Salzgeber is the oldest queer film distributor in Germany. You have just taken over the management with your colleague, your predecessor retired after 30 years. How do you want to develop Salzgeber?
Salzgeber’s heart will continue to beat for a resistant cinema of outsiders. A central part of this is queer cinema. But Salzgeber also stands for great versatility. Björn Koll left us a strong foundation, for which I am very grateful. A central task will be to continue to open up new target groups and make our films even more accessible. We need to find answers to the market situation where audiences are becoming more selective and streaming more online.
Is cinema still the priority?
Yes, that will remain our core competence – because the experience in the cinema hall is and will remain irreplaceable. Together with Jürgen Pohl and Christian Weber in the management and our entire Salzgeber team, we will find good ways to continue to make militant and queer cinema visible.
German cinemas are currently struggling with a 30 percent drop in admissions compared to 2019. How is this affecting the situation in Salzgeber?
Of course, we also feel the decline in cinema-goers. At the same time, we can draw on a comprehensive repertoire. In addition, the home entertainment business has been well expanded in recent years, so that there are stable sources of income in this area, which have also brought Salzgeber through the pandemic years, among other things.
But if the cinema as such is to exist, the distributors must finally come into the political spotlight and receive support in addition to the cinema operators, because without a healthy distribution structure there will ultimately be no more cinema films. If we as a society want to have a diverse film program, then we have to stand up for it and support it. Otherwise, the majors also take over the last program cinema with their program.
International series in particular now always have queer characters, and the streaming services in particular have released LGBTIQ series to an extent that was previously unimaginable. Has that also created more space for queer filmmakers?
The current situation shows that there is still room for improvement. Queer film projects that are authentic and progressive still have a hard time getting funded and produced in Germany. In a European comparison, we do poorly – which is not least often due to broadcaster participations. I would like to see less timidity and more courage in the new year. But international series show us what is possible: authentic characters and stories made by queer people! That must also be possible for the big screen!
How large is the share of video-on-demand business at Salzgeber now?
Salzgeber started making films successfully online via Vimeo many years ago. In spring there will now be a major re-launch of the “Salzgeber Club”, our VoD offer – in the spirit of “stream local”. The new platform will feature curated programs, best-ofs and releases that can be previewed there exclusively.
Salzgeber also owns several book publishers. How do you see their future?
The Salzgeber book publishers are elementary and synergetic components of the Salzgeber family and will continue to be managed by Björn Koll and Alexander Hamann.
The distribution is to be transferred to the Queere Kulturstiftung. How will this change business?
Above all, it is a structural change: the shareholders of Salzgeber & Co. Medien GmbH will be transferred to the Queere Kulturstiftung. The goals of Salzgeber and the Queeren Kulturstiftung are basically the same: to distribute and convey non-heteronormative films, books and photography – and above all in the case of the foundation, of course, to preserve them.
Finally, a preview of 2023: Which films are you particularly looking forward to?
I’m looking forward to my first year at Salzgeber and to being able to accompany films such as the vibrant Berlin film “Drifter” by Hannes Hirsch or the visually thrilling “Piaffe” by Ann Oren. A highlight will undoubtedly be “Loriot’s Great Animated Film Revue”, which will celebrate its world premiere at the Berlinale. And I look forward to April when we will celebrate Lesbian Visibility Month with revivals of restored classic films like Girls in Uniform and Fucking Amal.
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