Cinema deaths in Switzerland – does cinema still have a future despite streaming competition? – News

Going to the cinema has become rarer, many companies are closing. The Swiss Cinema Association remains optimistic. But help from the state is needed.

The cinema still fascinates many people – young and old alike: “I have to scrape together the money. But it’s worth it,” says one man. A teenager says: “I remember going to the cinema much more than Netflix.” Or a woman says she is immersed in another world in the cinema.

Many people see going to the cinema as an enrichment. And yet many people prefer to watch films and series at home. In the last year, for example, sales have plummeted at many cinemas. At the Alba cinema in the city of Zurich by more than a third. That’s one of the reasons why it’s closing its doors at the end of the year.

Many find it a pity that cinemas are closing, but hardly ever go there themselves. Nevertheless, the future of cinemas does not look bleak, says Edna Epelbaum, President of the Swiss Cinema Association: “I remain very optimistic. We are an industry of people with a lot of passion. We will fight to ensure that the cinemas remain places of culture and meeting places for the public in the future.”

But Epelbaum does not deny that many cinemas are currently struggling to survive. That’s why help from the state is needed, according to Epelbaum: “If we want to promote diversity and keep the Swiss cinema landscape as it is now, then it’s important to ask yourself the question of funding.”

Cinemas receive little financial support

It is interesting in this context that the public sector and the SRG support Swiss films with more than 100 million Swiss francs a year. The cinemas, on the other hand, are hardly supported at 2.5 million. That says Ivo Kummer, Head of the Film Section at the Federal Office of Culture.

If so, the cantons and communes would have to take on this funding. Because of the film law, the federal government can only speak about project contributions. “He cannot, for example, speak about structural contributions for the preservation and operation of a cinema. It’s always about project funding within culture and filmmaking.” The federal government can therefore only support individual projects, for example if a cinema is planning an event.

Last year the voters approved the new film law. This provides for an expansion of film funding. But according to the federal government, there are no plans to expand cinema funding. On the other hand, there are various examples in the municipalities of how cinemas are funded: The city of Zurich, for example, runs its own art house cinema. And in western Switzerland, too, around 20 cinemas are owned by communities or cooperatives.

«Cinema is like a religion»

The trend is negative: cinema admissions have fallen significantly in recent years. Therefore, probably not all 600 cinemas in the country should survive. But the industry is not at the end, because the cinema operators remain optimistic. In some places the communities help out.

And even in a street survey, most respondents believe in the cinema: “I’m very confident. People like to go out and experience something together, not always just in their own four walls,” believes a passer-by. As one man puts it: “Cinema is like a religion.” That sounds confident. But ultimately the audience decides what future the cinemas have.