Our mission
SWISS FILMS is the national agency for the promotion of films made in Switzerland. We give Swiss filmmaking global visibility.
On behalf of the Federal Office of Culture, we provide Swiss filmmakers with support in promoting and marketing their works and help them to build an international network. We advise producers on their exploitation strategies, and our support measures are specifically designed to back the distribution of Swiss-made films abroad.
As a film industry partner, SWISS FILMS directs its activities towards international festival delegates, world sales agents, film distributors, film-related organisations and cultural institutions, and media professionals. We provide information about new Swiss films on our website and through social media as well as in our own publications. We work in partnership with other international film institutions and festivals to organise film programmes around the globe and are present at all the major festivals and markets.
SWISS FILMS is one of the ten founding members of European Film Promotion (EFP), the network of European film promotion agencies, and a patron of the European Film Academy.
Our main tasks:
- Distributing Swiss films in all their cultural and linguistic diversity
- Helping Swiss filmmakers to connect with international networks
- Systematically recording film data
- Spreading cultural knowledge of Swiss filmmaking abroad
Our main stakeholders:
- Swiss rights holders
- Festival delegates, world sales agents, distributors, VOD platforms
- Special-interest groups, cultural institutions and anyone anywhere in the world interested in film
- Domestic and international film industry media
How we are organised
As a foundation under private law, SWISS FILMS is a non-profit organisation. Its headquarters are in Zurich, and it also has an office in Geneva. The Board of Trustees is made up of leading names from the Swiss film and media industry. SWISS FILMS has a service level agreement with the Federal Office of Culture (FOC) and receives financial support from other public and private institutions.
Our history
The Swiss Film Centre (SFC), the first-ever organisation for the promotion of Swiss films, was founded in 1975 at the instigation of the film industry. To gain even greater visibility on the international stage, the SFC joined forces with the Swiss Arts Council's film service and the Swiss Short Film Agency in 2004 to establish SWISS FILMS as the new national promotion agency.