Cameroon theaters are dying rapidly. The movie theater industry in Cameroon is a clear example of foreign investors being out of touch with realities on the ground. Take the case of Douala cinemas for instance. Most, if not all of the theaters were own by France based foreign investors who screened / selected the movies to place basically micro-managing the business.
This worked out fine in the 1970 to late 1980s when DVD , Television sets and TV stations where almost non existent in Cameroon. Watching a movie only meant going to the movie theater and thus Cameroonians were forced to pay whatever price was asked of them.
With the introduction of technology: numerous TV stations showing the popular Nigerian movies, the influx of computers enabling DVD movie piracy, and cheap local movie houses – the cinema arena of Cameroon has drastically changed.
Foreign investors failed to adjust to the reality – movie theaters stubbornly stock to western movies, kept their prices at the same high levels even higher in some cases. Local Cameroonians running these theaters had to answer to their foreign investors which explains their reluctance to go feature anything other that the movies handed down to them.
These had led to the closure of almost all of Cameroon’s movie theaters.
Making films in a country without cinemas – Cameroon from Tambay A Obenson on Vimeo.