The International Cinema Technology Association (ICTA) today announced the winner of the ICTA Excellence Award, presented as part of Cinema Congress KINO 2024, running April 15-18 in Baden-Baden, Germany. This year’s award, presented on April 17, goes to the Stürtz family—who, among their other achievements, have been part of the Cineplex Group since 2006.
With the Presentation Excellence Award, ICTA aims to recognize innovative and technically minded cinema operators in Germany who continuously strive to celebrate the cinema as a place of encounter and experience for their audience through the use of cinema technology and its outstanding use. Creativity, digital excellence, and an exceptional focus on visitors are further selection criteria.
The Stürtz family was nominated alongside 13 other German cinema operators by the ICTA membership and selected as the winner by an international panel. The international directors of the ICTA—Jan Runge, Cathy Huis in ‘t Veld-Esser, Oliver Pasch, and Till Cussmann—along with cinema professional Benjamin Dauhrer, who also participated in the selection committee—congratulate the Stürtz family.
Says Runge:
“We are very pleased that this year’s Presentation Excellence Award is being presented to Moritz and Sebastian Stürtz—representing the entire cinema family, their team, and of course their diverse and innovative range of cinema offerings. Technically speaking, the Stürtz family has been playing in the top league for decades—even on an international level. The introduction of the ULTIMATE format at the Cineplex Alsdorf and 4 years later at the Cineplex Aachen impressively demonstrates this. In Aachen, the high-resolution CINITY format was also introduced in the first German cinema in 2022. This technology will also enhance the cinema experience for guests in Alsdorf from May. In addition, the cinemas in Alsdorf and Aachen convince with their diverse program, innovative and tasteful design, and a first-class gastronomic concept—whether at the concessions counter, catering, or in their own restaurant ‘Zwei Brüder’ in Alsdorf. The Stürtz cinema family operates 24 screens with four different concepts. That the visitors—as well as the staff—are at the center in their cinemas becomes clear when visiting the website of the cinema family. We tip our hats to such showmanship and congratulate warmly.”
The brothers Sebastian and Moritz Stürtz responded to their family’s receipt of the award:
“Receiving this award is an honor for our family and our fantastic team. We have been operating our cinemas in the 4th generation and look back on almost 100 years of cinema history. As we have anchored in our company vision, we want to inspire future generations with our passion for cinema. Through constant innovation in our cinemas and also in gastronomy, we create a fascinating world of experience. The award encourages us to continue working towards this goal. This year, the foyer of our traditional house Eden Palast Aachen—the oldest cinema in Aachen—will be remodeled and equipped with a comprehensive, groundbreaking culinary concept. We invest for our guests, for our children, and for the continuation of cinema culture in Germany. Many thanks for the ICTA Excellence Award!”
Christine Berg, chairperson of the HDF-KINO e.V. association, adds:
“Family Stürtz is a fourth-generation cinema family that successfully combines tradition and modernity in their houses. Next to the historical candy machine in the foyer, one finds innovative gastronomic concepts and the most advanced technology. The motto of Leo Stürtz—’Only do things you can afford and then do them perfectly and without compromise’—runs through every fiber of the cinemas, thereby radiating far beyond the region. We warmly congratulate [them] on the well-deserved award.”
The ICTA Presentation Excellence Award will be presented as part of the cinema trade fair Kino 2024 on April 17 in the auditorium of the congress house in Baden-Baden.
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