2023-12-11 08:02:16
Fans of a Korean series on a pilgrimage to Lake Brienz, an Indian film crew in Interlaken or visits from James Bond: Switzerland and its pretty settings appeal to foreign productions. But competition is tough and you have to learn how to sell yourself to stay in this lucrative market.
Switzerland and cinema, a love story that lasts. For many, it is first of all James Bond with his walk over the Furka Pass in “Goldfinger” and his jump from a Ticino dam in “Goldeneye”. But they are also Marion Cotillard on the banks of Lake Geneva in “Contagion” by Steven Soderbergh or Juliette Binoche in the Graubünden in “Sils Maria” by Olivier Assayas.
>> See the list of main films shot in Switzerland on the Suisse Tourisme website
With spectacular landscapes, snow-capped mountains, bucolic rivers and romantic towns, Switzerland offers a whole range of settings that appeal to foreign productions. The country also appears almost everywhere in Asian films.
A pontoon that scares tourists
Recently, it was a South Korean series that met with global success. Almost all of Asia has seen the famous scene from “Crash Landing on you”, a Netflix series released in 2019, in which two lovers meet on the shore of Lake Brienz.
Since then, the pontoon in the small village of Iseltwald has become famous and tourists still arrive in large numbers. Many Asians wouldn’t miss this stop for anything in the world: “We came here for our honeymoon and it’s a very special moment for me,” says Son Ye-Jin, a South Korean tourist who has the same name. that the main actress, Sunday in Focus, specifying that this place has become “very special” in her country.
“It’s extraordinary, I love this series, I really wanted to see it,” says a woman from the Philippines.
>> Watch the 7:30 p.m. report in Iseltwald once more:
The success of a village in the Bernese Oberland, which has become a star for Korean tourists, despairs its inhabitants / 7:30 p.m. / 2 min. / May 1, 2023
The small Bernese village is even a victim of its success, so much so that the local authorities have decided to charge tourists for access to the pontoon in order to limit the crowds. Residents also denounced the fact that tourists came to see the place and left directly, without spending anything.
For others, it’s more of a godsend. At the village restaurant, where the South Koreans have just eaten a dish of the day, we do not shy away from the pleasure of seeing the tourists enjoying a plate before leaving. “It’s very positive for a small village like Iseltwald. The demand is such that there are people who come to Switzerland just for that, it’s very interesting,” says restaurateur Joe Wyrsch.
>> Read also: A South Korean series disrupts the life of a village on the shores of Lake Brienz
Indian productions with Swiss mountains
Not far from Iseltwald, in Interlaken, an Indian producer has just arrived to carry out location scouting for a future film. Sharoz Ali Khan is looking for locations where the director can film two people throwing stones into water with a Swiss setting and trains passing in the background.
The producer says he seeks the beauty of Switzerland and its climate. “And above all, Switzerland is a brand for us,” he says. This Bollywood appeal began almost 30 years ago with Yash Chopra’s film “Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge”. This romantic comedy released in 1995 places Interlaken as a backdrop, with great popular success. And as Chopra is a star in India, the film quickly attracts many tourists to Switzerland.
Cinema can improve the promotion of a country, tourism, the economy and cultural exchanges
Sharoz Ali Khan, Indian film producer
Indian films featuring Swiss landscapes then followed one another. “It’s a good example to show that cinema can improve the promotion of a country, tourism, the economy and cultural exchanges. It’s very important,” comments Sharoz Ali Khan. He added that there is a joke in India which says that when a boy proposes to a girl, she only accepts if her future husband takes her on a honeymoon to Interlaken.
Growing foreign competition
However, the honeymoon between Switzerland and Asian cinema is no longer as strong as before. If the tourists are still there, the films are becoming rarer. It must be said that, unlike Switzerland, other countries have put in place very attractive policies to attract foreign productions.
“They started to offer discounts, to offer facilities, for example accommodation, free local crews, transport, a whole reimbursement system. That’s why many directors went elsewhere, notably to Hungary , which makes good offers, or in Italy, in Austria, and more recently in Norway, in Finland, and even in France”, underlines Sharoz Ali Khan.
In 2015, certain scenes of the James Bond film “Spectre” were to have been filmed in the Bernese Alps, but the team ultimately preferred Austria for economic reasons.
>> Watch the report from the TTC show on this failure to welcome James Bond:
James Bond / VAT included (All taxes included) / 5 min. / May 18, 2015
>> Read also: Switzerland shunned by the film crew of the next James Bond
Competition is therefore increasingly fierce and each country sells itself at a discount, particularly during the Cannes Film Festival, the annual high mass of cinema. Cash rebate or cash reimbursement is practiced there: for each franc invested in a film, the host country pays money directly to the producers, among other financial advantages.
Almost free movies
Tristan Albrecht works for the Valais Film Commission, a recently created body whose role is to support audiovisual productions in the canton. It combines cash rebate with McDonald’s: combinations are offered and productions make their choice, with reimbursements which can go up to 500,000 francs.
“There are a lot of films and productions that go fishing and shoot in several countries, but not for artistic reasons,” he adds. They move from one country to another, because in one they get something and in another another thing, a co-production or partnerships for example. “Give and take, they almost have a free film in the end. Or at least a large part of it is reimbursed.”
In Switzerland, we like money, but we put it elsewhere than in cinema
Tristan Albrecht, from the Valais Film Commission
For its part, the Valais film commission offers reimbursements ranging from 15 to 35%. During its first year of activity, 500,000 francs were redistributed. On its website, it even directly offers filming locations, including glaciers and cabins.
It was only recently that we understood in Switzerland that we had to sell ourselves. For Tristan Albrecht, Switzerland does not have a cinema industry and we are only beginning to realize that cinema is an industry, and therefore an economy. “In Switzerland, we like money, but we put it elsewhere than in cinema. And there, we see that there is an interest.” In his eyes, we are becoming aware in Valais that the economy is not only linked to tourism, but that tourism, economy and culture can work together. And with the emergence of streaming platforms, there’s a lot of money at stake.
Stand out and collaborate so as not to go under the radar
Switzerland is therefore at a turning point: the country has also adopted a law which requires streaming platforms to invest in the countries where they broadcast. Although the law will not come into force until January 1, the movement is already underway.
Thus, in a former hotel in Caux, on the heights of Montreux (VD), filming of the series “Winter Palace” began. The budget for these eight episodes in period costumes reaches several million francs. It must be said that in addition to the RTS, the giant Netflix has put its hand in the wallet, while a French company will ensure distribution abroad.
For director Pierre Monnard, “it’s an opportunity for Switzerland as a filming location and it’s also an opportunity for Swiss technicians, because we will be given greater resources to carry out more ambitious projects “.
Switzerland can finally qualify for this type of Champions League series
David Rihs, producer
The producer of the series David Rihs, director of Point Prod, also emphasizes that Switzerland can now finally “qualify for this type of Champions League series”. He notes that the risk for Switzerland is to go under the radar, because the country is small, there are three languages and each micro-territory does not necessarily count for a major international broadcaster. But “the fact of having an incentive fund means that we suddenly exist in this map”.
The series, which will be released in a year, will thus be broadcast throughout the world, an opportunity for Switzerland to exhibit its symbols and its mountains, to be discussed internationally, to promote its culture and to exercise its influence directly.
>> The 7:30 p.m. topic dedicated to Winter Palace:
“Winter Palace” the first Swiss series to be co-produced by Netflix and RTS tells the story of the invention of winter tourism / 7:30 p.m. / 2 min. / September 5, 2023
>> Read also: “Winter Palace”, first series co-produced by RTS and Netflix
TV subject: Gilles Clémençon, Stéphane Saporito and Catherine Sommer
Web adaptation: Frédéric Boillat
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