Why New Zealanders need to get to the movies (and how to do it without busting the bank)

Gemma Gracewood watched the 97th Academy Awards from her favourite locally-owned independent cinema in Auckland, The Hollywood Avondale.

By Jogai Bhatt of RNZ

“Where did we fall in love with the movies? At the movie theatre,” says filmmaker Sean Baker.

New Zealand film Tinā has audiences in tears. It also has them joining together in joyful laughter and applause. This is the power of seeing movies together, at the cinema.

Gemma Gracewood, editor-in-chief of social film discovery platform, Letterboxd, read through reviews of the film after opening weekend in late February.

“[The reviews on Letterboxd were] people apologising to the people next to them for how much they were weeping in this, people writing about being surrounded by cast and crew in such a joyously raucous evening, and needing to go back and rewatch the film in a quieter setting so they can actually hear some of the lines in the laughter and applause.”

The film has broken records for New Zealand’s widest film release and currently sits at the top of the local box office.

“This is the kind of thing that makes the importance of cinematic viewing so acute,” Gracewood says.

Gemma Gracewood is editor-in-chief at Letterboxd. Photo / Renee Bevan

“It’s the understanding you get while watching something with other people.”

It was a sentiment echoed by Anora filmmaker Sean Baker, who used his Best Director speech at the 97th Academy Awards earlier this month to call for the protection of independent cinemas and the moviegoing experience.

“Where did we fall in love with the movies? At the movie theatre,” he said.

“Watching a film in the theatre with an audience is an experience. We can laugh together, cry together and scream and fight together and perhaps sit in devastated silence together ... it’s a communal experience you simply don’t get at home. Right now, the theatre-going experience is under threat, movie theatres, especially independently-owned theatres, are struggling and it’s up to us to support them.

“Parents, introduce your children to feature films in movie theatres, you’ll be moulding the next generation of movie lovers and filmmakers and for all of us, when we can, please watch movies in the theatres and let’s keep the great tradition of the movie-going experience alive and well.”

Gracewood happened to be watching the ceremony at her favourite locally-owned independent cinema in Auckland, The Hollywood Avondale.

“Needless to say, there was a huge spontaneous round of applause where we were, and I’m sure in independently-owned cinemas worldwide... it is so important to keep the big screen experience alive, for films of all budget levels and creative ambitions.”

Film enthusiast Dave Moore goes to the movies at least once a week and has seen almost every film nominated for Best Picture at this year’s Oscars. His love of cinema started at the age of nine, when his mum took him to watch Peter Jackson’s King Kong.

“I was just so immersed, I loved the sense of adventure. And I actually cried when the crew crossed the bridge into Skull Island to save Ann... the score was so epic and I didn’t expect it to take hold of my emotions like that. It just enfolded me into that world.”

Moore still loves going to the movies, but financial hurdles are far greater now.

“Most places you go out it feels like it’s gonna cost you $100 regardless of the activity. I think when we watched King Kong, I mean I’ll have to ask my mum, but I think the tickets were like $10. You have to mentally prepare yourself these days.

“I’m actually going tonight to see Mickey 17 with my girlfriend. I think with snacks, parking, dinner after, it can stack up. The tickets were around $65 for the both of us, but it’s a movie we’re both excited to see and we’re watching it at Silky Otter which is a luxury cinema with recliner seats. There are other ways to still enjoy the big screen experience that are easier on the wallet."

Amanda Jane Robinson runs the Capitol Cinema film club in Auckland. Photo / NZME

Independent cinemas across New Zealand have introduced initiatives to soothe some of those financial barriers and revive a collective film culture.

The Lighthouse in Wellington has $12 tickets on Mad Mondays, Christchurch’s Alice has $13 tickets on Cheap Tuesdays, and Auckland’s Academy Cinemas is known for its $5 Wednesdays. Many smaller cinemas also host special anniversary screenings, archival titles, and offer snacks at a fraction of normal costs.

At the Capitol Cinema in Auckland, Amanda Jane Robinson has been running the cinema’s film club with her partner Tom Augustine for the past five years. For just $13 a ticket, they screen a unique film every month, focusing on a mix of retrospective titles and cult classics. In February, it was Gregg Araki’s The Doom Generation. In March, it’ll be Australian horror Wake in Fright.

“We’re just trying to bring these films that may have never screened here, or haven’t screened here since their release years ago, that people might’ve heard of and wanted to see, or maybe haven’t heard of at all, and making that accessible at a cheaper price, because we know the cost of living is horrific.

“Tickets are $13, they were $10 for a long time but we had to increase it for the sake of cost of living at the cinema’s end as well.”

Robinson is not only a film programmer, but an avid cinema-goer herself. As a uni student, she remembers other patrons being mostly students and retirees. But since hosting Capitol’s film club, she’s noticed a shift in younger people visiting the cinemas again.

Academy Cinemas in Auckland is known for $5 Wednesday screenings. Photo / Heart of the City

“I think it’s having a moment, I really do... I remember when I was at uni, I kind of had weird hours of the day available, and going down to a morning session or an early afternoon session at Academy, it was just kind of students and retirees, I love that audience vibe.

“But the people that come to the Capitol really love cinema, there’s high schoolers that come every month, there’s uni students studying film who just wanna see as much as they can, but there’s also people in their 30s and 40s and 50s and 60s that don’t work in film or aren’t on Letterboxd, they’re just really interested or saw this film when it came out in the 80s and love it now. But there is that young crowd who are seeing the value of that movie-going experience as well.

“I just really believe in that collective viewing experience, it’s still magic to me. If it’s for you then there’s nothing like it ... it’s a nice way of being with people without being with people, I think it’s nice to be a part of the world. It’s the feeling of community.”

But as accessible as these initiatives make it, there’s no denying the dominance of streaming. With so many films just a click away, the question remains - why leave the house at all? For Robinson, the idea that streaming makes everything more accessible isn’t necessarily true.

“There’s this feeling that there’s a lot of choice out there, so it’ll come to streaming anyway and if you just wait, it’ll be cheaper. But if you subscribe to two or three or four streaming channels, you’re paying a decent amount per month anyway.

“With independent cinemas, that money is going to people in your community that are invested in running and bringing these films to you and people that live around you, and I think that’s special ... something we try to do at the Capitol is introduce the film for a couple of minutes before it starts, contextualise it a little bit in how it was received at the time, or talk about a couple of interesting things or why we decided to programme it.

Tinā has broken records for New Zealand’s widest film release and currently sits at the top of the local box office.

“Drawing those connections is trickier if you’re just milling through Netflix or Amazon to see what’s there and putting something on and realising it’s not really your thing and going to bed because you already spent 40 minutes scrolling.”

So what happens if we abandon the movie-going experience entirely? Gracewood warns of the larger consequences.

“Films make their money back, their production budget back and their profit in a number of different ways, but the most important way is still at the movies, and that first theatrical outing. Without those budgets being able to be returned, we simply won’t see more films. It’s an eco-system that relies on audiences showing up for films, wherever they are screening, but especially on the big screen.

“That’s the business basics of it, but the audience of it all ... at the same time Sean Baker was standing on that stage talking about the importance of investing in big screen stories and the importance of audiences showing up for those stories, Tinā was hitting its big opening weekend. And it’s the third fastest New Zealand film to a million, the third highest opening after Hunt for the Wilderpeople and Sione’s Wedding 2.

“That’s why it’s important [to go to the cinema] - so these films get made.”