– Born during the COVID-19 crisis, the card began with a Brussels audience survey and is now operating across several European countries
Frédéric Cornet
An exhibitor and distributor, and a member of the board of Europa Cinemas and Cineuropa, Frédéric Cornet is also managing and artistic director of Brussels’ Cinéma Galeries, plus the initiator of the Cineville Belgium project. As Cineuropa continues its European Networks series, he traces the origins of a card that began with a Brussels audience survey and has since grown into a cross-border experiment in arthouse cinema access.
It was during COVID-19, in 2020-2021, when the idea began to emerge. Cornet was working with European exhibitors on a set of common guidelines for a European support programme, “Collaborate to Innovate”, led by Europa Cinemas with the support of the MEDIA programme, and designed to find collective solutions to bring audiences back to cinemas after the pandemic.
The Cineville model was already known in Belgium: it had been presented at the Europa Cinemas conference in Lisbon in 2019, and Benelux distributors had also mentioned it. At that point, it existed only in the Netherlands, so, as Cornet notes, “The model was not unknown.” The original idea was to refresh the image of arthouse cinema for a younger audience by offering unlimited access, where until then only multiplexes had provided such an option.
In 2021, Cornet led the Collaborate to Innovate financing application, with partner cinemas Kinograph, Palace and Vendôme. A first step was a survey of Brussels audiences. The response was unambiguous: yes, an unlimited pass was of interest. In June 2022, the card launched in Brussels, timed to the opening of the BRIFF festival. The launch was not without turbulence: some cinemas were doubtful at the start, but fairly quickly, they joined after the summer, giving the network access to nearly all arthouse cinemas in Brussels. A year later, the card extended to Wallonia, then to Flanders, convinced by the Brussels attendance figures.
The figures from Cinéma Galeries are telling. In 2022, the cinema recorded 81,000 admissions, of which 3% were via Cineville; in 2023, 112,000 admissions, 13% via Cineville; in 2024, 128,000 admissions, 21%; and in 2025, 131,000 admissions, 25%. Across the Belgian network, the number of Cineville subscribers grew from 10,696 to 12,863 – an increase of more than 20% – while visits made using the pass rose from 233,000 in 2024 to 308,000 in 2025, a year-on-year increase of 32%.
The subscriber profile confirms the rejuvenation strategy. The average age is 35, but the median age is 24, with 32% of subscribers aged between 20 and 29 – a clear shift from the traditional arthouse audience structure.
Promotion is built around an event-based approach. Cineville Specials allow subscribers to bring a non-subscribing companion; previews and special screenings serve as entry points. At Cinéma Galeries, the Sneak Peek format – a surprise screening where the audience does not know in advance which film it will see – fills the house. A Studio Ghibli retrospective also drew significant numbers of subscribers.
The pass has also changed the way Cinéma Galeries programmes. Without having to choose between two films or to “make a ticket worthwhile”, audiences are more willing to take risks. This is reflected in the figures: re-released classics, documentaries, European films and animation for younger audiences have all seen strong growth. For exhibitors and distributors, this dynamic allows greater freedom: films with lower commercial value can be programmed, knowing they will find their audience. The card does not exclude more accessible “crossover” films, but it offers a guarantee that more demanding works will enjoy strong visibility. The most-watched documentary in 2025 was, for example, No Other Land.
In Belgium, Cineville operates under the name Art House Cinema Pass, a cooperative in which each participating cinema holds a share. The model has expanded and adapted to local needs and characteristics across Europe: Austria (Nonstop Kino) in 2023, Germany (Berlin, Cologne, Hamburg) in 2024, and Sweden in 2025, with other countries in preparation. All use the same technology, but each country has an independent structure. All launches to date have been supported by Collaborate to Innovate.
In the summer of 2025, a first full-scale test of the cross-border dimension was conducted: Eurotrip allowed subscribers in five countries to use their card across the entire network. Berlin was the most-visited city, followed by Antwerp, Vienna, Brussels and Amsterdam.
“Cineville is currently the only unlimited cinema card with a European dimension,” Cornet says, a distinction he underlines with considerable pride. In the summer of 2026, from June to August, the plan is to repeat the Eurotrip experience, this time over a three-month period.
