Hundreds of cinemas want to offer discounted performances this weekend. On September 10th and 11th, visitors pay five euros per screening. The so-called cinema festival is to take place annually in the future. "We just want to show what cinema can do. In any form," said Christine Berg, head of the HDF cinema association.

In addition to the cheaper admission prices, the participating cinemas had come up with a special program. This could be a wine tasting for a film, for example. Some also showed old classics on the screen. Similar cinema festivals already exist in France, Switzerland and Spain.

The cinema industry hopes that this will also have an advertising effect. It was an offer to come by again if you hadn't been to the cinema for a long time, said Berg. Recently, more people have found their way to the cinema again, but in the first half of the year a third fewer tickets were sold than before the pandemic began. The nationwide cinema festival takes place for the first time.