Swiss Identity

From fine arts to cultural traditions, demographics and the future of work, we look at factors shaping and representing Swiss life and how it compares to elsewhere in the world.

A Swiss celebration of Sergei Loznitsa lays bare the battlefront of Ukrainian cinema

Ukranian director Sergei Loznitsa poses during the photocall for 'Donbass' at the 71st annual Cannes Film Festival, in Cannes, France, 09 May 2018.

This content was published on May 14, 2026 Born in Belarus, raised in Ukraine, Sergei Loznitsa is one of the most acclaimed filmmakers of his generation. So why is he so controversial at home?

Aging society

Detail view of a thousand Swiss franc note

Switzerland no longer wants to foot the bill for ‘suicide tourism’

This content was published on Feb 21, 2026 In Switzerland, all deaths through assisted suicide must be followed by a medical and legal investigation. This entails considerable costs for the state.

An assisted suicide room, with a glass and a vial labelled 'sodium pentobarbital' in the foreground.

Swiss politicians decide against monitoring assisted-suicide tourism

This content was published on Feb 2, 2026 How many people travel to Switzerland to end their lives? Swiss politicians do not want a precise count. Parliament has rejected a proposal to introduce monitoring.

Pegasos association rekindles controversy over assisted suicide in Switzerland

This content was published on Oct 29, 2025 British families have accused the Swiss association Pegasos of helping their loved ones to die without genuine medical justification. What is behind this accusation?

Readers share their thoughts on how to die with dignity.

What does a ‘dignified death’ mean to you?

This content was published on Apr 3, 2025 More European countries are legalising assisted dying because of the growing recognition of the right to die.

After the first ‘Sarco pod’ death, will Switzerland introduce stricter rules for assisted suicide?

This content was published on Feb 6, 2025 The first death to come about using the Sarco capsule has reignited debate on whether assisted dying should be more tightly regulated in Switzerland.

Actor Tilda Swinton in a scene from The Room Next Door.

How film and literature have influenced the acceptance of assisted suicide

This content was published on Jan 6, 2025 Powerful stories of assisted dying are etched in our collective memory. Now, a research project from Switzerland is gathering artistic works on the subject.

To what extent do you think assisted suicide should be a legally available option to those who want to end their lives?

Switzerland legalised assisted suicide in the 1940s. More than 1,000 seriously ill or disabled people end their lives with the help of suicide assistants in Switzerland each year.

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Yoshi travels from Japan to Switzerland to die

This content was published on Sep 13, 2021 A Japanese man came all the way to Switzerland to die. SWI swissinfo.ch accompanied him on the final part of his journey. This is his story.

Why assisted suicide is ‘normal’ in Switzerland

In Switzerland, assisted suicide is considered a legitimate way to end your life.

Culture

A Swiss celebration of Sergei Loznitsa lays bare the battlefront of Ukrainian cinema

This content was published on May 14, 2026 Born in Belarus, raised in Ukraine, Sergei Loznitsa is one of the most acclaimed filmmakers of his generation. So why is he so controversial at home?

Between Sichuan, Paris and Zurich: clashes of identity, family taboos and the housing crisis.

A queer filmmaker in Switzerland captures the divide on her visit home to China

This content was published on Apr 19, 2026 Yue Ran explores her complicated relationship with her mother – in the context of family tensions over Ran’s sexuality and China’s recent property crisis.

Human rights film festival mirrors uncertain future for International Geneva

This content was published on Mar 28, 2026 This year’s Geneva’s International Film Festival and Forum on Human Rights reflected a crisis at home –the defunding of the UN.

"Heritage", by Daniela Markovic. Born in Rambouillet, near Paris, to a family of Serbian origin, the artist has been based in Lausanne since 2010.

Lausanne’s new MAF museum puts women artists centre stage

This content was published on Mar 26, 2026 Switzerland’s first Musée Artistes Femmes (MAF) opened in Lausanne on March 4, a museum dedicated exclusively to showcasing works by women.

Opera takes the United Nations: a message from the Holocaust to a world in disarray

This content was published on Mar 25, 2026 The Emperor of Atlantis, an opera composed in a concentration camp in 1943, was re-staged in Geneva this month as one half of an ambitious two-part production.

New Swiss foundation to catalogue Jean-Luc Godard’s film archive

This content was published on Mar 22, 2026 The Jean-Luc Godard Foundation aims to preserve and share the archive of the 2022-deceased director, who left behind works scattered worldwide and the thorny matter of film rights.

Fifty years of the Lausanne Collection de l’Art Brut: between raw and rose-tinted

This content was published on Mar 18, 2026 The Collection de l’Art Brut in Lausanne is turning 50 – and is marking the occasion with an exhibition, taking visitors back to the early days, when art created in psychiatric clinics went unseen for a long time.

Vinzenz Hediger, the new director of the Swiss Film Archive, at the research and archiving centre in Penthaz, close to Lausanne. He took up his post last November.

Art of the reel: new director of Cinémathèque Suisse talks film heritage

This content was published on Mar 14, 2026 Vinzenz Hediger lays out his mission: protect a world‑renowned archive, embrace forgotten formats, and bring Swiss film heritage to audiences across the country.

When Swiss traditional customs offer up a mirror to the ridiculous

This content was published on Mar 6, 2026 French photographer Charles Fréger has produced images that reflect Swiss winter rites while posing questions about the present-day.

Catalogue of the Spring Frère factory in Geneva.

The Swiss chalet kit: a little-known success story of the Industrial Age

This content was published on Mar 5, 2026 Between 1850 and 1920, the Swiss chalet enjoyed its golden age, embraced first by aristocrats and later by the bourgeoisie.

A drama set on the peaks of global capitalism: "Enjoy Your Stay" premiered at Berlin International Film Festival.

‘Enjoy Your Stay’ at the Berlinale: a tale of exploitation in Alpine ski resorts

This content was published on Feb 28, 2026 Undocumented Filipino migrant workers who slave away as cleaners in luxury Swiss ski resorts are given a voice in a new film created by a Swiss–Filipino duo.

Future of work

A view of Zurich and the Prime Tower on a stormy night

Will AI secure or shake Swiss prosperity?

This content was published on May 4, 2026 AI may close the productivity gap left by ageing populations, or instead drive mass job losses and reshape global wealth. Which scenario emerges will depend on choices made today.

The banking sector has been particularly affected by redundancies.

Why unemployment in Switzerland is increasing more than elsewhere in Europe

This content was published on Feb 24, 2026 The number of people in Switzerland who are out of work increased for the second year in a row. This contrasts with the situation in the European Union.

The 1974 Lausanne Congress on World Evangelisation redefined the role of Christianity in Latin America, Africa and Asia.

How a conference in Lausanne changed the Protestant faith

This content was published on Dec 4, 2025 A conference in Lausanne in 1974 permanently shaped the way the Protestant faith was to be lived and interpreted.

Is AI for sign language promising or futile?

This content was published on Oct 2, 2025 Labs and start-ups in Switzerland are working on using AI to advance sign language interpretation, but they face many challenges.

Jean-Stéphane Bron directing his first fiction series, 'The Deal'.

Behind the cranes, Jean-Stéphane Bron exposes the architecture of inequality

This content was published on Sep 13, 2025 The Swiss filmmaker talks about “The Deal” and “Le Chantier”, two films about power, labour and architecture that premiered in Locarno this year.

Damien Hauser revamps the tenets of Afrofuturism - a genre that centers Black history and culture and incorporates science-fiction, technology, and futuristic elements - by mixing indie filmmaking (low budgets, non-professional actors) with AI tools to create grandiose sceneries.

Swiss-Kenyan filmmaker sets lo-fi love story in hi-tech future

This content was published on Sep 7, 2025 Damien Hauser’s ‘Memory of Princess Mumbi’ awed audiences at the Venice Film Festival by exploring the ethical and creative tensions of using AI in cinema.

A man standing in front of an image of a smartphone

How semiconductors are made

This content was published on Aug 4, 2025 Making semiconductor chips for computers, machinery, transport and other devices is a costly and a lengthy process. How exactly is it done?

Swiss roads could see driverless vehicles within three years

This content was published on May 27, 2025 A recent Swiss law change has raised the possibility of automated vehicles operating in real-life conditions in around three years.

How we work: artificial intelligence

This content was published on May 26, 2025 In this short video, editor-in-chief Mark Livingston answers your questions on how we use artificial intelligence (AI) at SWI swissinfo.ch.

UBS deploys AI analyst clones

This content was published on May 20, 2025 Zurich-based bank using OpenAI and Synthesia models to create lifelike avatars of its experts.

AI is playing an increasing role in determining career paths

AI recruitment machines map out workers’ career paths

This content was published on Mar 28, 2025 AI is increasingly influencing hirings, firings and promotions among the workforce.

Demographics

History

Swiss Identity

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A Swiss celebration of Sergei Loznitsa lays bare the battlefront of Ukrainian cinema

More

Switzerland no longer wants to foot the bill for ‘suicide tourism’

More

Swiss politicians decide against monitoring assisted-suicide tourism

More

Pegasos association rekindles controversy over assisted suicide in Switzerland

More

What does a ‘dignified death’ mean to you?

More

After the first ‘Sarco pod’ death, will Switzerland introduce stricter rules for assisted suicide?

More

How film and literature have influenced the acceptance of assisted suicide

More

To what extent do you think assisted suicide should be a legally available option to those who want to end their lives?

More

Yoshi travels from Japan to Switzerland to die

More

Why assisted suicide is ‘normal’ in Switzerland

More

A Swiss celebration of Sergei Loznitsa lays bare the battlefront of Ukrainian cinema

More

A queer filmmaker in Switzerland captures the divide on her visit home to China

More

Human rights film festival mirrors uncertain future for International Geneva

More

Lausanne’s new MAF museum puts women artists centre stage

More

Opera takes the United Nations: a message from the Holocaust to a world in disarray

More

New Swiss foundation to catalogue Jean-Luc Godard’s film archive

More

Fifty years of the Lausanne Collection de l’Art Brut: between raw and rose-tinted

More

Art of the reel: new director of Cinémathèque Suisse talks film heritage

More

When Swiss traditional customs offer up a mirror to the ridiculous

More

The Swiss chalet kit: a little-known success story of the Industrial Age

More

‘Enjoy Your Stay’ at the Berlinale: a tale of exploitation in Alpine ski resorts

More

Will AI secure or shake Swiss prosperity?

More

Why unemployment in Switzerland is increasing more than elsewhere in Europe

More

How a conference in Lausanne changed the Protestant faith

More

Is AI for sign language promising or futile?

More

Behind the cranes, Jean-Stéphane Bron exposes the architecture of inequality

More

Swiss-Kenyan filmmaker sets lo-fi love story in hi-tech future

More

How semiconductors are made

More

Swiss roads could see driverless vehicles within three years

More

How we work: artificial intelligence

More

UBS deploys AI analyst clones

More

AI recruitment machines map out workers’ career paths

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