Switzerland

[CH] New Order on Promoting the Cinema

IRIS 2006-8:1/13

Patrice Aubry

RTS Radio Télévision Suisse, Geneva

The Order on promoting the cinema (OECin) enacted by the Département Fédéral de l’Intérieur (Swiss Ministry of the Interior - DFI) has been revised as of 1 July 2006. The changes made to the Order reflect the increased importance the Office Fédéral de la Culture (Swiss Ministry for Culture - OFC) wishes to give to policy on the cinema in Switzerland. The OFC intends to increase its support for the promotion and distribution of films with a view to increasing their presence both in Switzerland and on the international market. The structures for selective encouragement have been reorganised with a view to promoting quality cinema in Switzerland. The changes made to the scheme for success-based encouragement, and the introduction of new or reworked means of promotion, are intended to strengthen the popular character of the cinema in Switzerland.

Applications for selective support will now be assessed by a committee of experts whose activities will be divided among three sub-committees - fiction, documentaries, and operation and diversity. The “fiction” sub-committee will examine applications for assistance for writing screenplays and producing full-length fiction films. In order to devote more attention to writing for fiction films, screenplays will normally be submitted initially to a specialist reader for an expert opinion. The “documentaries” sub-committee will assess applications for support for developing and producing full-length documentaries for either the cinema or television. Lastly, the “operation and diversity” sub-committee will be responsible for encouraging the distribution and circulation of films, and the diversity and quality of the cinema films being offered. The new regulations also entrust an independent expert (called an intendant) commissioned by the OFC with the task of assessing applications for selective aid for developing projects and producing short cinema films and television films. The OFC will nevertheless remain in charge of deciding on the allocation of incentives, taking into account the recommendations made by the intendant. It should also be noted that the criteria for appreciation and the composition of the committee of experts have also been redefined.

These new schemes will be valid for a period of five years (2006-2010). They are set out in an appendix to the OECin and reflect in terms of objectives, instruments and practical criteria the demands expressed in the Order. These schemes will henceforth place emphasis on the quality and the coherence of the strategy for the promotion of films supported by the OFC. This strategy should be drawn up according to the section of the public at which the audiovisual production in question is directed. Lastly, the OFC may also grant initial assistance (support for the first cinema screening of a Swiss film) and selective assistance for distribution (covering the risks connected with promotion), and provide advice on the promotion of cinema films.