Three Canberra independent cinemas – Dendy Cinema Canberra, Limelight in Tuggeranong, and Palace Electric Cinema – will share in $230,000 from the Federal Government’s SCREEN fund, to help them recover from COVID-19 disruption.

“The last two years have been the most difficult ever faced by the cinema sector, and by independent cinemas in particular,” says Ross Entwistle, founder and CEO of Limelight Cinemas.

Benjamin Zeccola, CEO of Palace Cinemas, agrees. “Cinemas have done it so tough over the past couple of years.” Cinemas around the country were shut through lockdown: “They lost stock, they lost staff, and expenses just keep going because cinemas have very high fixed costs” – from utilities and rent to employees’ payroll and superannuation. To survive, cinemas had to hibernate. “They just had to stop the haemorrhaging of costs.”

Senator for the ACT Zed Seselja said the grants would allow independent cinemas to “keep their doors open and projectors rolling”.

“[The funding] is just the best news – it is so useful,” Mr Zeccola said. For Palace Electric, the grant will fund one month of payroll and property expenses.

Mr Entwistle said he was “enormously grateful” to the Federal Government for recognising the value independent cinemas bring communities, and their need at the moment. “This assistance from the Government [is] a very welcome lifeline.”

Now restrictions have eased in the ACT, cinema owners believe the epic may have a Hollywood happy ending.

Over the last two years, attendance has been 100 to 70 per cent down on the same period in 2019, Mr Zeccola said.

“After the horror movie of a three-month lockdown last year,” Mr Entwistle said, “we started to see some signs of recovery in November and December with movies like No Time to Die, Dune, the Venom sequel, and, of course, Spider-Man: No Way Home. Omicron then pierced that bubble completely in January – which is ordinarily the most important trading corridor of the year for us. It was a very painful blow.”

Only a fortnight ago, before restrictions eased, attendance was 60 per cent down – but at the moment, attendance is only 20 to 30 per cent down. Mr Zeccola is confident that after a few months, cinemas will come back to close to 100 per cent of where they were.

“It’s a bit of a yo-yo; it goes up and down … [But] we expect it’s going to be on the up-and-up between now all the way through to Easter.”

Mr Entwistle is also optimistic. “We’re hopeful that as restrictions are eased and some confidence is restored, that people will want to be out socialising again, and experiencing movies together again,” he said. “We’re daring to dream of recovery again!”

Limelight pins its hopes on lavish renovations and blockbusters, as well as the help from government. They completely refurbished their cinemas in the middle of 2020’s first lockdown; the cinemas now have recliner seating, new laser projection, a full bar and dining offer, and a private party room. This year’s movie menu includes The Batman, Dr. Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (the latest Marvel), Lightyear (a Pixar sequel to Toy Story), Top Gun: Maverick, the first Downton Abbey film, and Baz Luhrmann’s Elvis.

Palace Electric expects that Batman and the Alliance Française French Film Festival will “make a real difference”, Mr Zeccola said. The festival, the 33^rd iteration of Australia’s original foreign film festival, opens this week, with Balzac’s Illusions perdues. The 40 movies shown over the next month are the crème de la crème of the seventh art: “A magnificent selection of films,” Mr Zeccola said. There are crime stories (from Simenon’s Maigret to Murder Party to Patricia Highsmith’s Pleine soleil), World War II dramas (Adieu M. Haffmann), comedies (a Bond parody in Africa), romances, science fiction, children’s films, films from global Francophonie (Twist à Bamako, set in Mali), and nature documentaries.

“People love the escape of the cinema,” Mr Zeccola said. “Even though people have been at home watching streaming services, we’re very confident that what they really crave is the opportunity to go out – and cinema is a great value and very safe activity.

Cinema is Australia’s favourite out-of-door entertainment option, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, Mr Zeccola noted, and studies say it has psychological and mental health benefits.

“Something about the communal experience is very special for people – sharing the laughter and the tears is very moving and meaningful, and a wonderful way to achieve rest and recreation. It is special to people, and people have formed very special moments through cinema. People have favourite films that mean a lot to them. They’ve met their partners or gone on a first date to the cinema. We’ve had marriage proposals and wedding ceremonies at cinemas.

“It’s an important cultural art form; people are voting with their feet that they love it, and they want it to continue. We’re really glad that the federal government has recognized that cultural contribution as well.”

The three Canberra cinemas are among 125 independent cinemas around Australia to share in $7.3 million from the SCREEN fund.

A second round opened in December; applications close on 30 April. For more information and to check eligibility, visit: https://www.screenaustralia.gov.au/funding-and-support/covid-19-support/screen-fund