07/05/2024 - Ahead of the Marché du Film, where Switzerland is a guest of honour, the director of the promotional agency talked to us about his country's potential and ambitions

Nicola Ruffo, the director of promotional agency for Swiss filmmaking Swiss Films, guides us through this year’s Marché du Film (14-22 May), which hosts Switzerland as a Guest of Honour.

Cineuropa: What are the key highlights and themes of your programme at the Marché du Film, and how does it reflect the diversity and creativity of Swiss cinema?
Nicola Ruffo: Particularly, the new generation of Swiss filmmakers have extensive professional experience abroad or have received an international education. This diversity is reflected in the over 20 Swiss projects on the market, 28 Swiss organisations from various sectors and over 40 events in Cannes. In addition to our Swiss pavilion, we will be present this year with the Swiss Hub – a booth for innovations and co-productions.

There are a few events that can be highlighted to showcase this diversity. The Producers Network promotes networking and co-production opportunities and presents five promising Swiss producers and their latest projects. The Cannes Docs programme, the platform for documentary professionals, hosts a presentation by Visions du Réel Nyon of four Swiss documentaries as works in progress to bring them to the attention of decision-makers, festival programmers and world sales agents. The Goes to Cannes section showcases five captivating feature films by Swiss talents presented by the Solothurn Film Festival. Cannes Next hosts a new edition of "Producers Pitching Their Projects" where 15 producers pitch their film projects in a 3-minute presentation, supported by Largo.AI's forecasts and a panel entitled "The Future of Storytelling", which will look at the production and distribution of immersive works from different angles. The Festivals Hub initiative offers activities for global film festivals and markets and is organising the "Swiss Film Fest Focus: Exploring Diversity & Collaboration" panel, which will be attended by the artistic directors of the leading Swiss film festivals with an international focus (Locarno Film Festival, Visions du Réel Nyon, Zurich Film Festival, Neuchâtel International Fantastic Film Festival and Geneva International Film Festival).

Other Swiss organisations are also contributing to the "Switzerland, Country of Honour" presentation to highlight Swiss talent: SONART (Musikschaffende Schweiz) has selected two Swiss film composers for this year's Spot the Composer programme, which aims to bring together emerging film composers with directors and producers for a possible collaboration and the Swiss Arts Council Pro Helvetia has selected four literary works by Swiss authors for the Shoot the Book! Programme, whose selection will be presented to film and television producers who are looking for material for potential new film adaptations.

To emphasise Switzerland's status as the "most innovative nation" (according to the 2023 UN study conducted by WIPO) and underline its commitment to technological progress, the Marché du Film is hosting the Swiss Hub, a new stand in the Palais des Festivals, for the first time. Here, visitors will have the exclusive opportunity to test the latest innovative tools and technologies (e.g. XR tools, interactive installations) from innovative Swiss start-ups, as well as to meet Swiss innovators.

What opportunities and challenges does Switzerland face in showcasing its cinematic talent on a global stage?
Switzerland has a relatively small, but innovative, film industry with still a potential to grow through international collaborations. Switzerland produces 80-100 feature-length films a year with a diverse home market, divided by four language regions. Included in these numbers are around 40 co-productions – with an already inherent international exploitation strategy. To grow the audience beyond the home market, the importance of co-productions is increasing. But Switzerland's multilingualism has also its advantage, its strong international network of filmmakers and its geographical location in the centre of Europe provide a big potential for international collaborations. The most important co-production partners are our neighbouring countries, which we share a language with and which are as well the most important countries of exploitation, foremost France and Germany.

How does Swiss Films collaborate with professionals and what strategies are being employed to enhance Switzerland's presence in the international film community?
Showcase Swiss films and connecting filmmakers and talents – that is what we set out to do at international festivals and film markets. We have our own stand at the most important events on the international industry circuit: like this year in Cannes with the Swiss Pavilion and a Hub for Coproduction and Startups. Our market presence is redesigned each year and accompanied by networking events, festival line-ups and digital promotion campaigns. Furthermore, we organise Work-in-Progress Screenings together with partner festivals. This year you will see such formats in Goes to Cannes and Cannes Docs, where several current Swiss productions are invited to present their work in progress to the sales agents, distributors, and festival delegates in attendance. Finally, Swiss Films collaborates with a wide variety of global labs and talent programmes, thus helping Swiss talent connect with international networks.

What we, based on our international strategy, haven’t been responsible for so far is our home turf. But a new political mandate of the Swiss Government means that this may change from next year on. So I will be happy to tell you more when we will have developed our strategy to support the industry in the national market through promotion.