31/05/2021 - By signing the Pacte de l'audiovisuel, the TV channel conglomerate has committed to promoting independent Swiss films that would otherwise not be financed through the country’s relatively small market

Eden für Jeden by Rolf Lyssy, which was one of the most successful productions completed with funding from the Pacte de l'audiovisuel in 2020

Since 1996, the SRG SSR TV channel conglomerate has had a pact in place with the most important film funding institutions in Switzerland, according to which it agrees to offer special support to the Swiss film industry. Aside from the Federal Office of Culture, SRG SSR has the greatest clout in terms of promoting domestic productions. The Pacte de l'audiovisuel has been renewed for the period 2020-2023 and was increased by almost €5 million in 2020. The conglomerate co-produced 217 films and series last year, spending a total of 32.5 million Swiss francs (nearly €30 million). This figure represented 48 more titles than in 2019.

19.5 million Swiss francs were destined for television and multimedia projects, while 9 million Swiss francs went to productions for the cinema and animated films. In accordance with the Succès passage antenne agreement, the remaining 4 million Swiss francs were reinvested in productions with the highest viewing ratings during broadcasting.

Of the 39 TV projects that received funding for production, one was a fiction feature, five were fictional series, four were animations and 29 were documentaries. Sixteen projects, comprising three fictions, 11 fictional series and two animations, were supported during their development, and for another 13 projects, funding was funnelled into dubbing.

As for the titles destined for a theatrical release, a total of 81 projects were supported. Seventy-one works received funding for production; among them were 15 fiction features, 26 documentaries, 14 animated shorts and 16 fictional shorts. Two documentaries were granted funds for development, and four documentaries and four feature films received investments for dubbing.

The most successful productions completed with funding from the Pacte de l'audiovisuel in 2020 were the fictional series Wilder 2 by Pierre Monnard, with a market share of 33.3%; Frieden by Mike Schaerer, with a share of 29.8%; and the feature films Eden für Jeden by Rolf Lyssy, Wolkenbruch's Wondrous Journey into the Arms of a Shiksa [+see also:
trailer
film profile] by Michael Steiner and Zwingli [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] by Stefan Haupt, with respective shares of 32.2%, 29% and 19%.

Sven Wälti, of SRG Film, says: “Never before have so many Swiss films been broadcast. Never before did so much funding flow into film production. And in November, the national streaming platform Play Suisse was launched.” Meaning that, all in all, it was a prosperous year for domestic film production.