Quebec cinema has succeeded To reduce its losses last year, despite the pandemic and successive confinements, but it is posting results below expectations in certain regions. And it’s not for lack of being released in theaters. In Quebec City and the suburbs of Montreal in particular, it is clear that demand is simply lower than supply.
Elsewhere in Quebec, the percentage of Quebec films screened in theaters in 2021 roughly follows that of admissions, according to data from the Observatory of Culture and Communications. In Abitibi-Témiscamingue, local cinema even managed to attract 27% of attendance last year, when it represented less than 25% of screenings in theaters in the region.
“It’s normal that, in small regions, Quebec films do better. If there is a cinema with four screens and if, in one of these rooms, there is a Quebec film, the percentage will definitely not be the same as in a Montreal cinema where there is 14 screens,” explains Vincent Guzzo, owner of the cinema chain of the same name.
Not only is there more competition in the big cities, but in the greater Montreal area there is also the issue of language; in proportion, there are fewer Quebec films screened, and therefore fewer admissions. But how is it that the rate of tickets sold is lower than the offer?
On the island of Montreal, for example, Quebec feature films occupied 10% of cinemas in 2021, but they only represented 8.6% of admissions. In the Laurentians, Quebec productions accounted for 16.6% of films screened, but only 13.4% of attendance. In Laval, we are talking about an impressive gap of almost 6 percentage points between projections and attendance: a record for all regions combined.
“In Laval, there is a Guzzo and a Cineplex. These are theaters where the kind of films we make in Quebec work less. It may be part of the answer,” says producer and distributor Christian Larouche.
But what impresses the producer even more is the underperformance of Quebec cinema in the greater Quebec City region.
Both in the Capitale-Nationale and in Chaudière-Appalaches, the difference between attendance and projection exceeds 3 percentage points in 2021.
“Quebec has always been a mystery, an enigma, for Quebec cinema. It’s been more difficult for years than elsewhere. I can’t explain it. Even when we make premieres in Quebec, we see it. Often, when the film ends, there are not even reactions, whereas, in other cities, people applaud and come to see us”, is surprised Christian Larouche, who recently produced and distributed the comedy Goodbye happiness, by Ken Scott.
Distributor Louis Dussault describes the same reality for Quebec and its outskirts. He even goes so far as to draw a parallel between the disappointing figures for Quebec films and the success of more right-wing parties in the region.
“The place where Quebec films work the least is in Beauce. Where they work the most is in Montreal in the central districts. It’s fascinating. We can know how people vote just by looking at our audience figures”, maintains the president of K-Films America, distributor among others of Noémie says yes, which is still showing in some theaters.
Not enough visibility
For Vincent Guzzo, “it’s not a matter of conservatives or not conservatives”. The difficulties of Quebec cinema are elsewhere. Yes, some movies do less well in certain types of theaters. A Quebec auteur film is undoubtedly less likely to work in its Méga-Plex Pont-Viau, in Laval, than a blockbuster American. And the opposite is also true at Cinéma Beaubien, in the Rosemont district of Montreal.
But the businessman above all evokes a problem of visibility for Quebec cinema. In regions where there is little competition, it still happens. But the greater region of Quebec or in the 450, where there is an abundance of films on display, Monsieur and Madame Tout-le-Monde get lost there and miss the latest releases.
“The theater owners are ready to show Quebec films. But if you want us to help you, help us help you. The problem is that Quebec producers imitated the Americans and reduced marketing. But there are still people who watch TV and read the newspaper, who look at the signs on the side of the road, ”underlines the owner of the Guzzo cinemas.
Vincent Guzzo does not, however, go so far as to repeat his polemical remarks of 2012. At the time, he mentioned the too many “lamenting” artistic films produced here to explain the difficulties of Quebec cinema in the box office. Ten years later, he rather considers that Quebec cinema is following the right trajectory with more commercial films, such as The perfect family guidethe big hit of summer 2021.
“Things have improved in the last few years,” he notes. We started to make much more diversified films again. There is no more embarrassment in making wide-ranging films. […] There’s no reason to make depressing films because we think these are the kinds of films that work at Cannes and the big festivals. »