Forum Cinemas head on closing time: Later screenings are most popular
From Monday, May 24, the theaters and cinemas across Estonia were opened, but unlike last year, the restriction of closing the cultural institutions with stationary seating at 10 p.m. is still valid. CEO of Forum Cinemas, Kristjan Kongo, says that it's not possible to operate for long on such terms.
The closing time of restaurants and cultural institutions has been a matter of discussion throughout the coronavirus crisis because the established closing times have been relatively similar in all areas and haven't been enough justified according to the representatives of some areas. The head of the government's scientific council, Irja Lutsar, has justified this by looking at the situation broadly and moving on with a wider front.
Kongo said that they have around 50 screenings a day, due to the restrictions, around 10 to 12 are canceled. "It is significantly more painful that many cinema goers don't visit the cinemas, for that reason," Kongo said, and added that the morning shows constitute around 20 percent of the evening's shows.
Kongo said that it can be the case that the last screenings, which start at 7 or 8 p.m. will be heavily crowded. "This will, however, mean that the public will be concentrated in a certain time period, and it's harder to monitor groups of people."
Kongo added that people prefer later movie performances in summer. "The days are longer in the summer, and during the day, people are very busy, they spend their time outside, in restaurants and so on. Only after all of this do they come to the cinema."
"Honestly, I hope the restriction will be removed next week because it's very difficult to operate otherwise," he said.
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Editor: Roberta Vaino