Movie industry aching for theatres

Source: Bhutan Observer

30 December 2009

The Bhutanese movie industry is burgeoning, but not movie theatres.

On average, 18 movies are produced in a year. The number is expected to increase. But there has not been any increase in the number of movie halls, which are concentrated in a few dzongkhags like Thimphu and Phuentsholing.

Two movie halls in Thimphu and one in Phuentsholing are bursting at their seams. For producers, the wait for movie halls has run into several frustrating months. However, Thimphu and Phuentsholing are better off than rest of the dzongkhags where movie halls are non-existent.

The General Secretary of Motion Picture Association of Bhutan, Sherub Gyaltshen, said the biggest challenge faced by producers outside Thimphu and Phuentsholing is lack of movie halls. Producers have to look for multipurpose halls of schools and conference halls that lead to many problems for schools as well as producers.

General Secretary said that producers are forced to wait for a theater for at least seven to eight months. He added that it was not a problem with film industries outside the country, only in Bhutan.

Previously, movie halls in Thimphu and Phuentsholing allowed a movie to be screened for more than a month. Now that the waiting list has grown longer, one movie can be screened for 22 days only.

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