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Latin America sees rapid growth
of digital screens
Excerpt: filmjournal.com

October 19, 2009 - Roque González: Latin America has approximately 6% of the 2K DLP digital screens in the world. Almost 500 of these screens are situated in 19 territories. Nevertheless, just one year ago this region had only 0.7% of the digital screens in the world, with 50 2K digital projectors installed in just seven countries.

Currently, Latin America has experienced the fastest growth in the number of digital screens worldwide; the number increased almost 900% in the last year alone. Since the mid-2000s to December 2007, the total of digital screens in the region stayed stable at around 20. By September 2008, the number had increased to 50. Then, in just half a year, the growth rate reached 250%, starting a boom that does not seem to have a visible end.

Today, Latin America has digitized around 5% of all its screens—an average comparable to that of the European Union (5.3%) and the rest of the world (5.9%). Mexico and Brazil are the locomotives of this train: Together they account for three-quarters of the digital screens in Latin America. (Mexico alone has 57% of the 2K projectors.) In addition, almost all the digital screens in Latin America exhibit films in stereoscopic 3D.

Trends in Latin America

The digital screen market in Latin America is very concentrated. At this time, it is a copy of the 35mm exhibition market: fragmented and concentrated in very wealthy regions (states, provinces, cities, neighborhoods).

It is important to highlight that the American company Cinemark is the only chain that has digital screens spread throughout Latin America (in 13 countries). The Mexican firm Cinépolis also has a remarkable presence, not only in its home country but also in Colombia and in Central America.

Meanwhile, Hoyts has a significant presence in the digital screen market in the Southern Cone: Argentina, Chile, Brazil and Uruguay (with major activity in the two first countries). The initiative undertaken by national exhibitors throughout the region to install digital screens should also be noted.

In Latin America, each digital screen (including projector, server, software, peripherals and 3D equipment) costs between US$200,000 and US$300,000. In this region, the costs are four or more times that of the United States and Europe. The theatres that are going digital base their decision on the high impact of 3D.

As for the 3D system chosen in each region, RealD and Dolby shares constitute almost 50% of the market each, with the exception of Mexico, where 80% of digital screens market have adopted RealD (and Dolby has no presence). XpanD has only a considerable activity in Mexico (20%) and a small presence in Brazil.

Barco Expands Digital Cinema Reach into Latin America Capturing Majority Market Share
Excerpt: dcinematoday.com

April 2009 - Responding to the growing need for digital cinema entertainment, Barco secures number one position via numerous deployments across a varied customer base.

Digital Cinema pioneer Barco announced today that the deployment of its digital cinema projectors is growing substantially into the Latin American marketplace.

Spearheaded by Barco's relationship with Texas-based Cinemark International, Barco DP-2000 projectors have been deployed into more than 25 Cinemark multiplexes throughout Mexico, Central and South America, including major cities in Argentina, Chile, Peru, Guatemala, Panama, Colombia, Ecuador and Brazil.

This ongoing deployment encompasses both small and large exhibitors throughout Latin America. CineColombia, Inc., the largest Colombia-based exhibitor, is rolling out 3D screens throughout Colombia.

With a plan to replace 100% of their projectors with digital, they have already upgraded screens in Cali, Bogota, and Medellin. Miami-based Barco agents Magna-Tech Electronic Company Inc. and Cinema Equipment Inc. specialize in the Latin American market, integrating Barco projectors in multiple Latin American countries.

Magna-Tech recently converted four multiplexes to Barco digital cinema projection for E. De Veer Theatres in Aruba and Curacao, for a total of 24 digital screens in the Caribbean.

Cinepolis and RealD 3D Announce Exclusive Digital 3D Partnership
Excerpt: findarticles.com

July 2008 - Cinepolis, Inc, the world's fifth largest cinema exhibitor, and RealD 3D, the global leader in 3D, announced today that Cinepolis will add 500 RealD 3D screens to its circuit. The rollout of these 500 RealD 3D screens has already begun with six new screens installed, and will continue through 2010.

Cinepolis, a Mexican company with more than 30 years of experience, has presence in 61 cities in Mexico and in five countries in Central and South America. It has more than 1,800 screens in 201 cinemas.

Latin America Cinema
Source: wikipedia.org

Latin American film is both rich and diverse. But the main centers of production have been Mexico, Argentina, Brazil, and Cuba. Latin American cinema flourished after the introduction of sound, which added a linguistic barrier to the export of Hollywood film south of the border.

The 1950s and 1960s saw a movement towards Third Cinema, led by the Argentine filmmakers Fernando Solanas and Octavio Getino.

In Brazil, the Cinema Novo movement created a particular way of making movies with critical and intellectual screenplays, a clearer photography related to the light of the outdoors in a tropical landscape, and a political message.

In Argentina, after a series of military governments that shackled culture in general, the industry re-emerged after the 1976 – 1983 military dictatorship to produce the The Official Story in 1985, becoming the only Latin American movie to win the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film.

Other nominees for Argentina were The Truce (1974), Camila (1984), Tango (1998) and Son of the Bride (2001). More recently, a new style of directing and stories filmed as been tagged as "New Latin American Cinema."

The Argentine economic crisis affected the production of films in the late 1990s and early 2000s, but many Argentine movies produced during those years were internationally acclaimed, including El abrazo partido (2004), Roma (2004) and Nueve reinas (2000), which was the basis for the 2004 American remake Criminal.

The modern Brazilian film industry has become more profitable inside the country, and some of its productions have received prizes and recognition in Europe and the United States. Movies like Central do Brasil (1999) and Cidade de Deus (2003) have fans around the world, and its directors have taken part in American and European film projects.

Excerpt: pri.org

February 4, 2010 - group of indigenous leaders from the Amazon in Ecuador’s capital Quito, to see the film "Avatar" on the big screen in 3D. If there were ever a place that came close to the magical world of Pandora in James Cameron’s new film "Avatar," it would be the Amazon. There may not be butterflies that look like flying squid, but in the Amazon can you eat giant worms and lemon-flavored ants for dinner in a forest that is home to both the jaguar and the pink dolphin.

Reporter Melaina Spitzer joined a group of indigenous leaders from the Amazon in Ecuador’s capital, Quito, to see "Avatar" on the big screen in 3D. The Supercines Theater is on one of the busiest streets in Quito. On this afternoon it’s filled with indigenous leaders bussed in from the Amazon. They’re decked out in their plumes, feathered crowns and jewelry. Some of them look a little overwhelmed but that’s not too surprising. These women say this is the first time they’ve ever been to a theater. Some have never seen a movie.

As we pass into the theater, a few look confused as ushers hand out thick dark 3D glasses. The seats fill up so people sit on the steps and in the aisles. And then the lights go down. The movie tells the story of a planet called Pandora, home to the indigenous Na’vi. They’re fighting to protect their forests from a company set on mining a rare mineral called “unobtaneum.” When it’s over, I speak with Mayra Vega. She’s 24 years old and head of the Women’s Association of the Shuar Nation. She says "Avatar" hit home for her people.

“It left a huge impression on us. For example, the movies are almost real. It’s an example that makes us think a lot because the indigenous are defending their rights. We have to defend, just as the indigenous so clearly defended in the movie. We had an uprising; we had a confrontation with gases. It’s the same as what we just saw in the movie.” Vega says just like in "Avatar," the Shuar are fighting to protect their land from mining companies. And they’re not the only ones.

The Kichwa Community of Sarayaku took on CGC, an Argentine Energy company. Marlon Santi is president of the National Indigenous Confederation of Ecuador and a Sarayaku native. He sees the Sarayaku case as a real life "Avatar" story, where the indigenous triumphed over the oil company. But unlike in "Avatar," they didn’t use violence. The Sarayaku Case is one of the emblematic cases in the struggle for territorial and environmental defense, and for human rights.

Another case involves the Waorani: beneath their territory in Yasuni National Park lie 846-million barrels of oil. Yasuni is a biodiverse hotspot that’s often referred to as a grand lung of the earth. It is also one of the few places left on earth where uncontacted indigenous groups live in isolation. Ecuador’s President Rafael Correa has offered to forgo drilling in this pristine environment… if the international community will pay Ecuador more than $3.5 billion dollars, about half the value of the oil. But Correa has recently questioned the deal, causing an uproar at home.

This story is adapted from a broadcast audio segment, click the source link above to listen to story in its entirety.

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