its success to the "boutique cinemas" formula, relying on quality offers in terms of the choice of film and the service offered to customers.

“In this perspective, our keywords,” stated Elysia Zeccola at Cinema Vision 2030, “are care, hospitality, efficiency and respect. We try to translate these concepts into actual practice: for example, ticket purchases are rendered very simple and customer-friendly. And I would also add a fifth pillar to our strategy, which is that of style, deriving from our Italian roots.

To read more click here

*Source https://www.nationmaster.com/

**The average in the 39 countries reported on by MEDIA Salles in the European Cinema Yearbook http://www.mediasalles.it/ybk2020/index.html

***With regard to this event see the article published in DGT no. 209

****See the article devoted to him and published by the Giornale dello Spettacolo jointly with MEDIA Salles in June 2006.

THE CINEMA MARKET IN AUSTRALIA
Key figures

NOTES
Admissions and gross box office
Source: Motion Picture Distributors Association of Australia (MPDAA) to 2019. Numero from 2020. May include some estimates.
Each year's admissions are indicative and are calculated by dividing total box office by the average annual ticket price.
Figures are in current dollars (i.e. not adjusted for inflation) and per calendar year. 
Each year is based on annual data released the following January and does not reflect any subsequent updates.

Cinemas and screens
Source: Motion Picture Distributors Association of Australia (MPDAA), Numero.
Figures across other data sets in Fact Finders may differ slightly due to discrepancies in historical data.
Each year is based on annual data accessed the following January/February.
Includes drive-ins, as well as 'non-commercial' screens not generally open to the public, such as those at army, naval and airforce bases, mining camps, film societies, colleges and universities.

Domestic market share
Source: Motion Picture Distributors Association of Australia (MPDAA) to 2019; Numero from 2020. Compiled by Screen Australia
Includes Australian productions and productions with overseas partners where creative control is shared (i.e. with a mix of Australians in key creative positions).
Figures are in current dollars (i.e. not adjusted for inflation) and per calendar year. Each year is based on annual data released the following January and does not reflect any subsequent updates.