Total box office in Colombia in 2018 fell 2% year-on-year to $151.73m while admissions climbed 2.4%, as local titles experienced double-digit drops, according to data issued by Proimágenes Colombia.
Box office for local films fell 38% to $4.79m, compared to an unadjusted $7.75m in 2017. The market share of admissions for Colombian films tumbled 43%, from 6% in 2017 to 3.4% (2.18m admissions) in 2018. Some 11% (41) of all films released in Colombia last year were local titles. There were three fewer Colombian films released in 2018, and the pipeline comprised 15 dramas, 14 comedies, 10 documentaries, one animation, and one horror.
By contrast, films from the US over-indexed: 41% of all films released (148) hailed from the US and accounted for an 89% admissions share (53.2m admissions).
Admissions for all 360 films released in Colombia in 2018 reached 64.09m, climbing 2.4% from 62.61m in 2017. The number includes films shown in festivals and re-runs.
Out of the all the major cities, Medellin (pictured) recorded the highest admissions surge year-on-year on 4.5%, climbing from 5.61m in 2017 to 5.87m in 2018. Admissions in Bogota increased 1.3% from 20.77m to 21.04m. Barranquilla recorded a 2.2% decline from 2.24m to 2.19m.
The number of admissions per capita across Colombia climbed slightly from 1.27 in 2017 to 1.29, while the price of a film ticket fell 3.8%, from $2.46 to $2.37.
European films claimed a 4% share of admissions (2.15m) and 27% of all films released came from the region (95). Latin American films accounted for 1% of overall admissions (341,160), and represented 7% (25) of all films released in 2018.
Of the 41 Colombian films released in 2018, Cine Colombia distributed 18, or 44%, followed by Cinecolor on eight, Alterna Vista on three, Brutal, Mutokino and Doc Co on two apiece, and Cineplex, Diamond Films, Royal Films, Distrito Pacifico, Procinal, and an individual producer on one each.
The country registered 91 new screens in 2018 as the number increased to 1,172.
The amount of resources approved by the Film Development Fund (FDC) reached $10.24m, roughly even with 2017, and higher than the amount collected from the film development parafiscal tax ($8.76m) due to what the report said were “financial remnants and yields from previous years”.
Since 2004, 368 projects have benefited from tax incentives in Colombia. The dollar amount reached $10.47m in 2018, the second highest level since an unadjusted $13.38m in 2011.
The Film In Figures report was produced with information from the Film Information and Record System – SIREC and CADBOX, owned by the Colombian Association of Film Distributors, ACDPC.
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