Mobile cinemas in Brandenburg bring the magic of movies to rural areas outside bigger cities. — Photos: JENS KALAENE/dpa
FOR VILLAGERS in the most rural parts of Brandenburg, the sparsely populated state that surrounds the German capital Berlin, a night at the cinema means a long drive.
Sure, there are film theatres in larger towns like Templin, Prenzlau or Angermünde. But for many, catching the latest blockbuster also means a lengthy car trip through the countryside.
All that changed seven years ago, thanks to Templin's multicultural centre, which founded the Mobile Cinema Uckermark to bring films to the region, setting up mobile screens in parks or on village squares.
That idea caught and spread throughout Brandenburg, which now boasts numerous temporary open-air cinemas - most in the warmer months of the year.
Times are not easy for cinemas, competing with streaming sites like Netflix that enable people to watch movies without having to leave their homes, with all the comforts of a flat screen television and microwave popcorn. That trend was compounded by the pandemic, when people tended to be stuck at home.
But there is something special about watching a screening outdoors with lots of other people, beneath the night sky, that can't quite compete with sitting in your living room at home.
Kathrin Bohm-Berg, who managers the Templin Multicultural Centre, looks back on a solid season of showings.
"We had nearly 3,000 visitors," she says. "One evening, one event – that's the charm of the concept."
One special factor is the Uckermark region's attractive landscape that is a further draw for people to head out to small villages and check out places they might otherwise never discover.
The team can bring the latest blockbusters to the villages as the cultural centre works together with local partners and has a screen measuring 6 metres x 7 metres as well as the technology for digital projections.
Visitors watching a French comedy, 'Serial (Bad) Weddings 3' in Brandeburg's Schlosspark Oranienburg, a historic rural setting. — Photos: JENS KALAENE/dpa
Beautiful locations
The sky is the limit when it comes to locations. The team has shown films at an open-air theatre in Lychen, the ruins of a monastery in Boitzenburg and on the premises of the Pinnow ice cream makers who work using traditional methods, creating the treats by hand.
That's allowed the team to combine nights at the cinema with a culinary experience, too.
"We want to present the best films in beautiful locations," says Bohm-Berg. She and her team are scouring the area for natural locations that convey the spirit of the region.
When it comes to the programme, the cinema's offerings range from the latest blockbusters to arthouse films.
They make a small pre-selection before the organisers at the location choose what to show on site.
On average, 100 to 150 viewers come to the open-air events, says Bohm-Berg. Before the pandemic, they sometimes had 200 to 300 visitors. The advantage for the outdoor showings was that they did not have to stop amid the pandemic, unlike indoor cinemas affected by regulations on public gatherings and lockdown restrictions.
The mobile movie team handles the whole season but for the local teams in the towns and villages who stage the film, these are usually one-off events.
People flock to mobile cinemas that bring films to villages in Germany.
Touristic appeal
Some locations put on films for the first time this year, such as the Oranienburg Castle Park near Berlin where the team showed French comedy Serial (Bad) Weddings, and a German comedy whose title translates as "The Perfect Secret."
"It was a one-off event," says Nadine Wolf from the Oranienburg Tourism and Culture Organisation. The town financed the evenings so the movies were free for viewers. Wolf and her team were happy with how the event went and may do a similar showing next year.
Birgit Kunkel from the Brandenburg tourism marketing board says the state has lots of open-air cinemas, in Barnimer Land, at the Bötzsee lido and the Lehde open-air museum, to name but three.
These showings appeal to tourists as well as locals, she says. "Cinema screenings in beautiful and special places are definitely attractive offers and fit well if people are planning what to do during their holidays," says Kunkel.
While most cinemas run these kinds of events only during the warmer months, Matthias Jankowiak and his son Lino Haselhorst keep going through the autumn.
They launched their travelling cinema Brandenburg four years ago and have now made it their full-time job.
Their approach is similar to the Uckermark team, showing films in places where there are few cinemas.
"We were well booked all summer," says Jankowiak. They bring their screen and audio system to put on events in gardens, on village squares or in parks, showing mainly arthouse films or classics, including German tragicomedy Head Full of Honey.
They also encourage the local teams at the locations to help choose what to show in their area.
The team held an open-air event in October and have since switched to indoor sites such as barns or school auditoriums.
Jankowiak likes the open-air screenings best, though. "We had one performance where there were shooting stars all evening. That was so beautiful." – dpa
