Cinema returns to normal

Not an easy year, but a year that returns to normal. The cinemas of the Jura Arc have a normal balance sheet, neither bad nor good, at the end of 2024. For Edna Epelbaum, director of cinemas in Neuchâtel, La Chaux-de-Fonds, Delémont and Bienne, “from a On the other hand, it was a good year, because it was the first year where we were no longer dependent on the Covid years.” She adds “it’s a year that shows the normal cycles of cinemas. » A year which therefore presents positive points, even if the Federal Statistical Office announced less good entries than in 2023 last June. For Edna Epelbaum, it is mainly thanks to French productions “in number 1, clearly A little something extraa film that came in the spring and that no one saw coming.” She specifies that large productions, like Barbie or Oppenheimer (released in the summer of 2023), have clearly failed to bring people back to cinemas.

Has cinema recovered from Covid?

In 2020, the coronavirus crisis was almost fatal to Cinepel. The main unsubsidized cinemas in the canton had to close their doors temporarily.

Although the situation is gradually stabilizing, the process takes time for screening rooms to recover. For the cinema director, it is not only the fault of the pandemic: “we had the Covid crisis, we had the energy crisis, so there have been several crises in the last 4-5 years “. But the goal is close “in my opinion, we still need a year or two to really say that we have passed the 2020 to 2022 phase” reassures Edna Epelbaum.

Encourage people to go to the cinema

According to the Federal Statistical Office, over the first six months of 2024, Swiss cinema recorded around 6% less than 2023 for the same period. A change which has no miracle solution according to Edna Epelbaum: “I think we continue to find the balance between very simple visits and creating events around films. »

For 2025, several major releases are on the program, such as the Robbie Williams biopic Better Manscheduled for the end of January. /Write