Morocco’s Cinemas Await Reopening Date as Operators Face Mounting Losses

Cinema operators in the kingdom are concerned and impatient about the reopening of these leisure venues. The unavailability of a reopening schedule for cinemas justifies their state of mind, while the lifting of the state of emergency is announced for June 10, 2020. Financial losses and the drop in turnover are estimated at millions of dirhams for operators who are thus suffering the effects of the closure of cinemas since March 14. They met with the Minister of Culture, Youth and Sports, Othman El Ferdaouss, to express their concerns about the future of the sector if the cinemas have to remain closed until September.

"The house is on fire. The situation is really dramatic," said Youssef Benwakrim, general manager of operations and distribution at Megarama and vice-president of the Moroccan Chamber of Cinema Operators. He indicated that at the meeting on Thursday, May 21 with Minister Othman El Ferdaouss, the operators reported that they were overwhelmed with charges and that their working capital was dry. The losses of the Megarama multiplex group in Morocco over the last two months are estimated at 1.5 million dirhams and could reach 2 million if the cinemas do not open around mid-June, Youssef Benwakrim told Le360. He added that the situation will become more complicated and could lead several cinemas to close permanently because they can no longer cope with the charges.

Cinema operators have asked Othman El Ferdaous to look into their situation. Because their salvation lies in the reopening of the cinemas in early June or July at the latest, as planned in some European countries. A resumption against the backdrop of compliance with the barrier measures to fight against the coronavirus. Youssef Benwakrim believes that the indicators are good for the resumption of the cinema activity, due to the good management of the covid-19 crisis by Morocco. Even if the reopening of cinemas is currently at an impasse, he explained that it will be necessary to resume with the successful Moroccan films, which had not been sufficiently distributed due to the closure of the cinemas.