South African villages to get digital cinema network

Excerpt from Variety article:

The vast majority of South Africa's 40-million people have never been to the cinema, kept away by the legacy of apartheid, poverty and language barriers. But the nation's exhibs are hoping to change that by using the indigenous filmmaking along with digital technology to connect to the missing multitudes (…)

Starting in September, Shout Africa will roll out 20 digital cinemas around the country where facilities are most lacking, to make the movies affordable and accessible. Shout Africa chief executive Lance Samuels says that for local producers, these cinemas will provide another distribution outlet as well as the opportunity to build new audiences.

Locally produced films in indigenous languages and English will be shown alongside foreign features, with subtitles in the vernacular language of the region of the cinema.Besides the usual popcorn and soft drinks, popular traditional township foods such as maize porridge, spicy sausages, samp (hominy), mealies (corn on the cob) and fried chicken will be on sale to help make the d-cinema experience more African.

Samuels says d-cinemas will be located in revamped township community centers to create a quality experience, including comfortable chairs, high quality digital projection and state of the art surround sound. And, hoping to seal the deal, prices will be much lower than at urban multiplexes.

Wonder what kind of gear the company will be installing? Will this be true cinema-grade digital projection, or something cruddier and lower-res (and, hence, more affordable)? Either way, it's a fascinating idea, and points to one of the greatest promises of this technology. Which hardware manufacturer(s) will be involved?

Here's more info on the "Shout Africa" d-cinema initiative, Link, by way of Sithengi — a company that promotes the South African television and film industry.

Link to Variety story (paid sub required, but the story seems to be largely cribbed from the Sithengi press release anyway… )

Previously on BB: The Cuban Revolution, and Ireland's movie theaters to convert within a year?

Update John Horner says:
]

Do we really believe that the vast majority of South Africans have *never* been to the cinema? I find that very hard to believe, and the press release from Sithengi doesn't say that either, it says 'The majority of our nation has never had an opportunity to make use of accessible and economical cinemas' which is far from the same thing.

I lived for a year in Sudan, one of the poorest countries in the world, which makes South Africa look like Paris France, but everyone still went to the cinema … for certain values of "cinema" of course. It was a sheet against a wall in a building with no roof but I say it counts!

I think the people at Variety have extrapolated hugely, bringing in that 'legacy of apartheid' crap themselves and making some rather strange, not to say patronising, first-world assumptions.