Boxoffice-July.1997

theatre was considered one of the "capitalist
propaganda weapons at that time," according
to the 1992 Der Tagesspeigel article.
After the Berlin Wall was constructed
about a mile away, the theatre went into a
tailspin. It changed its identity several times,
including stints as a pom house and a Turkish
cinema, and it had a succession of owners.
"We know of about 11," says
Protze-Zwick. "We're the longest owners in
30 years." Somewhere along the way, the
theatre's name was changed to Sputnik.
flaring white eaves over its glass-
entrance, the Sputnik
Withwall somehow
evokes the flying nun. Inside, the
pale-yellow lobby is spacious, with rounded
comers instead of hard edges. Sinuous brasscolored
railings lead the few steps up to the
auditorium's two entrances.
On a winter weekday evening, the lobby is
dead. "This is normal," shrugs an overall-clad
projectionist before returning to her booth
fiom the snack bar, where she's been chatting
with the concession attendant.
Like classic movie houses everywhere,
the Sputnik has had to adjust to changes in
the neighborhood. Today, the area is tidy and
quiet and home to many Turkish families.
Across the street from the Sputnik is a wedding-dress
shop that features in its window
an elaborate pink creation with a Muslimstyle
headdress.
"It's very difficult, because it's in a quarter
of Berlin that doesn't have a lot of businesses
around the cinema," says Cordula
Bester, a distributor liaison. "People live
there but don't shop there. They go to the
Ku'damm." The Ku'damm is named for
Kurfurstendamm street, the area's major artery
through what is the center of former West
Berlin. In Berlin, the Ku'damm is cinema
central, and is where East BerUners first went
when the Wall came down to see all the gUtzy
capitalist propaganda denied them under
communism.
Bester says the public's initial enthusiasm
for the Ku'damm has waned a bit since then,
but they haven't necessarily transferred
their moviegoing to the more convenientlylocated
Sputnik. "It takes time for people to
[discover the Sputnik] again," she says.
"The young people don't know to go there."
Reunification isn't complete in other aspects
as well. Ticket prices are still lower in the
former East BerUn, around 9 marks (US$6),
while in former West BerUn they're 10 to 12
marks, and 1 5 to 1 6 marks at Zoo Palast. (The
Sputnik charges 10 marks.)
theatre is grappling with other forces
Thebesides reunification. The Wall fell
about the same time the multiplex arrived
in Europe. "You can't tell the effects
apart," says Protre-Zwick.
Filme-X is soon to join the multiplex wave.
The company, which currently operates seven
cinemas—five in Berlin, one in the East
Berlin suburb of Potsdam, and one in Hamburg—is
working with a partner to convert
an East Berlin two-screen cinema called
the Coliseum to a 10-screen that's scheduled
to open in October.
E)espite the company's plans, both Protze-
Zwick and Bester betray some suspicion of the
multiplex phenomenon. Twenty-five multiplexes
are planned for Berlin by UCI, Warner,
German companies and other industry leaders,
Protze-Zwick says.
"If all those are realized," he says, "many
will go broke because you can imagine if there
are about 50,000 seats in Berlin, every BerUner
has to go 10 times a year to the cinema. Currendy,
it's three times a year."
"It's crazy," Bester says.
FUme-X sees a future for single-screen cinemas
like Sputnik. A recent German government
study found that for older cinemas to
survive the advent of the multiplex, they have
to be kept technologically up-to-date and carve
out audience niches with specied programs.
That pretty much sums up what Filme-X is
doing.
"We have to think about the program and
perhaps schedule special events to draw the
people, such as music," Protze-Zwick says.
"We tried, but we have to do it more."
The Sputnik's made it this far, and plans
to get through the next few years while the
two parts of Berlin complete the process of
fusing into one and the local cinema industry
adjusts. The Sputnik survived the Cold
War and the Berlin Wall. Filme-X is confident
it can survive the invasion of the
multiplex as well.
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.lulv. 1997 79