Indian language movies outperform local releases at box office
Report, Australia’s Viewers Speak Many Languages But Their Screens Don’t (Yet) seizes opportunities for cinemas to increase audiences from multicultural communities Australian International Film Congress On the Gold Coast.
“Although one in five Australians speak a language other than English at home, less than one in 10 cinema tickets are sold to non-English films,” he says. “Walk into any cinema in Sydney or Melbourne on a Saturday night and you’ll hear the sounds of a dozen languages at the entrance: Arabic, Tagalog, Hindi, Vietnamese, Mandarin, Greek.
Shah Rukh Khan and Deepika Padukone in Indian spy film Pathaan.Credit: Yash Raj Movies
“But when the lights go out, almost every screen speaks English.”
The report excludes Australian films going straight to streaming services, including hugely popular ones Foreign on Netflix, How to Make Sauce A host of Christmas movies on Binge and Stan (which shares an owner named Nine with this masthead) and other platforms.
These movies are only available to each streamer’s subscribers, and are difficult to get noticed even given the number of new movies and TV series released each month, Hayes says.
“The cultural impact of watching movies at home is far below that of watching them in the theater,” he says. “You’re less likely to remember them.
“As a result, they are less likely to be in the cultural zeitgeist. So if films want to make an impact, they need to be in the cinema.”
The Australian box office is expected to continue its post-COVID recovery, grossing around $1 billion this year. That’s up from last year’s $951 million but still below the $1.2 billion reported in 2019.
While English-language films are still overwhelmingly dominant, the report says their market share has fallen from around 95 percent in 2021 to 91 percent this year.
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“Hindi languages remain the only foreign language sector to achieve near parity between population and screen share,” the report says. “Mandarin, Arab and Vietnamese populations continue to be significantly underserved relative to their demographic weight.”
Hayes says the report should ring alarm bells about the role of the federal government’s film and TV agency, Screen Australia, in supporting local cinema releases, particularly in ensuring marketing assets such as photos, artwork and trailers meet standards.
“The Australian Cinema Act (2008) currently gives the agency powers to promote and distribute Australian films; these responsibilities are rarely fulfilled in practice,” he says. “Applying these legal powers with the same rigor as production financing could redefine how Australian cinema connects with its audiences.”
Screen Australia has been contacted for comment.
