JAKARTA, AYOPURWAKARTA.COM – Various international studies show that until recently, cinemas were considered relatively safe to visit. This is because the cinema business actors carry out health protocols.
Jade Flinn, a faculty member from John Hopkins Medicine said everyone is facing the same direction, and that helps reduce the spread of the COVID-19 virus. A similar statement was also issued by Professor Budi Haryanto, Chair of the Covid-19 Control Task Force of the Indonesian Association of Public Health Experts (IAKMI), that the risk of spreading in cinemas is smaller when compared to restaurants.
“We know, until now there is not much that indicates the existence of a new cluster of restaurants,” he said.
In addition, the circulation and air ventilation systems in the cinema have been designed in such a way as to keep fresh air into the cinema room. What’s more, cinemas have been equipped with sophisticated circulation systems such as HEPA filters like on airplanes and some cinemas are even equipped with a UV-C light disinfection system to further clean the air in the cinema environment.
The impact of the pandemic on film workers is enormous. In 2019 there were 129 national film titles released in theaters with a total national film audience of 52 million people. This means that one film title is watched by approximately 400 thousand viewers.
Compared to the conditions during the Pandemic, data as of the end of February 2021 showed that there were 9 national film titles released in theaters with a total audience of only around 400 thousand people. The loss of tax revenue from cinema viewers alone reached 1.5 trillion and cinema indirect revenue was 1.2 trillion. Even the existence of a streaming distribution platform has not been able to sustain the industry and the value of film purchases has not been able to cover production costs, especially for films with a large budget.
The film workers have submitted a proposal to save the national film industry to the government. Film is not only an entertainment commodity, but also brings the face of Indonesia to the international world.
“Potentially, the Indonesian film industry with its cultural diversity and population as the main market is very large and therefore deserves to be saved,” said Shanty Harmayn, Indonesian film producer, through a press release, Friday (12/3).
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