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INDUSTRY Belgium

Belgian cinema attendance on the rise

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Attendance in Belgian cinemas was on the rise in 2011, according the data gathered by Federation of Belgian Cinemas (FCB), who registered a 5% increase in admissions in its thirty-ish affiliate cinema complexes around the country. Their study is a good indicator of cinema attendance in Belgium, if not an exact one. No official body in Belgium counts admissions in the country, and overall results are therefore the results of intelligent guessing, both from data published by the FCB and Kinepolis, together covering 86% of Belgian cinemas.

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In 2011, the FCB noted a clear increase in admissions around the country, although it was felt more strongly in certain regions. In Wallonia, attendance went up by 10,7% and in Brussels by 5,2%, while a slight drop in admissions was noted in the Flemish-speaking part of the country with 0,4% less visitors to the silver screen than the year before. FCB members attracted 10.4 million spectators in 2011, while Kinepolis (11 multiplexes in Belgium with a total of 134 screens) announced 9.6 million admissions in its Belgian cinemas, a similar figure to 2010. In total, 20 million people therefore visited 86% of Belgian cinemas last year. Thus, in total about 22,8 million people must have been to the cinema in Belgium in 2011, about 2,2% more than the year before.

In the French-speaking part of Belgium, Untouchable [+see also:
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, Nothing to Declare [+see also:
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, and The Aventures Tintin did extremely well and largely contributed to this increase in admissions. In the Flemish-speaking part of the country, the increase is no doubt linked to Loft [+see also:
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with 1.2 million admissions, but also to the great success of Bullhead [+see also:
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, Come As You Are [+see also:
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and Code 37 [+see also:
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. Nationwide, a few serious American blockbusters also helped to increase admissions, whether the latest Harry Potter film, the before-last instalment in the Twilight saga, or the almost Belgian Smurfs.

These numbers confirm an increase in admissions by 3% in 2010, and make 2011 Belgian cinemas’ best year since 2006 when there were 23.9 million admissions, a situation similar to that in France, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and Germany.

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(Translated from French)

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