The Dutch lockdown provides opportunities for German and Belgian entrepreneurs in the border region. To please (and entice) the Dutch, the cinema in Kleve, Germany, has recently shown English films every evening. ‘I couldn’t take it anymore: I saw more and more spoilers on social media, I had to spider man go see now.’
‘No, no, no’, the German cinema director Reinhard Berens reacts resolutely. He certainly does not hope that the Dutch lockdown will be extended on Friday. Which would mean that the fairly massive influx of Dutch people to its eight cinemas in Kleve, Germany, continues. “Of course I’m glad they’re coming now,” he says. ‘But I also know what it’s like to have to close. For eight months. Let everything go back to normal for my Dutch colleagues.’
Restaurants, hairdressers, injection locations: at the German (and Belgian) border, people may now be used to increased Dutch clientele during lockdown times. In December, Berens was completely surprised by the Dutch wave in his cinema at the border near Nijmegen. In the country where the dubbed cinema film is still king, the weekly screening of no more than one English film in original version was suddenly packed.
And so he decided to schedule English films on a daily basis. ‘December 28 was the highlight with eight hundred Dutch people,’ says Berens in the foyer of his cinema. ‘I spoke to people who had driven for two hours from The Hague.’ They had to queue for a while, because Tichelpark Cinemas Kleve was missing – ‘nochmal entaccuungung’ – to staff to be able to quickly scan all those QR codes in 2G times.
Candy and Grolsch
On Tuesday evening, the Arnhem Timo Vaassen (22) and a friend know that they are entering a room with mainly Dutch people. With a loud ‘good evening everyone’ they have the laughter in room 8 on the hand. In addition to candy, they have three Grolsch swing-top bottles with them. ‘To stay in a Dutch atmosphere.’
The busy weekday crowds of the Christmas holidays will not be met now. In the room are mainly the diehard Spiderman fans, who have been looking forward to the new film for ages. “We were supposed to go to the Netherlands on Sunday after the lockdown was announced, but that was canceled due to the closure of cinemas,” says Satyen Algoe (27), who came from Arnhem with his girlfriend. And now the lockdown threatens to be extended. I couldn’t take it anymore: I saw more and more spoilers on social media, I had to spider man go see now.’
It does feel a bit naughty, says Amadesha Assie (35), who drove an hour and a half with her husband from Huizen in North Holland. But like the other attendees, they think they can make this outing. ‘We have always been good and tidy’, says Assie. ‘Whereas friends went to Antwerp and Christmas markets across the border, we didn’t even do anything at Christmas and New Years. For spider man we just couldn’t wait any longer.’
The border traffic caused by cinema boss Bernsen with his cinema came under criticism from local politicians. After all, the lockdown is there to prevent the Dutch from spreading the omikron variant. Bernsen does not think that he increases the risk of this by increasing the offer for the Dutch.
“If they don’t want this, they have to close the borders again,” he says. “We have taken all precautions. The ventilation is in order and we stick to the rules. We don’t advertise it either.’
How differently German mega discos approached this last year. With a Dutch programming (including Mart Hoogkamer known for his hit ‘Swimming in Bacardi Lemon’) and special ‘wrong parties’ Twente and Achterhoek teenagers were lured to the party halls ZAK in Uelsen and Index in Schüttorf.
Crowded tour buses
The result: chock-full Dutch tour buses with young people to Germany, could be seen on a report by RTV Oost. Minister of Justice Ferd Grapperhaus could do little about it, except say: ‘People, that’s wrong. Don’t do that, just follow our advice.’ Due to party tourism and the violation of corona rules, the discotheques were eventually closed by the German authorities, and will remain so until Saturday.
Extended lockdown in the Netherlands or not, Berens thinks he can keep his western neighbors for his cinema. He is therefore considering continuing to show films in English on a daily basis. Good news also for the non-German students at the nearby International College of Kleve, for whom the weekly English film was originally intended.
He may not advertise, but a bait says Berens has in the house. He beamingly hands a cup of sweet popcorn. ‘We make this here in our own kitchen,’ he says. ‘The Dutch public has completely discovered this. Reason enough to keep coming back.’