Locarno exposes Swiss shortcomings

A scene from Ibiza by Swiss director Bettina Oberli. Locarno Film Festival

At first sight, the Swiss film industry appears to be undergoing something of a renaissance at this year's Locarno festival.

It has two films screening at the town’s popular Piazza Grande and another two in the main international competition.
But while this might on the surface appear to reflect a healthy trend in home-grown talent, Philippe Clivaz, director of the Swiss short-film agency, remains sceptical.

“All four of those films are co-productions,” he says. “What we have to ensure is that it doesn’t become the only way to make a Swiss film.

“It’s important that Switzerland continues to produce its own films and does not just rely on finance and help from abroad.”
Indeed one of the Swiss films in competition could be called the “co-production to end all co-productions”. Swiss director Jacob Berger’s “Aime ton Père” is the combined work of no fewer than four different countries.

The future is short

The Swiss film industry’s strength, says Clivaz, is the short-film format – and Locarno has been quick to realise that.

In 1991, festival organisers introduced the Leopards of Tomorrow, with one competition open to short films from Switzerland, and a second one dedicated to films from another part of the world. This year Australia and New Zealand are the featured countries.

But how much significance can be attached to films that can be as short as two minutes?

Clivaz insists they play a vital role in the learning process for any film-maker.

“Directors can try to do something new and innovative, and the short-film format can be a means of getting ideas across more effectively than trying to spin them out to feature film length.”

Internationally renowned

Swiss short films have an established international reputation, regularly collecting prizes at festivals around the world. But success abroad has failed to generate much interest at home.

Clivaz argues that neither the industry nor the media gives the format the credit it’s due. “Even here in Locarno, the main focus of media attention is on films showing at the Piazza Grande or in the main competition.

“Competitions such as the Leopards of Tomorrow simply become a festival feature if short films are not exposed more often and more regularly across the country.”

Earlier this year a survey on Swiss cinema showed large sections of the domestic audience were not interested in going to see Swiss films.

“That’s disconcerting,” says Chicca Bergonzi, director of Leopards of Tomorrow. “It shows filmgoers are expressing an opinion on their domestic cinema without necessarily knowing it.”

Promoting Swiss films

Clivaz says his agency has an important role to play in ensuring that films are distributed and marketed properly.

“We place them in cinemas ahead of a main feature and that makes the Swiss more familiar with them,” he says.

“New directors and new producers gain more exposure alongside mainstream films and it acts as a launching pad for future projects.”

The agency also represents Swiss short films internationally at festivals and sells them to distributors and television stations worldwide.

Cash injection

The future of the Swiss film industry perhaps lies in the balance between the two formats. David Streiff, director of the Federal Office of Culture, hopes that the new Film Act and extra funding will give a boost to home-grown talent.

But he admits that a small country such as Switzerland still needs the support it can find in co-productions.

Both Bergonzi and Clivaz maintain that the Swiss short film still has a pioneering role to play.

They say that with better promotion and placement, domestic audiences will no longer automatically reject Swiss films as being “uninteresting”.

“The short film is the Swiss film industry’s best visiting card worldwide,” says Clivaz. “It is invaluable in exposing young Swiss talent and gives new directors a helping hand on their way to making their first feature films.”

by Jonathan Summerton in Locarno