2008 a bad year for Swiss film
The year 2008 was a disappointing one for Swiss cinema. Only 580,000 moviegoers saw a Swiss film in theaters, which was 230,000 fewer than in 2007. Documentary films, on the other hand, saw an increase.
2008 was a disappointing year for Swiss films at the box office. Only 580,000 viewers saw a Swiss film at the cinema, 230,000 fewer than in 2007, according to the performance-based balance sheet published on Monday by the Federal Office of Culture (Bak). Compared to the record year of 2006, the result was even worse: Back then, Swiss productions had attracted around 1.5 million viewers to cinemas, mainly thanks to "Herbstzeitlosen" and "Achtung, fertig, Charlie". In 2008, however, there was a lack of major audience successes for individual films. On the other hand, cinema admissions last year were spread over a larger number of films and were not just concentrated in the cities.
The BAK noted that 2008 was a good year for documentaries and for Swiss films in French-speaking Switzerland. Today, Swiss documentary films achieved more admissions on average than ten years ago. In French-speaking Switzerland, around 180,000 admissions were sold for Swiss films in 2008. The market share of Swiss productions thus rose by 13 percentage points to 30 percent compared to 2007. The BAK's performance-based film promotion, which supports Swiss filmmaking through box office success, awarded CHF 5.1 million in funding to filmmakers, distributors and cinemas last spring.
The BAK noted that 2008 was a good year for documentaries and for Swiss films in French-speaking Switzerland. Today, Swiss documentary films achieved more admissions on average than ten years ago. In French-speaking Switzerland, around 180,000 admissions were sold for Swiss films in 2008. The market share of Swiss productions thus rose by 13 percentage points to 30 percent compared to 2007. The BAK's performance-based film promotion, which supports Swiss filmmaking through box office success, awarded CHF 5.1 million in funding to filmmakers, distributors and cinemas last spring.
