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Cinema attendance set a new record

News
Posted on 14 June 2018, 11:00
According to Statistics Estonia, in 2017, cinema attendance set a new record, surpassing 3.5 million visits for the first time. Cinema attendance has doubled in the last ten years. The rising popularity of cinemas can be explained by an increase in the number of cinemas and a wider selection of films as well as by the generally higher living standard.

In the last year, 355 films were distributed in Estonian cinemas, of which 28 were produced in Estonia. For the second year running, more than half of the films distributed were imported from European countries. At the same time, the proportion of films produced in the United States continues to decrease, and for the first time in this century, films produced in the United States accounted for less than one third of the films distributed in Estonian cinemas.

Although more and more films distributed in cinemas are produced in Europe, films produced in the United States are still the most popular. The animation “Despicable Me 3” was the most viewed film of the year, with a total attendance of nearly 149,000. Over a half of cinema-goers saw films produced in the United States, while the attendance of European films accounted for less than a quarter of all cinema visits. As many European films are screened during special festivals, they are typically screened for a shorter period and attract less viewers than Hollywood blockbusters.

Distribution and attendance of films distributed in Estonian cinemas by country of origin, 2017

The most popular Estonian film was “Sangarid”, with an attendance of over 85,000. In total, Estonian films were seen in cinemas 282,000 times and grossed more than 1.5 million euros. The box office of Estonian films accounted for 8% of the total box office in Estonia (19.4 million euros).

22 full-length films were produced in Estonia in 2017, including 11 feature films and 11 documentaries. 30 short feature films, 70 short documentaries and 7 short animations were also produced during the year. Although animations remain popular in Estonian cinemas, no animations have been produced in Estonia in the last five years.

Full-length film – a film of a duration of at least 60 minutes. Short film – a film of a duration of less than 60 minutes.

For the statistical activity “Film”, the main representative of public interest is the Ministry of Culture, commissioned by whom Statistics Estonia collects and analyses the data necessary for conducting the statistical activity.