NEIGHBOURHOOD + CINEMA : the role of place and community in the Helsinki area’s neighbourhood cinemas

Abstract

This study aims to create understanding on the role of place and community in the operations of the Helsinki area’s new neighbourhood cinemas. In doing so, it hopes to inspire locality-based innovation in the film exhibition sector. Additionally, the importance of local audience is questioned, and common denominators between the case areas are explored, in order to better outline the features of the Helsinki area’s contemporary neighbourhood cinemas.

This is a multiple-case study, examining the approaches of four different neighbourhood cinemas towards place and community through qualitative content analysis. The cinemas have recently started or renewed their film activities in different locations within the Helsinki area. My primary data consisted of interviews with these cinemas’ managers and spans the period 2016-2018. Following an interpretive paradigm, the study doesn’t aim for a general theory, but seeks particular understanding of these case studies.

Instead of a traditional strategic business perspective, this study approached the material through an anthropological-sociological looking glass. Urban anthropology is a supporting pillar both in the domains of cultural mapping and New Cinema History, all three of which were combined into this study’s theoretic framework.

The study found that the three neighbourhood cinemas with (suspected) high shares of local audience are also integrating the neighbourhood into their service design and marketing. Strong social capital, and related concepts of place attachment and sense of community, prove to be rich resources for the new neighbourhood cinema in Helsinki area. In turn, neighbourhood cinemas offer an opportunity to strengthen sense of community and aim to maximise this by adding social functions. On the level of the venue, sense of place and authenticity are returning elements that cater to both nostalgia and urban experiences. The venue’s history is used as a resource in programme, marketing and experience design.