Closed for almost a year due to the coronavirus pandemic, theaters in Buenos Aires reopened this week under strict sanitary protocols in the hope that the aroma of pochoclos (popcorn) and the unique experience in front of the giant screen encourage viewers to return to their seats.
The reopening of the cinemas came quite late compared to casinos, bingo halls and theaters that began operating at the end of 2020. The health authorities gave the permission after exhaustively evaluating the health measures proposed by the owners and coinciding with a stabilization of the cases. of COVID in the Argentine capital, which this Wednesday reported 420 new infections and one deceased.
“We immediately decided to come,” said Guillermina Pareja and Daniel Moreno, two friends who were waiting to enter one of the cinemas of the Cinemark-Hoyts complex in the Palermo neighborhood to see the thriller “The Empty Man” (“Empty Man : The messenger of the last day ”). “We always came, it was like a ritual” before the pandemic.
“The screen, the smell of popcorn, sitting in the armchair”, they listed about what they missed the most in almost a year without cinemas.
In Argentina there are about 43 movie complexes – 321 screens – the majority (70%) concentrated in Buenos Aires. The cinemas employ about 10,000 workers.
“For the activity it was a difficult blow, it was the only industry that had been idle for so long,” Federico Pignataro, manager of the Palermo cinema complex, told The Associated Press. “People really wanted to go back to the movies, they missed the popcorn. Seeing a movie at the cinema is not the same as at home ”.
The closing of the cinemas also had a strong impact on the local film industry since 10% of the value of each ticket is used to finance national production.
By protocol, 30% of the capacity of each room is available and the distance between occupied seats is 1.5 meters. The use of a mask is not mandatory during the exhibition if food is consumed.
“I looked at the hygiene safety of the cinema and it seemed good to me, we decided to come. We are here to enjoy the film after a year, ”said Julián Serrano, 21, with a friend. He said he would be back on Thursday for the premiere of “The Head Hunter” (“Monster Hunter”). “It has been a long time since he came and he was quite surprised. It is not the same to watch movies at home ”.
With a basket of popcorn in one hand and a soda in the other, 8-year-old Bautista Sundblad was eager to get into the “Bad Boys for Life” show.
“He’s very excited,” admitted his mother Martina. “We were waiting for it a long time. There are few functions, few seats, everything is very careful. He is a huge movie fanatic. It’s like getting back to normal, doing everyday things. It is missing, but little by little we are getting where we wanted ”.
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