Dear Readers,

in this issue we publish an article by Daniel Wuschansky, the co-owner of the arthouse cinema IL KINO in Berlin and project manager of the AG Kino project “Kino:Natürlich”, which aims to make cinemas in Germany more environmentally sustainable.

This will no doubt encourage reflection on the need to reduce the environmental impact of the cinema industry and motivate both professional players and spectators to make practical contributions to this.

It’s holiday time and we’re off to Santorini, a favourite with international tourism, to discover the cinema offer there.

We wish you happy reading, in the hope of meeting you at the Venice Film Festival,

Elisabetta Brunella
Secretary General of MEDIA Salles

International Arthouse Cinema Initiatives: how German cinemas are turning into Green Movie Palaces
by Daniel Wuschansky

The magnificently illuminated facades of the 1920s and 1930s still shape our image of cinemas today.

However, they date from a time when energy was cheap and when people had no idea what the dramatic consequences of wasteful use of energy would, one day, be: energy consumption is by far the biggest cause of climate-damaging emissions, alongside the audience's travel emissions.

Whether for economic reasons or reasons of climate and environmental protection, saving energy has become an urgent task for cinema operators. In this article, we will give a brief overview of the possible measures that have already been implemented by many cinemas.

Becoming a greener cinema: how to start

When thinking about making your cinema more sustainable, your resources determine the way to start: cinemas that do not have the financial resources for major investments can still make a difference with behavioral changes and smaller investments. Others can go beyond this and tackle the major emitters.

Small energy-saving measures in cinemas

Big energy-saving measures in cinemas

• Ventilation consumes considerably less heating energy if the incoming air is heated with the stale air from the cinema hall or the projection room. According to the Casablanca Cinema in Nuremberg, Germany, thanks to the heat recovery system, heating is only required at the beginning of the day, after which the waste heat from the audience and the technology takes over. Gas consumption has been halved as a result.
   
• Replacing a less efficient heating system saves thermal energy and money - ideally, a fossil-free alternative (e.g. a heat pump) can be used. The costs for an air or geothermal heat pump are between €10,000 and €12,000. There are also high installation costs for the geothermal heat pump. These can amount to a further €10,000. However, the latter is more efficient and generates 4 kWh of heat from one kWh of electricity.
   
• But before the heating is replaced, the building's insulation should be checked. Do the exterior walls need to be insulated and windows and doors replaced? The cost of insulation is around €90-130/sqm. The Babylon Cinema building (Yorck Kinogruppe, Berlin, Germany) was completely insulated in 2022. Such measure can result in average heating energy savings of 20%. 
A green roof like the one on the 3001 cinema in Hamburg, Germany, provides additional insulation in both winter and summer and is also good for biodiversity.
   
• Through photovoltaic systems, in combination with a solar battery, the electricity produced can be stored during the day and consumed in the evening. Here is an example of the cost of a photovoltaic system with a size of 50 square meters: 10 kWp, 9000 kWh annual output. The investment for such a system is €12-15,000. A solar battery costs €1,000 per kWh (for more than 10 kWh). In a survey conducted by the FFA, 14% of all German cinemas stated that they would invest in photovoltaics in the next two years.
   
• The use of laser projectors saves energy. At Cinecittà upgrading to the latest generation of projectors has resulted in a 60% saving on the electricity used for projection.

Regardless of the specifics of each cinema - if you have the opportunity to purchase green electricity at your location, you can make a big difference in terms of climate protection with minimal effort.
There are many ways to save energy. This can be overwhelming at first. So it's worth making a plan. Where do I stand? What financial resources do I have? What could I achieve in a year? 

At the end of the year, a review can show you where you may need to make adjustments. And above all, it shows what you have achieved. That's a good feeling - I promise!

Note
The price estimates given refer to Germany. Prices can vary greatly depending on the country.

Source: CICAE

The article has been published and can be read in full-length here
How Cinemas Are Turning into Green Palaces for Films • Arthouse Cinema Hub

This column hosts portraits of cinemas in Europe and the rest of the world which are quite different from one another but have in common the fact that they have all adopted digital projection.

At the cinema in Santorini
by Cristina Chinetti

Summertime, time for a holiday somewhere more or less exotic, more or less crowded, like the Greek islands, which are becoming more and more popular. Like Santorini, which has been in the news not so much for its unique beauties, panoramas and sunsets, as for the phenomenon of overtourism with an invasion by eleven thousand tourists a day, compared to its fifteen thousand residents. This is a phenomenon that increasingly affects the world’s leading tourist locations, not only in Greece, but also in Italy.

Yet despite implying more or less serious problems, tourism remains a great resource for the pearl of the Ciclades, where everything is geared towards it, starting from the folkloristic centres of Oia and Firà, with their narrow lanes full of little shops and boutiques, hotels, bars and restaurants, offering visitors all sorts of products, ideas and entertainment.

The offer of the island’s cinemas also caters mainly for the tourists with open-air programmes headed by countless repetitions of a great and well-loved classic, “Mamma mia!”, shot in 2008 on the island of Skopelos. In the northern part of the town of Firà, along the panoramic coast road from Oia, which runs along the crater offering unique views of a sheer drop down to the blue sea below and out to the volcanic islands in the midst of it, is the Café Volkan, a very special little place perched on the crater right opposite the tiny island that goes by the name of Volkan. In this bar/restaurant, where carefully prepared and presented dishes can be enjoyed from breakfast to suppertime, a handful of little white tables and metal chairs are reserved every evening for those who have booked and after sundown want to watch yet again the cheerful battles of wits between Meryl Streep, Pierce Brosnan and company.

A truly exclusive experience costing 20 euros per person, including the audio headset and a bowl of tzatziki with pita and olives, where the spectacle and the emotion are guaranteed by the extraordinary location and the majesty of the surrounding Nature.

On the east coast of Santorini, in the seaside town of Kamari, not far from the airport at the foot of the hill where the ancient Thera rises on the main road leading to Firà, is the island’s other, open-air cinema. Surrounded by eucalyptus trees, palm trees and other plants and seated on elegant chairs made of wood and white canvas arran

ged in the form of an amphitheatre in front of the screen, from May to October for ten euros tourists and local people can enjoy the season’s most successful films in English with Greek subtitles, immersed in this pleasant atmosphere,

This August the programme includes “The Fall Guy”, “Deadpool & Wolverine” and “Mothers’ Instinct”, alternating, of course, with the screenings devoted to the ever-present “Mamma mia!”.

The summer Cine Kamari has been running since 1987 and over the years has often been considered one of the world’s best open-air cinemas, not just because of its breathtaking view, but thanks to the atmosphere, the soft lights, balmy garden and, last but not least, its well-stocked bar offering cocktails and iced drinks.

And although Greece boats a large number of open-air cinemas, a third of which are located in seaside areas, particularly on the islands, as we already reported in no. 203 of the DGT Online Informer in October 2022, in a shopping mall in Kamari, the island’s only inside cinema open all the year round is to be found. The Villaggio 3D is a modern theatre, fitted with Dolby stereo and able to offer 3D screenings, open from Monday to Sunday from 5.30 pm until after midnight. Here the most recent Hollywood successes can be seen at accessible prices, this time mainly for the benefit of the local residents.

To sum up, when you are tired of admiring the wonders of the crater, the white villages scattered like herds of sheep along the hilltops, the restructured windmills, the crustal-clear, deep sea and the romantic sunsets, on Santorini you can always end the day with a good film by moonlight in a top-class location!