Gisele Freitas talks about tribute to the company that will take place at Expocine 2025
When we discuss cinema, the protagonists are usually the movies, their stories and their talents. In our sector, however, the exhibition and distribution are usually the main characters of a multiple plot. Still, we need to talk about those who are the supporters that make history turn and, in the segment of our market, it is the companies that develop and offer technology, such as the Barco, which this year will be honored at EXPOCINE 25, in recognition of the work that helps to enable and make the film experience more enjoyable.
Following the interviews with the honored Expocine, the Display Portal talked to Gisele Freitas, sales manager at Barco in Brazil. In fact, the 12th edition of the largest Latin event in the film market also marks the first time that suppliers will be honored. And the Barco, next to Dolby (who will have their interview published in a few weeks), will be the first companies.
It is worth noting that, while some questions were asked by our writing team, part of the interview was withdrawn from podcast ♪ I hate Cynema ♪, which is displaying episode from a partnership of the group AdoroCinema with Tonks, conglomerate holding the rights of Expocine and Display Portal.
"Expocine is the most important meeting point in the film industry in Latin America. It goes beyond a business fair: it's a space where displays, distributors, suppliers and experts exchange ideas, know new technologies and discuss trends that shape the future of cinema. It is also a strategic opportunity to strengthen relationships and create connections that would hardly happen in another context," Gisele says.
A Barco it is a Belgian technology company that, besides cinema, operates globally with demands of medical monitors, control rooms and, as we know, cinematographic projectors, but also for other purposes. Founded in 1934, Belgian American Radio Corporation has been changing the focus over time and today is reference in the world of cinema.
"The Barco not only tries to make a sale to the customer, but sells projectors, it's just getting there and putting on a machine. Our intention is never that, we always try to sit with our customers to provide a greater experience, both for the owner of the cinema (which are sometimes family companies), and also for the cinemas that are already international and very large networks. What we're trying to do is give this movie owner a consult that's gonna set up a room. Because the projector goes much more from technology, you have to know which screen the client will use, what distance it will take for this projector. It's all very well thought out and all well calculated to bring the best experience to the cinema," explains Gisele.
For optimal operation, the projector needs to be well calibrated, because it has to have brightness, contrast and manage to transmit what the director wants to go through in that film. In this way, the Barco seeks to think ahead, then, before launching a technology, means that there have been many years of studies and that many engineers were responsible for making such technology work in the best way possible.
More than that, the executive explains that each sale needs to be customized: "It's a well-customized sale, it needs to be analyzed point by point. Usually cinemas send us the plant when they're still making the rooms. They send the plant, we analyze, calculate and conclude: 'Look, the most recommended projector for this room is this'. And there's the question of the lens that changes, too. So, depending on the lens, you have to focus more, less focus. We have several types of lens to suit the projector."
By completing 15 years in Barco in 2025, Gisele joined the company as an intern. For this reason, she is one of the people with the most know-how to talk about the transition from roll projectors to digital. That's because the scan of the exhibiting park began to happen exactly the year that the specialist entered the Barco, in 2010.
"I followed the entire transition period, but I was very new to the company when VPF (Virtual Print Fee) took place in Brazil, which was a collaboration between film owners and studios to have this technology exchange, because for those who do not know, before the projectors were 35mm roll. Until 2010 it was a roll. I didn't get to work with the roll projector, but when I entered, just in 2010, I was starting this transition and everything was very uncertain. People didn't know because everyone was used to the 35mm film, which was a big thing, the projector was also a big object. And since then this new restructuring has begun to move on to digital projectors," explains Gisele.
At the time, the exhibition park received help from the distributors/studies themselves to perform the digitization of cinemas. This was because there was a very high expenditure on logistics to distribute the films, since film rolls were large and heavy, which faced transportation. Then, knowing that from that moment on everything would be digital, with the transport of a simple HD (today, with even more viable options of distribution via satellites), bartering costs, there was a union so that the displayers could enter into the new technology as soon as possible.
"Today there are laser projectors, but in the first wave of scanning they were projectors to the lamp, which are lamps that have to change inside the projector. So the lamp, depending on the projector model, lasts between 3,000 and 6,000 hours of the film running. When she comes in the middle of her life, the quality of the glow falls a little bit. So, coming to the end, you have to change. There's no such exchange these days. Since 2023, more or less, we've been going through a new wave, which is the switch of lamp to laser, which are more sustainable projectors. Now there's no more lamp change, because when I changed the lamp, I also had to find a place to do the right disposal," explains Gisele.
A Barco, in turn, currently works only with laser projectors, with 2K and 4K projectors option. However, it also has a line called Light Upgrade, in which it is possible to transform the lamp projector into a laser, through a retrofit kit. In this way, the displayer who has an older equipment can, with a smaller investment, have the new technology, gaining a superior quality in the image of his cinema.
In addition, the company has been launching, since last year, an HDR technology for cinemas. But unlike other technologies, this is applied already during the film recording, with the director employing the HDR by Barco Right on the shoot. And then the film, if displayed in HDR projector, will have an even higher quality, leaving the experience increasingly immersive.
And speaking of experience, the executive highlighted the importance of cinema as an event. "A lot was said in the old days that streaming would be a competitor of cinema, but we did not observe it that way. The person, when he wants to leave the house, wants to have an experience. So, the film contestant is a football game, it's a show, it's all that takes that family or person from home to provide an experience. And that's what cinema is, so much so that cinema has been refurbished, just to have a more comfortable chair, to have a better technology. When you go to the movies, you want a really cool sound, a really cool projection. She wants to have the experience of being in that environment with the people she likes, with her friends, with her family, but she wants to leave home to have an experience. And it's been shown that when there's a movie that's very important, people go. We saw this with 'Fun Mind 2', which took 20 million viewers to the movies. 'Barbie' was also a movie that you saw a pink wave in the movies. So, the person goes to have this experience, this magic of cinema, this magic will never have at home."
For the short term, displayers can expect from Barco projection solutions that combine superior image quality, lower energy consumption and flexible commercial models, especially designed for the brazilian scenario. In a longer time, the focus of the company is to remain a leader in innovation, bringing to the market immersive, sustainable technologies that raise the film experience to a new level, always keeping close to customers and understanding their real needs.
A Barco will be present at the EXPOCINE 25 not only as honored, but also present at the Business Fair (in the Renaissance Hotel) and, as last year, baptizes the place where the presentations of distributors will be made, the Barco Room, no Cine Marquise, and will also offer a cocktail at the end of October 1st, the second of the event.
"It's a huge honor and a very special recognition for the entire Barco team. Being the first company to receive this award in this category shows that our commitment to the Brazilian market goes beyond providing technology: we are present as partners, listening, supporting and always seeking customized solutions for each customer. This recognition reinforces that we are on the right track and motivates us to continue innovating and investing in the sector", concludes Gisele.
Written by: