Indie films streaming exclusively on platforms are only a small fraction of the content out there that the Bijou could have supported. But they can't argue that there aren't enough to go around. Santikos may argue that audiences aren't likely to visit the Bijou to see recent critically acclaimed indie, international and documentary films such as Language Lessons, Mass, Son of Monarchs, Shiva Baby or Kurt Vonnegut: Unstuck in Time. That number goes down to 661 when you average in the pandemic years of 20. According to research from, an annual average of 724 movies were released in the United States from 2011 to 2019. Given release schedules, the Bijou could have easily booked a new indie film on each of its six screens monthly. But these aren't the only films that arthouse theaters such as the Bijou can book. Whether they're exclusive to a streamer, high-profile indie films like CODA and Nomadland will always find an audience - especially when they start winning awards. While films such as The Power of the Dog and The Lost Daughter might have drawn fans to the Bijou if they weren't also accessible on Netflix, the idea that audiences won't go to an arthouse theater to see a movie already on streaming platforms is, at best, misguided. "Traffic at the Bijou had always been lighter than other theaters, but it was definitely sparser than before when it reopened." "The Bijou closing was something that I had expected was going to happen sooner or later," said Nathan Cone, vice president of cultural and community engagement at Texas Public Radio and the curator of the Cinema Tuesdays series, which screened at the Bijou pre-pandemic. Not only was there low attendance at the Bijou, Santikos began booking tentpole movies alongside the few independent films that had the prospect of pulling bigger audiences. The writing had been on the wall for years suggesting movie theaters could be left behind as technology advanced.Īs theaters slowly began to reopen when COVID numbers declined, it was evident that arthouse venues like the Bijou were in trouble. While a global pandemic became the impetus for studios adjusting the way they released projects, the health crisis didn't create the shift, merely accelerated it. When the spread of COVID-19 forced theaters to temporarily shut down two years ago, the movie-watching landscape was reshaped forever. The industry was still a couple of decades away from watching a studio and a platform such as HBO Max or Disney+ cut a deal to release a movie on a streaming service the same day as its theatrical release. Today, you can catch the film with a subscription to Amazon Prime. At that time, going to the Bijou was the only option for a young cinephile to see the critically acclaimed, coming-of-age drama before it ended up on VHS months later. The first film I ever saw at the Bijou was the Academy Award-nominated 2001 Mexican film Y tu mamá también by director and co-writer Alfonso Cuarón. But understanding the nature of that change doesn't make the Bijou's closure any easier for local cinema buffs. shores in early 2020, it was evident that the way audiences were watching movies had changed amid the boom in streaming platforms. Theater owner Santikos didn't respond to the Current's request for comment, but Andrew Brooks, executive director of sales and marketing for the Alamo City-based chain, told KSAT News a "changing dynamic of art films and our lease coming up for renewal" prompted the closure.Įven before the COVID-19 pandemic reached U.S. The Bijou, located in the Wonderland of the Americas mall, shut its doors early this month, ending the 35-year stretch during which it served as San Antonio's primary arthouse cinema. The Bijou is located inside Wonderland of the Americas mall.
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