Status: 08.06.2022 3:41 p.m
The cinema in Boizenburg is one of the cinemas awarded the MV cinema culture prize. What is special about this small house? Thomas Naedler looked around on site.
Not much is going on on this sunny afternoon in Boizenburg. The horse girl film “Immenhof” is already in its second week. Many who want to see him have seen him – eight guests are seated in the hall on the first floor. It is also used for events.
“The stage has just been reduced, but it can be enlarged when real bands play. The seats can be moved here,” explains Christian Lempp. He took over the cinema 20 years ago – as head of a company that is 60 percent owned by the city and 40 percent by a Hamburg film production company.
$70,000 grant from the city
This means that the house is considered a municipal cinema – this ensures the survival of the 11,000-inhabitant town on the Elbe. In the budget for this year, the city politicians have planned a subsidy of 70,000 euros. “It was recognized that this is by far the cheapest cultural or leisure facility in this city. Every museum, every library, every swimming pool, every gym is much, much more expensive,” reports Lempp.
The cinema ticket costs between five and eight euros fifty. Because a particularly large number of children and young people attend the performances, the average price for a ticket here in Boizenburg last year was just six euros – nationwide it’s an average of one and seventy euros more. In normal years there are around 25,000 visitors per year – in the pandemic years it was up to two thirds less.
Two halls – with remote control from the cash desk
A narrow staircase leads to the second hall almost to the roof – if you take the wrong turn, you’ll be standing in the projection room and hearing the whirring of the computer and beamer. Everything can even be operated remotely from the checkout – this saves on staff. The three of them keep their cinema running here. 45 seats below – 122 seats above. “The cinema is big enough. I would say it’s almost oversized for Boizenburg,” says Christian Lempp.
First 90 years ago
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Anyone who recognizes all 60 films on the hidden object pictures at Boizenburg’s bus stops can win an annual ticket for the cinema.
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They are celebrating two anniversaries here this year: Ninety years ago the first film was shown in the narrow house in the city center – unfortunately no one remembers which it was. 20 years ago, the house, which many had already declared dead, was rescued: the city became a shareholder and a second hall was set up.
Win free tickets: Hidden object pictures at bus stops
Christian Lempp and his colleagues have therefore come up with a puzzle – for the viewers. Hidden objects are currently hanging as large posters at bus stops in Boizenburg – an illustrator has hidden 60 films on them. “People who recognize all 60 films win a free annual ticket for the Boizenburg cinema,” Lempp explains the competition.
There is always a discussion in the cinema industry about the question of how the houses can generally ensure their survival – in view of the bulging media libraries in the living rooms. An idea that is often formulated is that cinemas should become social centers where people can talk to each other. The themes from the films could be an impetus for this.
With everything that the Boizenburg cinema currently offers in the small town – in terms of films and culture – it is very close to this idea.
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