Film boss Bideau describes the Swiss film associations as "sick"
The Swiss film industry is seething: after Swiss film associations accused Nicolas Bideau, the country's top film boss, of high-handedness among other things, he dismissed them as "sick" in an interview with the Tages-Anzeiger newspaper.
The Swiss film industry is in turmoil: after Swiss film associations accused the top film boss Nicolas Bideau of high-handedness, among other things, he dismissed them as "sick" in an interview. In an interview with the Tages-Anzeiger newspaper on Thursday, the head of the film section at the Federal Office of Culture (Bak) explained that the associations were at odds and that their members no longer felt adequately represented by them.
This assessment is based on an "incomprehensible, purely personal perception of Mr. Bideau", countered the associations ARF/FDS, Garp and the studio film association SSV in a joint communiqué on Thursday evening. "Since Bideau, according to his own statements, does not value associations and demonstrably strives to shape film policy by bypassing these professional associations, his perception could indeed be clouded," it continued. The denigration of the associations makes it easier for the Bak film boss to "pursue film policy ad personam". Bideau's statement that many members had left out of dissatisfaction with the associations was contradicted by Stefan Haupt, President of the Swiss Association of Film Directors and Screenwriters (ARF/FDS), when asked by the SDA news agency. The opposite is the case, he explained. His association is even experiencing an increased influx. Ruth Waldburger, a board member of the Group of Authors, Directors and Producers (GARP), added that there was no question of dissension among the associations. Although the associations pursue different goals, they work closely together.
According to the Tages-Anzeiger and Basler Zeitung, several associations have accused Bideau of acting on his own authority: Among other things, he had made a change to the ordinance on the Film Act without prior consultation. Haupt confirmed that his association, together with the Studio Film Association, had expressed its concerns in a letter to the Federal Film Commission. Bideau admitted in the interview that he had made "a communication error".
Different approaches
The dispute is also about money, as film funding concepts are currently being revised. In this context, there are efforts by producers to receive a higher share of performance-based film funding - at the expense of authors and directors, as Haupt explains in Ciné-Bulletin.
Bideau has repeatedly stated that he would like to support fewer producers with higher contributions in future. He is not a supporter of the watering can principle, he reiterated. Haupt sets a different tone: a healthy film landscape requires a broad humus, he said. You can't tell at first glance whether the seedlings will grow into strong trees: "No gardener would water in three places with a high-pressure sprayer to grow three trees".
This assessment is based on an "incomprehensible, purely personal perception of Mr. Bideau", countered the associations ARF/FDS, Garp and the studio film association SSV in a joint communiqué on Thursday evening. "Since Bideau, according to his own statements, does not value associations and demonstrably strives to shape film policy by bypassing these professional associations, his perception could indeed be clouded," it continued. The denigration of the associations makes it easier for the Bak film boss to "pursue film policy ad personam". Bideau's statement that many members had left out of dissatisfaction with the associations was contradicted by Stefan Haupt, President of the Swiss Association of Film Directors and Screenwriters (ARF/FDS), when asked by the SDA news agency. The opposite is the case, he explained. His association is even experiencing an increased influx. Ruth Waldburger, a board member of the Group of Authors, Directors and Producers (GARP), added that there was no question of dissension among the associations. Although the associations pursue different goals, they work closely together.
According to the Tages-Anzeiger and Basler Zeitung, several associations have accused Bideau of acting on his own authority: Among other things, he had made a change to the ordinance on the Film Act without prior consultation. Haupt confirmed that his association, together with the Studio Film Association, had expressed its concerns in a letter to the Federal Film Commission. Bideau admitted in the interview that he had made "a communication error".
Different approaches
The dispute is also about money, as film funding concepts are currently being revised. In this context, there are efforts by producers to receive a higher share of performance-based film funding - at the expense of authors and directors, as Haupt explains in Ciné-Bulletin.
Bideau has repeatedly stated that he would like to support fewer producers with higher contributions in future. He is not a supporter of the watering can principle, he reiterated. Haupt sets a different tone: a healthy film landscape requires a broad humus, he said. You can't tell at first glance whether the seedlings will grow into strong trees: "No gardener would water in three places with a high-pressure sprayer to grow three trees".
