Zomergasten viewers fill Amsterdam cinema for the final broadcast

There were no tickets left for the final Zomergasten broadcast at Amsterdam’s De Uitkijk cinema. All 85 seats had sold, and the waiting list had grown to 15 people.

The cinema has hosted live Zomergasten watch parties with VPRO’s approval since 2011. Such evenings do not always sell out, but the final screening drew a particularly loyal audience. Many of the regular viewers were older and had returned repeatedly for the program’s long, in-depth conversations.

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Because it is the final evening. And such a particularly interesting subject.

René Weij, 71, attended with his wife, a friend, the friend’s wife and their neighbor, who is also a psychiatrist like the evening’s guest, Jim van Os. The group had attended every screening that year and had also come the previous year.

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At home I keep walking away, because I cannot sit still very well.

Weij preferred watching at the cinema because he found it difficult to sit still for three hours at home. He also praised the program’s format, saying there were no other shows that lasted three hours, offered such depth and examined a subject so thoroughly. He regretted its ending, while acknowledging that it might have become a program mainly for people over 50.

The cinema had replaced its seats after a crowdfunding campaign. The new chairs made it easier to watch the broadcast without the risk of falling through the seats, a reference to the condition of the old furniture. Visitors who could not get tickets went home, disappointed to miss what they described as a particularly interesting final evening.

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There are no other programs that last three hours, have so much depth and really explore a subject.