06/02/2003 - Domestic share of market drops by 11.9% with children's comedy, best was Bibi Blocksberg

In its end-of-year report, the German Federal Film Board reported an 11.9 per cent drop in the domestic share of the German film market. No national production came anywhere close to repeating the huge success engendered in 2001 by Manitou’s Shoe
163.9m tickets were sold in 2002, 14m less than in 2001 and the best performing German films were Bibi Blocksberg, a children’s comedy by Hermine Huntgeburth, seen by over 2m Germans while Caroline Link’s Nowhere in Africa [+see also:
trailer
film profile] and Knallharte Jungs, a comedy written and directed by Granz Henman, were both seen by over 1m German filmgoers.
However, German exhibitors have reason to rejoice after filmgoers spent a total of Euros960m in cinema tickets in 2002, making this the second best year for exhibition since 1989.
Only 113 cinemas closed in 2002, the lowest number for a decade. At present there are 1203 cinemas operating countrywide, 26 more than in 2001.