Swiss Films: Successful annual results and a secure future

Following various festival successes, the Swiss film "More than Honey" by Markus Imhoof has just been released in the "normal" cinema program in New York. Ursula Meier's "Sister" won a Silver Bear in Berlin in 2012. "Hiver nomade" by Manuel von Stürler won the European Film Award. It also won two "Student Oscars". Swiss films can once again be seen internationally. In many cases, it is thanks to the background work of Swiss Films that this work is being recognized. The promotion agency for the seventh art "made in Switzerland" hosted the presentation of its annual report on June 27.

"In 2012, uncertainties about the future of the promotion agency kept those responsible on their toes. The service agreement and various offers were repeatedly called into question," explained Josefa Haas, President of the Swiss Films Foundation Board. Specifically, Swiss Films had to reapply to the Federal Office of Culture FOC for the contract to officially promote the Swiss film scene and to receive money from the film promotion budget for this purpose. The contract has now been awarded and the service agreements between BAK, Pro Helvetia and Swiss Films have been agreed.

Thanks to the help provided by Swiss Films in promoting and actively supporting films at various levels, Swiss films were screened at all 12 of the top international festivals in 2012. Over 100 Swiss films were screened at the top 50 festivals worldwide, which corresponds to an increase of 10 percent. These films won a total of 280 prizes, which also brought in prize money of CHF 470,000. 55 percent of this was "earned" by short films. For many short film makers, "this is an important contribution to the budget", said communications manager Ursula Hartenstein.

Promoting such short films also makes sense because they are "business cards and door openers" for many filmmakers, emphasized Foundation President Josefa Haas. Successful short films often mark the beginning of a career.

The Short Film Night Tour 2013 organized by Swiss Films has already set an audience record with around 11,700 admissions in the first eleven cities from Basel to Lucerne alone, an increase of 24 percent compared to 2012.

Swiss Films' initiative to present a Swiss short film via streaming every Friday on the joint news network of the major Swiss newspapers has also been a success.

The balance sheet conference was the first under the new director Catherine Ann Berger. She has been in office full-time since June 1, 2013 and replaces Micha Zhivov, who stepped down at the end of 2012. As one of her key objectives, Berger announced how she intends to further improve the market opportunities for Swiss films with a new online database in the coming months. This "virtual marketplace" is being set up as part of an international project. The tool is intended to facilitate the programming work of festival organizers. Anyone who receives access from Swiss Films can then use this tool to find out about current Swiss short film production in an unbureaucratic way and have the works suggested by the promotion agency streamed.

Since 2004, all relevant data on around 4,000 films has been uploaded to the database on the Swiss Films portal, which is also accessible to the public. Thanks to links to social media, access increased by 28 percent in 2012.

Andreas Panzeri