‘I don’t care if it’s the Third World War’: Czech cinemagoers during the COVID-19 pandemic

Abstract

The article focuses on the changes of Czech film viewers’ attitudes to cinemagoing during the COVID-19 pandemic. It presents an analysis of three focus group discussions performed in November 2021 with Czech film viewers and describes differing reactions to the pandemic in terms of people’s cinemagoing practices. It concludes that only enthusiastic film viewers with more extensive stocks of film-related knowledge remained faithful cinemagoers during the pandemic, whereas others were more difficult to attract back to cinemas. Some viewers expressed various levels of concerns and fears related to the pandemic, others expressed opposition to mask mandates, a portion of the Czech population was even annoyed by both. Furthermore, rising prices of cinema tickets were mentioned among reasons why people stopped going to cinemas or attended them less frequently. However, cinemagoing is an activity connected to various social interactions and other consumption activities, which makes it an important part of people’s lives and, as recent data on cinemagoing suggest, most viewers are likely return to cinemas, despite the uncertain situation.