Is streaming the future of cinema?
Original article in Greek by Nancy Panagoulopoulou
Translated by Stella Vasileiadou
As we have realized, streaming has entered our daily lives for good. Long before quarantine made streaming platforms the most popular destination of our Saturday nights, the young audiences had already chosen them. In fact, most of the new favorite shows and movies of pop culture of the last five years were re-streamed or streamed for the first time on these platforms.
From cinema to home cinema
The cinemas have had a monopoly on the 7th art for many years, and not unfairly so. For instance, the cost needed for screening a movie at home ( with all the special equipment and cost of its operation) was not affordable for most people.
With the rise of new technologies, more and more movie theaters began to spring up everywhere. Meanwhile, new technology is being developed , such as 3D, iMAX and 4K. Yet it was not until the 20th century that downloading music and movies from the internet that revolutionized free entertainment. Watching movies has become even more popular and accessible to all people from all economic backgrounds and walks of life.
Free downloading, however, is illegal, as it is a result of piracy. Thus,streaming platforms aim at making online access to such entertainment legal and easy.
Who does the 7th Art belong to?
Opinions on this vary. Movies that are being distributed exclusively via streaming platforms have been nominated for serious awards in Hollywood, ever since 2017. And every year since then they have been sweeping one award after the other. At the same time, all time classic and multiple award-winning films are also available on such platforms.
But at the same time, pioneers in the cinema industry express their concern about whether online streaming platforms degrade the art of cinema.
Accessibility
Watching movies is in fact, a luxury, although the majority may not realize it. But why? Actually, a cinema ticket is way more expensive than a subscription on a streaming platform. For instance, for less than ten euros a month on a streaming service you can access countless movies. And guess what; a movie ticket(only one!) may be worth ten euros as well.
Movie theaters are either not easily accessible especially people with disabilities (mobility impairments), or not accessible at all (vision or hearing impairments). There are no non-voluntary movie theaters with audio description (for blind people) or with closed captions (for deaf people) in our country. However, streaming platforms solve this problem at a slow but steady pace.
