How are we What do we need now To get through the second summer of the pandemic and find ways out of the crisis together? Corona and we in MV: For months, the NDR in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania accompanied people from the country and asked how they experienced the time between winter 2020 and summer 2021.
by Thomas Naedler
A large poster still imposes access to the hall in the Luna film theater in Ludwigslust. It announces the film “Before me the south”. A car drives towards the horizon and therefore the poster looks like a metaphor for departure. In front of the door of the Luna: garden chairs, carefully stacked. Christian Quis takes one after the other and in a few minutes the small terrace under the awning becomes a hospitable place. The tables are numbered and QR codes invite guests to check in with the Luca app. The small café in front of the cinema has been open since June 1st, tarte flambée and espresso, tea with fresh mint – all of this should signal: we’ll be back soon.
Videos
13 Min
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It is shortly before the summer vacation 2021. A mood picture from all over MV – stories from people from the country. 13 min
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Conditions for the restart are still unclear
However, Bettina Westermann and Christian Quis are still worried about the requirements of the state government. Cinema only with test, or vaccinated, with mask also in the hall. Carefully note down the guests’ data – via the Luca app, but also on slips of paper, because you need to know who was sitting in which seat in the cinema. The precise documentation does not work digitally. They could set up their own test station in front of the entrance for the weekends when the test centers in the city are closed, but for all these precautionary measures taken together they would need staff – but, they say, the small cinema is not with more staff to operate economically.
“We can do something ourselves again”
Despite the worry lines: the mood is not bad. “It will probably take some time to achieve profitability, but we can do something ourselves again,” says Christian Quis. Tarte flambée – oven on at 5 p.m. During the pandemic, the two used the time. Have looked through the programs of the distributors – in front of the big screen, as the only guests in the red armchairs in the hall. New posters are already ready, the program for the restart they are currently putting together. They also want to have a photovoltaic system installed on the roof of the cinema – they have the permits, but the material is currently difficult to come by.
Annoyed by early easing
“If we had lasted a little longer in December,” says Christian Quis, “we could have saved ourselves the third wave.” He does not want to call the decisions to open up some areas early as “populism”, but both are convinced that the easing in winter, which was the wrong step, was. It is not their business to be upset, they have accepted the specifications for the restart with a reluctance from the north, but want to try to get in touch with those responsible. “We have the feeling that we are the last again, even though we stuck to everything the whole time,” says the cinema boss quietly.
Videos
4 Min
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More than a year of the corona pandemic has left its mark on the people in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. What do we need now 4 min
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2020: fewer spectators – a lot of support
Last year the Luna was lucky. The building belongs to the city of Ludwigslust, it is more than 100 years old and thus one of the oldest cinemas in the country. In order to mitigate the consequences of the pandemic, the city has deferred the rent, and the state financial injections have also helped to keep the traditional house afloat. In addition, the Luna has been awarded the country’s cinema culture prize – another 10,000 euros for survival. They also rebuilt the rows of seats last year – to a distance of 1.5 meters. Almost no seats have been lost, but the first row has moved much closer to the screen. The Luna has a total of 100 seats.
“We are waiting for you”
Behind the counter in the foyer, past the empty popcorn machine, you enter a tiny kitchen. The exhaust system is new, as is the oven for the tarte flambée. Bettina Westermann takes a folding sign from the corner. “Oven on at 5 pm”. She carries it over the bridge that leads from the Luna over a small canal to the street. There she puts it under the showcases in which the announcement posters usually hang. One of these posters is different – it shows many small photos from cinemas in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania: “Cinemas in MV – We are waiting for you” is written above it.
This is how Mecklenburg and Western Pomerania experience the corona pandemic:
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