Cinema attendancein Germany is set to increase between 5%-10%this year, over 2003's 149m, according to Johannes Klingsporn, managingdirector of the German distributors' association Verband der Filmverleiher (VdF).

Speaking toScreendaily.com, Klingsporn said that he regarded this forecast as"realistic" in the light of recent blockbusters like Harry Potter 3, Shrek 2 and Spider-Man 2, and local hits Der Wixxer and (T)Raumschiff Surprise - Periode 1.

"During theexhibitors conference in April we had a board meeting and decided that we hadto do something to counter all the talk about the death of cinemas, especiallywith the strong films lined up for the summer" Klingsporn explained."We began a press campaign in cooperation with Cineropa and the FFA to drawattention to the summer season of films."

"I had saidthat I could imagine us having an additional eight million admissions by theend of August compared to last year," Klingsporn said. "But we havealready had an extra ten million before the end of July. It's really remarkablebecause there were lots of fears concerning piracy and the experiences of themusic industry where there was a 15% fall in turnover in the last four years.However, I believe we have shown that we can stand up to this problem of piracy[through the industry campaigns]."