2020: Key figures on the international presence of Swiss films

“Corona Year” 2020 was a difficult and, in every respect, an extraordinary year for the international release of Swiss film productions. Our annual comparisons focus on the participation at the 150 selected short and feature film festivals eligible for support in accordance with the festival support measures. The SWISS FILMS assessments reveal that last year 75% of these festivals were held online or in a hybrid form, 10% were cancelled altogether and only 15% could be held on location with proper protective measures: for example, the Sundance, Berlinale, Venice and San Sebastian festivals. Comparisons with previous years can therefore only be made to a limited extent.

Under these extraordinary circumstances, 54 feature-length films and 82 short films were selected last year by international festivals designated for festival support from the SFOC and SWISS FILMS.

Whereas the presence of Swiss feature-length films at international film festivals is thus in line with the previous year, a slight increase in festival participation can be observed for short films. Particularly satisfying is the exceptionally strong presence of Swiss films at the A-festivals: Sundance, Berlinale, Venice and the IDFA.

Within the framework of “Festival Support”, SWISS FILMS facilitated the launch of Swiss films at international festivals with CHF 188,200 on behalf of the Federal Office of Culture.

International cinema releases of Swiss film productions 2020
While festivals were able to switch to online editions in the Corona Year, the pandemic hit the cinema market particularly hard: cinemas around the world had to close. Between the lockdowns, protective measures also severely restricted cinema operations. For 2020, the ComScore analysis service shows an overall decline in national cinema admissions of approximately 70% compared with the previous year in the two most important export markets for Swiss films, Germany and France. In both countries, around 50% fewer Swiss films were released in cinemas than in 2019.

According to ComScore data (as of January 2021), Swiss films recorded a total of 919,000 admissions worldwide in 2020 (excluding admissions in Switzerland).

Contributing significantly to this result was the successful launch of the German coproduction with minor Swiss participation, ALS HITLER DAS ROSA KANINCHEN STAHL (WHEN HITLER STOLE PINK RABBIT), with 700,000 admissions in Germany, which had already been released there in December 2019. The Swiss Oscar entry SCHWESTERLEIN (MY LITTLE SISTER) (9,600 admissions) and the animal documentary film DER BÄR IN MIR (BEAR-LIKE)(5,900 admissions) also got off to a promising start in Germany. Both cinema releases had to be cancelled shortly after their release due to the second wave of Corona. Another cinema release is still pending.

In France, French coproductions with minority Swiss participation – like YALDA, A NIGHT FOR FORGIVENESS (44,000 admissions) or SING ME A SONG (12,100 admissions) – were the main contributors to the box office figures. In Italy, it was the Italian coproduction FAVOLACCE, also with minority Swiss participation, that yielded a good result.

As part of the Federal Office of Culture’s export promotion programme, contributions amounting to a total of CHF 654,300 were made in 2020 to support the international release of Swiss films.

For further film titles and detailed information, please refer to our Webnews “Year-end review 2020”  published on December 16, 2020. 

New developments in the support measures
The closure of cinemas leads to major financial losses for rights holders. For cinema operators, distributors and other players in the film industry, the market environment has become existentially difficult and increasingly unpredictable over the past year.

To strengthen the international distribution of Swiss films, the Federal Office of Culture, in collaboration with SWISS FILMS, has revised the existing support measures. These create additional synergies between cinema and VOD releases, support the distribution of Switzerland’s minority coproductions more than before and simplify the application procedures for Swiss producers. SWISS FILMS will inform Swiss producers and international distributors about the new measures in February via email, as well as on www.swissfilms.ch and in the context of virtual film markets.

In our own case
Because the Solothurn Film Festival is being held online this year due to Corona, SWISS FILMS will not be holding an information event, as an exception. We would therefore like to take this opportunity to welcome Catherine Mühlemann, our new president of the SWISS FILMS Board of Trustees (Webnews, December 10, 2020).

SWISS FILMS, January 28, 2021