Film festivals in Switzerland

The list includes the film festivals that take place in Switzerland .

Older film festivals

Grande Piazza at the Locarno Film Festival 2005

Locarno

One of the world's most important film festivals takes place in Switzerland: the Locarno International Film Festival . Founded in 1947, it is also the oldest international film festival in Switzerland. The main prize is the Golden Leopard .

Montreux / Lucerne

Rose d'Or is one of the most famous Swiss film festivals . The festival, which was founded in Montreux in 1954 , awards television entertainment with the Golden Rose and the Silver Rose . Lucerne has been the venue since 2004 .

Solothurn

The oldest festival for films from Switzerland is the Solothurn Film Festival in January. They took place for the first time in 1967. From 1998 to 2008 the Swiss Film Prize was awarded in Solothurn .

Nyon

The largest film festival in western Switzerland is Visions du Réel in Nyon . It has existed since 1969 and claims to be a link between the French and German-speaking cultures.

Zurich

The Swiss Youth Film Festival has been held annually in Zurich since 1976 . Short films by young people from all over Switzerland and by young Swiss students studying at foreign film schools will be shown.

Newer film festivals

Opening of the Zurich Film Festival 2008

(alphabetically by place)

Aarau

Short films with a length of up to sixty seconds have been shown since 2004 at the small film & video festival One Minute in Aarau . The BlackBox Short Film Festival took place for the first time on September 23, 2017 in Biberstein (AG). It takes place every two years and stops in Reinach and Aarau in 2019.

Amriswil

Short films with a length of up to 20 minutes have been shown at the small Amriswil youth film competition in Amriswil since 2012 . In 2013 the Amriswil Youth Film Competition was renamed the Youth Film Festival "Movie Day" and has since taken place in the Roxy cinema in Romanshorn.

Basel

Since its first edition in 2011, the Bildrausch Filmfest Basel has dedicated itself entirely to innovative auteur films. The heart of the festival around the Stadtkino am Theaterplatz is the international “Cutting Edge” competition with around a dozen carefully selected works. An international jury awards the best Bildrausch film and presents the Bildrausch Ring of Cinematic Art to its creator.

Bern

The shnit International Short Film Festival has been taking place in Bern since 2003 . With more than 20,000 visitors, it is the largest short film festival in Switzerland. In addition, the gay-lesbian film festival QUEERSICHT has been showing feature-length and short films since 1995 . The pink glasses for the best short film are awarded annually.

The Norient Network has been organizing the Norient Music Film Festival every January since 2010 . Selected documentaries on new musical trends from the urban centers of Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Middle East will be shown in the cinema in the riding school. There is also a musical supporting program in various surrounding clubs.

Freiburg

The Festival international de films de Friborg was launched in 1980 under the name Third World Festival in Freiburg in Üechtland . It shows feature films and documentaries from Asia , Africa and Latin America . The one-day short film festival Academy Shorts has been taking place since 2007 . Only short films by students are shown there.

Geneva

Film festivals in Geneva are the Festival International Médias Nord-Sud (since 1985) and Black Movie - Festival de Films des Autres Mondes (since 1990). A major international festival with the television produced feature films , series and short films is Festival Tous Écrans / Geneva International Film Festival in Geneva , which was founded 1996th

to bathe

Baden in Aargau has been the venue for the international animated film festival Fantoche since 1995 .

La Chaux-de-Fonds

In La Chaux-de-Fonds there has been the 2300 Plan 9 - Les Etranges Nuits du Cinéma since 1999

Lausanne

The Energy Film Festival (FIFEL) has existed in Lausanne since 1996. It takes place every two years and shows international short films, advertising films and reports on the subject of energy . Another film festival in Lausanne is the Lausanne Underground Film & Music Festival (since 2002).

Lucerne

The LesBiSchwule Festival PinkPanorama has existed since 2002. The festival focuses on films with lesbian and gay themes, but also organizes podiums, readings and exhibitions. An international dance film festival has been taking place in Lucerne since 2012, showing contemporary short dance films from all over the world and also hosting an international competition. In addition, the Swiss Young Film Festival Lucerne - Upcoming Film Makers has been taking place in Lucerne since 1986 , previously known as the Central Switzerland Film Festival (IFT). Short films by young film ends will be shown.

Neuchâtel

The Neuchâtel International Fantastic Film Festival (NIFFF) with feature film and short film programs has been taking place in Neuchâtel since 2000 .

Romanshorn

Since 2013 the Swizz Production association has been organizing the "Movie Day" youth film festival in Romanshorn . The Movie Day is the continuation of Amriswiler Youth Film Competition of Amriswil . At Movie Day , short films of 15 minutes each in two categories will be shown in the Roxy cinema in Romanshorn . It takes place every year in March.

Rüttihubelbad

The short film festival Emmentaler Filmtage takes place near Burgdorf in Rüttihubelbad .

St. Gallen

In St. Gallen since 2009 every year in November, a place Latin American film festival called Pantalla Latina instead. The "Pantalla" (screen) shows current cinema and short films from Latin America in their original version and for the first time in Eastern Switzerland. The audience votes on the short films in a competition in which a prize can be won.

Winterthur

The International Short Film Festival Winterthur is a short film festival . They were founded in 1996 and have both an international and a national competition.

Bern (also already in Winterthur, St. Gallen, Lucerne)

Slam-Movie-Night : The audience decides by applause or boos whether a contribution will be shown to the end or whether it will be stopped early.

Zurich

Zurich has four more recent film festivals: the Pink Apple Film Festival with a gay and lesbian program (since 1998), the experimental film festival videoex (since 1998), the international Zurich Film Festival (since 2005), the Swiss Youth Film Festival (since 1976) and Talent Screen (2005–2009), the film festival for young filmmakers.

Overall, the number of film festivals in Switzerland is estimated at over twenty.