One day after the tightening of restrictive measures by the government, on August 3, the three trade unions representing the cinema sector co-signed a letter to be sent to the Head of Government, Saad Eddine El Otmani, to inform him of the immediate impact of the 9 p.m. curfew on cinema ticket offices, which would drop by 90% compared to normal. However, the three trade union chambers have not received any feedback from the authorities. The details.
The cinema operators represented by the Moroccan Chamber of Cinemas, the cinema distributors represented by the Moroccan Chamber of Film Distributors and the cinema producers represented by the Moroccan Chamber of Film Producers, challenged the head of government on the decision in date of August 2 fixing the curfew at 9 p.m. instead of 11 p.m., and the now immense distress in which the entire cinema sector in Morocco is plunged.
Thus, professionals in the cinema sector note in their letters, which have reached MoroccoLatestNews, the vaccination component which could be a game-changer. They note in this sense that the sanitary pass has existed or Morocco since the beginning of the year 2021, and now more than 10 million Moroccans, almost all over 30 years old, are fully vaccinated and ready to consume in sectors weakened by pandemic such as catering, recreation and culture.
On the employment side, the signatories of the letter explain that the cinema or Morocco directly employs more than 5,000 Moroccans and Moroccans, and provides a living for 30,000 people including the families of employees in this sector.
From March 2020 to June 2021, cinemas in Morocco remained closed, i.e. 15 months which is the longest period in the world of cinema closures linked to this pandemic, underline the professionals, noting that the support of the State received by cinema operators only partially cover 8 months of fixed charges, and only 3 months of aid have been paid to them to date.
After 15 months of administrative closure of cinemas, they reopened on June 4, recall the three trade union chambers, specifying that the health measures in force at the time, reduced attendance by 60%, and cinema operators, exercising their activity at a loss given these measures, have yet “ played the game requested by the authorities in the name of economic recovery “.
However, cinema operators recorded more than 60% of their daily evening income before the pandemic, the same source observed, and the 11 p.m. curfew alone accounted for half of the 60% loss in attendance.
” By imposing a curfew at 9 p.m., admissions to cinemas will therefore drop by at least 90% compared to a non-pandemic operation, and we are only talking about tickets because this drop in attendance has reduced the advertising revenue that ‘recorded the cinemas “, Indicate the signatories in their mail before stressing, for the attention of the Chief Executive, that”the figures published and collected daily by the CCM from cinemas will easily convince you that two-thirds of these 90% loss in turnover are linked to the deprivation of evening screening, and the last third linked to other measures sanitary “.
Faced with this situation, professionals in the Moroccan cinema sector stress “ that no company in the world can survive such a drop in turnover, and cinemas being the almost exclusive window for the entire cinema or Morocco sector, Moroccan distributors and producers are suffering the full brunt of these measures “. And it is therefore the entire cinema industry that is bankrupt, deplore the professionals. A bankruptcy plunging 30,000 people even more into precariousness, without notice, and overnight, they specify.
Aware of the difficulty of health management in a country of 37 million inhabitants, as well as its exorbitant cost, the three trade union chambers maintain that already 10 million fully vaccinated people are out of danger, and that these 10 million people represent the category of the population with the most purchasing power. A crucial category for the economic recovery of Morocco, they argue.
To this end, the three trade union chambers representing the cinema sector in Morocco called on the head of government to allow access to cinemas after the 9 p.m. curfew to anyone vaccinated, “ because if the whole cinema or Morocco sector has paid dearly for the survival of Moroccan compatriots, it is legitimate and fair that what we, film professionals, we are also fighting for, namely to develop a large proportion of vaccinated people, in accepting to be deprived of resources for the health of all, serves to save our sector “.
To conclude, the signatories of the letter, Elhousain boudin, President of the Moroccan Chamber of Cinemas, Najib Benkiran, President of the Moroccan Chamber of Film Distributors and Jamal Souissi, President of the Moroccan Chamber of Film Producers, return to the alert given at the end of June 2021 on the gigantic tax fraud operated in Morocco by streaming operators such as Netflix and Amazon Prime.
These are developed ” spectacularly at the global level precisely thanks to the closure of cinemas, and whose fiscal regularization in Morocco, as it is currently taking place in many countries, would rebalance the balance between donors of Health Insurance in Morocco , which, you will agree, has never been the vocation of culture and leisure professionals », Note the professionals in their correspondence, which has since remained a dead letter.
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