Major Swiss film festivals warn against initiative to reduce licence fee
The film festival umbrella organisation "Conférence des Festivals" has warned of the consequences of the licence fee initiative, on which Swiss voters will decide on March 8.
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This would severely impair the visibility of film and reduce the cultural and international reach of Swiss festivals, it said.
The “CHF200 is enough!” initiative wants to reduce the annual licence fee of the Swiss Broadcasting Corporation (SBC) from CHF335 ($430) to CHF200.
The cuts to funding for the SBC initiative would “significantly weaken cultural diversity, the promotion of Swiss film and the ability of the audiovisual ecosystem to produce and distribute nationally and internationally,” the Conférence des Festivals said in a statement on Friday.
+ Explainer: Swiss to vote on initiative to cut media licence fee
The Conférence des Festivals comprises 14 Swiss film festivals, including the Solothurn Film Festival, the Locarno Film Festival, Fantoche in Baden and the Zurich Film Festival. According to the organisation, it is committed to ensuring that the importance of festivals in the film value chain is “communicated in the best possible way”.
The organisation believes that the “CHF200 is enough!” initiative jeopardises the festivals’ task of contributing to the visibility of local filmmaking. This is “inextricably linked to a strong, professional public service that is accessible in all regions”.
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The initiative wants to stipulate in the Federal Constitution that the government should levy a fee of CHF200 per year exclusively on private households to finance radio and television programmes that provide an essential service to the general public.
In its press release, the Conférence des Festivals also warns of the consequences for minority language regions and regional media coverage, on which film festivals depend.
The initiators of the bill argue that households need relief in times of rising health insurance premiums and rents. The population currently pays the highest radio and TV licence fees in the world. In particular, the initiative committee demands that the SBC concentrate on its core mission. It is expanding further and further in entertainment and sport as well as in online activities, it said.
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