Cinemas across the country are to reopen from Friday, 11th September 2020, the Cinema Exhibitors Association of Nigeria (CEAN) has announced.
The decision came following the approval of the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19, in an announcement made on 3rd September 2020.
GNB News understands that Nigerian cinemas have been shut down since March 2020, in a response to the nationwide lockdown ordered by the federal government. Since then, the sector has not been reopened, despite calls from stakeholders and the resumption of other crowd-based businesses and religious locations.
Although the federal government has now authorized the reopening of cinemas, there are still ongoing discussions with Lagos and Rivers state governments regarding reopening in those states. However, CEAN has expressed optimism about reaching an agreement soon. It would be recalled that within the past two months, there have been trending conversations on both conventional and social media platforms about the delayed resumption of cinemas.
Speaking about the reopening, the Chairman of CEAN, Mr. Patrick Lee, expressed gratitude to the federal government,
“We are thankful to the federal government and the National Film & Video Censors Board (NFVCB) for considering our appeal to reopen. It has been an excruciating experience for cinema operators, having to endure the hardship imparted by the delayed closure. We look forward to welcoming movie-going Nigerians to cinemas, as we have prepared to not only ensure their safety but to also provide the needed content that would help in recuperating minds from the negative impact of the pandemic,” he said.
There are currently over sixty countries around the world where cinemas have reopened, including France, Canada, the USA, Germany, Mexico, South Africa, and the UK. Hence, Nigeria is joining the trail at a much later date than other markets with severer statistics on the COVID19 pandemic.
Some movies set to be available in cinemas from Friday include, Mulan, Tenet, Mama Drama, Unroyal, and Soft Work, to mention a few.
