Every tenth inhabitant of Latvia wants to go to the cinema once a week

39% of Latvians would like to go to a live cinema screening at least once a month, the National Film Center (NCC) concluded in the survey.

According to NKC representative Kristīne Matīsa, 29% of respondents would suffice to attend a cinema once a month, but every tenth expresses a wish to visit a cinema at least once a week. At the same time, 21% of Latvians indicate that they would watch domestic films in a cinema if the screenings took place in the city where they live.

According to Matīsa, with the support of the NCC, an extensive marathon of premieres of films made in Latvia “The Screen Matters” will start this autumn. In total, 14 cinemas in Riga and eight Latvian cities – Liepāja, Ventspils, Tukums, Talsi, Smiltene, Krāslava, Madona and Rēzekne – will be able to see almost 30 new Latvian films made in the last two years on the big screens during the year, and some of the film premieres were planned already last year.

The head of the NCC Dita Rietuma pointed out that the year 2020 and the first half of 2021 were extremely severe for cinemas – due to the restrictions of the pandemic they were closed for a long time, therefore in 2020 the number of cinemas in Latvia and worldwide decreased radically.

Rietuma noted that Latvian films managed to attract the interest of viewers and maintain a significant market share – almost 20% of the total number of cinema attendance, 178,963 viewers – however, the attendance of national films decreased compared to the previous two years, when Latvian films reached record attendance records. In 2018, 556,832 spectators watched Latvian films in cinemas, and in 2019, spectators also confirmed their trust in national cinema, when 548,938 spectators watched Latvian films in cinemas.

“This autumn, cinemas have resumed their activities and the repertoire also includes the latest films made in Latvia. “Film works created by domestic professionals in the best quality, but also with their choice to support the Latvian film industry and Latvian cinemas,” said Rietuma.

The NKC representative said that in Riga and every region of Latvia, from August this year, every Latvian has the opportunity to watch the latest domestic films, thus not only choosing the opportunity to spend free time from the current cultural offer, but also supporting local professionals and creating future films.

–