Comparing Aspects of Regional and Local Cinema Differentiation through Perceptions of Cinema-going in Post-socialist Bulgaria

This chapter compares the differentiated contemporary cinema infrastructure across six regions in Bulgaria with reference to wider film exhibition changes across post-socialist Eastern Europe. Despite a recent overall rise in the number of cinema screens in the country, the concentration of the market in large high-priced urban venues, screening predominantly Hollywood content, has made cinema both less accessible and less attractive to certain groups of spectators. Cinema-going transformed from an inclusive, low-cost, popular everyday activity during socialism to an exclusive special occasion that fewer people can now afford. The current emphasis on optimising profitability often proves at odds with local views on accessibility, measured by perceptions of ticket price, ease of going to the cinema and film-related information flows. Comparing accounts of respondents from different Bulgarian localities and across the six regions within the country serves to illustrate preoccupations with social value, programming strategies, and disparities in local provisions.