While German cinema admissions have climbed 8% to 80.3 million and box office takings increased 9.6% to $406.8m for the first half of 2001, there are deeply unsettling developments elsewhere in the market, according to the German Federal Film Board (FFA).

Germany's bullish exhibition sector, once a model of robust optimism, has finally but the brakes on its expansionist trend. For the first time since 1995, the total number of screens in the country has fallen.

Not only did fewer new and refurbished screens open in the first half of this year - 108, compared to 236 during the first six months of 2000 - but 2001 has also seen the closure of 153 German screens, including the first multiplex to close in the western part of the country, UFA's complex in Freiburg /Baden-Wuerttemberg.

While some fallout in the comparatively large independent sector is to be expected, the major concern is the decline in multiplex construction - just five sites with a total 44 screens have opened in 2001 - compared to 13 multiplexes in the same period last year.

Meanwhile, the domestic share for German films has also fallen from last year's 15.3% to 13%. However, as the FFA's Rolf Baehr observed, the picture for national film's has changed radically since the release of Michael Herbig s Der Schuh Des Manitu which had been seen by over 4.4m in its first four weeks of release. As a direct result, the local market share is likely to have climbed to 20% and Baehr is optimistic that this film's success will attract cinemagoers to other German films in the coming weeks.