Confederation supports Swiss film with 5.1 million francs
As part of its performance-based film funding program, the Federal Office of Culture (BAK) disbursed 5.1 million francs to filmmakers, distributors, and theater operators this spring. In total, Swiss films drew slightly more than 810,000 admissions last year.
This spring, the Federal Office of Culture (FOC) credited CHF 5.1 million to filmmakers, distributors and screening companies as part of its performance-based film promotion program. In total, Swiss films achieved just over 810,000 admissions last year. This fell short of the record year of 2006, when more than 1.6 million tickets were sold for Swiss films. Although this result represents a decline, admission figures for Swiss films have stabilized at a high level over the last ten years, the Federal Office of Culture wrote in a press release on Friday. The BAK supports success at the box office with performance-based film funding. The funding credited must be used for new film projects. The two most successful films in 2007, "Die Herbstzeitlosen" (219,996 admissions) by Bettina Oberli and "Vitus" (71,007) by Fredi Murer, were already among the four most-viewed films in the previous year. In the category of newly released feature films, director Mike Eschmann achieved respectable success with the two film titles "Breakout" (65,284) and "Tell" (55,469). However, "Tell" fell well short of expectations.
Last year was particularly pleasing for Swiss documentaries. Five documentaries were among the ten most successful Swiss films, with "Bruno Manser - Laki Penan" being by far the most viewed with 30,287 admissions.
As expected, the biggest drop in admissions was recorded in German-speaking Switzerland (from 1.4 million to 650,000 admissions). In French-speaking Switzerland, viewer numbers remained stable at 141,000 admissions and were well above the 2005 level (90,000). In Ticino, more than 10,000 viewers saw Swiss films for the first time in seven years. However, special promotional efforts are still required to promote Swiss films in French- and Italian-speaking Switzerland, writes the BAK in its press release.
Last year was particularly pleasing for Swiss documentaries. Five documentaries were among the ten most successful Swiss films, with "Bruno Manser - Laki Penan" being by far the most viewed with 30,287 admissions.
As expected, the biggest drop in admissions was recorded in German-speaking Switzerland (from 1.4 million to 650,000 admissions). In French-speaking Switzerland, viewer numbers remained stable at 141,000 admissions and were well above the 2005 level (90,000). In Ticino, more than 10,000 viewers saw Swiss films for the first time in seven years. However, special promotional efforts are still required to promote Swiss films in French- and Italian-speaking Switzerland, writes the BAK in its press release.
