Maximum attention to cinemas in difficulty
While audiovisual production is in a moment of particular dynamism, cinemas find themselves in a situation of great difficulty: attendance in theaters in the “first half of 2022 fell by 58% compared to the average of the three pre-pandemic years, against 40% from Germany, 30% from France, 27% from the United Kingdom. A crisis that has been grafted onto an already critical situation. Hence, in addition to the ministerial decree “adopted to encourage spectators to watch Italian films in cinemas by focusing on a reduction in the ticket price which the State will take charge of”, Sangiuliano reiterated that the new system of tax credits calculated on the operating costs of cinemas and the strengthening of tax credits which facilitate investments relating to the technological, functional and structural adaptation of cinemas». While for private theatres, “we can think of the introduction of a tax credit mechanism for productions”.
5 million exhibits in museums but only 480 thousand exhibited
As for the state museum heritage, the minister explained that among the management criticalities there is the fact that 90% of the works or exhibits are in deposits, as in the rest of the world: but the problem is that in Italy the heritage is so widespread, that around 5,000,000 works and exhibits are kept in the deposits of the museums belonging to the General Directorate alone, while around 480,000 are exhibited». Hence the hypothesis of «a long-term strategy that can lead some large museums to generate new exhibition spaces as some large international museums have done. At an Uffizi 2 for example in Florence, in Tuscany or why not also abroad as done by the Louvre»
The minister also underlined that “in 2019, the last pre-pandemic year, only five paid sites exceeded one million visitors (Colosseum-Forum, Pompeii, Uffizi, Gallerie dell’Accademia, Castel Sant’Angelo), creating more than two thirds of all gross receipts. “We need to work, with targeted policies, so that other sites can reach these figures – he added -. It is necessary to implement policies that lead people to attend less frequented museums and archaeological areas”.
Positive visitor trend and higher than pre-pandemic
As for the Uffizi, as reported by the museum director, “since June there have been 3% more visitors than the pre-pandemic level”. The trend is “absolutely positive”, so next year if it were to be confirmed, “in our country we could have a higher number of museum visitors in Italy than in 2019”.