Göteborg Film Festival’s VOD platform, Draken Film, has announced an initiative to support independent Swedish art-house cinemas in the wake of COVID-19. Draken Film is launching a selection of newly released films in collaboration with leading Swedish distributors and will donate “half of the revenues from new subscribers to independent Swedish art-house cinemas,” a press release announced. This way, audiences will be able to watch new releases and help keep their local cinemas in business from the safety of their own homes.
The titles slated for release at Draken Film include Cannes winner “Portrait of a Lady on Fire,” Céline Sciamma’s period romance about a reluctant bride to be and the artist commissioned to paint her portrait, and “The Perfect Candidate,” Haifaa al-Mansour’s portrait of a doctor who decides to run for municipal council.
“The coronavirus is a tough blow to the film industry,” said Jonas Holmberg, Artistic Director at Göteborg Film Festival. “Cinemas being empty and even closing down will affect everyone working with quality films, the consequences for the cinemas are likely to be devastating. It is now the cinemas need our and everyone’s support!”
“Each subscriber decides for themself which cinema they want to support. During the first six months, half of the revenues will go directly to that specific cinema,” the release details.
Cinemas supported by Draken Film include Zita (Stockholm), Capitol Bio (Stockholm), Panora, (Malmö), Fyrisbiografen (Uppsala), Roy (Göteborg), Capitol (Göteborg), Hagabion (Göteborg), Kino (Lund), Gylleboverket (Östra Vemmerlöv), Röda Kvar (Borås), Folkets Bio Växjö, Folkets Bio Umeå, Tollereds biograf, Scala (Båstad), Bio 7:an (Gävle), Folkets Bio Jönköping, and Biocafé Tellus (Stockholm).
