Espoo, a dynamic centre of the advanced tertiary sector – here Nokia have their headquarters – and the site of a university campus separated from Helsinki by a stretch of sea scattered with green islands, marks the first stage of the day – 2 July – on the DigiTraining Plus course.
This is where the Kino Tapiola operates, an example of how tradition and innovation can live successfully side by side. Built by Aarne Ervi in the functionalist style of the ‘Fifties and the symbolic building of a new residential area of the same name – defined a “garden city” – the Tapiola was completely renovated between 2008 and 2010 thanks to the Municipality of Espoo and was fitted with a digital projector, 3D system and satellite connection with the support of the Finish Film Foundation. As well as quality programming – the next few screenings include Terrence Malick and Woody Allen – the cinema is the venue for various cultural initiatives, including the International Festival in August. “The Municipality’s intervention,” says Georg Dolivo, head of culture for the City of Espoo, “could be described as the rebuilding of a collapsed roof. But this would not do it justice: in actual fact, the re-opening of the Tapiola is just one of the stages in a development project for the next ten years which sees Espoo committed to bringing together science, art and the economy, using as levers strong points such as the Alvar Aalto University and the local presence of companies worth 60% of Finnish economic activity. In this context, we acknowledge the Tapiola as having a leading social and cultural function which provides added value in the area and which the population is not prepared to do without.”

“The new technology our cinema has been equipped with allows us to develop its functional potential and vary the use made of it: a weekly programme which, although only having only one screen available, offers up to six different titles, European film weeks, activities for schools, live concerts, electronic games for young people, conferences promoted by companies and seminars organized by local associations,” explain Jenni Ukkonen and Hannele Pellinen, of whom the former is manager of the International festival and the latter of the cinema.
If the Tapiola team showed that digital “works” for a single-screen cinema, Jan Petersen gave an example of a big chain: Nordisk Film, the leading Danish operator. Pioneer of the new technologies since 2004, Nordisk now has 30 2K digital screens. But the plan for the coming months is extremely ambitious: all 114 screens will be fitted with 4K or 2K digital projectors by 2012, thanks to an agreement freshly signed with XDC, who will act as integrators.
Technology at the service of diversifying content: this is the area on which Tilman Scheel’s talk concentrated, presenting the work of Europe’s Finest, an innovative channel that exhibitors can refer to in order to extend the range of the European films they offer. At the same time this creates audiences curious to discover Europe’s film production. Of both the present and the past. And for the exhibitor, just by clicking online. A little more time may be required for discussing economic conditions …
The afternoon will continue with an overview of collective initiatives promoted in Europe by the exhibitors’ associations.