Perhaps the biggest surprise of the 2012 cinema year was that two completely different films were the biggest crowd-pleasers. First, the new James Bond Skyfall, of course, with almost 2 million visits. But that the number two (1.2 million) is a French comedy about a crippled rich man and his black friend from the streets nobody initially expected. Intouchables, released by small arthouse distributor Filmfreak is last year's surprise hit. The best-attended Dutch film is Everything is family, with over 641 thousand in eighth place.
Wilco Wolfers, chairman of the Dutch Cinematography Federation, announced the cinema industry's annual figures this afternoon. He called it a "fine, crisis-proof year", with no major dramatic incidents.
At 30.6 million, total attendance is only slightly higher than last year, which incidentally continues the steady upward trend of the past 10 to 15 years. This growth is mainly due to the appeal of newly built cinema complexes.
Although many Dutch titles were released, Dutch film's market share was significantly lower than last to. From 22 per cent (largely accounted for by Gooic women) down to 16 per cent (based on visits), matching 2010 levels.
The most important milestone of 2012 passed relatively silently in September. In that month, the digitisation of cinemas and film theatres in the Netherlands was completed. This makes the Netherlands one of the global leaders, after Norway, Luxembourg and Hong Kong.
The biggest concern for the near future, as expressed by the president of the Dutch Association of Cinema Operators Winnie Sorgdrager, concerns the production of Dutch films in particular. The harsh budget cuts mean that starting in 2013, the production budget will be sharply reduced, meaning fewer Dutch titles in cinemas from 2014. This will also put heavy pressure on the market share of Dutch film. All kinds of consultations on this have so far had no result. Sorgdrager expressed the hope that solutions could be found at the upcoming film summit.
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