Apollo Cinema's Managing Director Kadri Ärm said that the state's plan to ban dubbing films into Russian will lead to a decrease in cinema attendance. This especially affects Ida-Virumaa, where many people speak Russian.
Ärm said that older people are accustomed to watching dubbed films. If these are no longer shown, people will go to watch films from other places where they are available in Russian.
Ärm believes that the ban will not encourage the older generation to learn Estonian. "It does not fulfill its purpose," she said.
Apollo Group has cinemas in Narva and Jõhvi. In Narva, a large part of the population speaks Russian, and Estonian language skills are very low there. Ärm said that the closure of the Narva cinema is very likely.
In Jõhvi, there is a bit more Estonian-speaking audience, but Russian also dominates there. In Tallinn, there are also cinemas where many films with Russian dubbing are shown.
Ärm said that cinema owners were not consulted about the new law.
Ärm could not say how the change will affect Apollo Cinemas' finances. She said that ticket prices will not change, but more discounts will be offered.
The government announced that it wants to ban the dubbing of adult films into foreign languages. Dubbing of children's films will remain allowed.
The Minister of Education and Research, Kristina Kallas, said that adult films will be shown with subtitles and in their original language.