The ''Cinémathèque suisse'' (Swiss Cinematheque), formerly the ''Archives cinématographiques suisses'' (Swiss Film Archive), is a

Swiss Swiss most commonly refers to: * the adjectival form of Switzerland * Swiss people Swiss may also refer to: Places * Swiss, Missouri * Swiss, North Carolina * Swiss, West Virginia * Swiss, Wisconsin Other uses * Swiss Café, an old café located ...

state-approved non-profit foundation headquartered in

Lausanne Lausanne ( , ; ; ) is the capital and largest List of towns in Switzerland, city of the Swiss French-speaking Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Vaud, in Switzerland. It is a hilly city situated on the shores of Lake Geneva, about halfway bet ...

. It aims to collect, protect, study and present film archives. The Swiss Cinematheque has its archives in Penthaz and a branch office in

Zürich Zurich (; ) is the list of cities in Switzerland, largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is in north-central Switzerland, at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich. , the municipality had 448,664 inhabitants. The ...

History

Timeline

With the support of the

Kunstmuseum Basel The Kunstmuseum Basel houses the oldest public art collection in the world and is generally considered to be the most important museum of art in Switzerland. It is listed as a Swiss heritage site of national significance. Its lineage extends ba ...

, a group of admirers of independent films founded the ''Archives cinématographiques suisses'' (Swiss Film Archive) in

Basel Basel ( ; ), also known as Basle ( ), ; ; ; . is a city in northwestern Switzerland on the river Rhine (at the transition from the High Rhine, High to the Upper Rhine). Basel is Switzerland's List of cities in Switzerland, third-most-populo ...

in 1943. Subsequently, the ''Association cinémathèque suisse'' (Swiss Cinematheque Association) was created. The archives were transferred to

to the ''Cinémathèque suisse'' (Swiss Cinematheque), co-founded by Freddy Buache in 1948 and inaugurated by

Erich von Stroheim Erich Oswald Hans Carl Maria von Stroheim (born Erich Oswald Stroheim, ; September 22, 1885 – May 12, 1957) was an Austrian-American director, screenwriter, actor, and producer, most noted as a film star and avant-garde, visionary director of ...

in 1950. In precarious condition, the Swiss Cinematheque was located on ' in Lausanne. At the time, it had no

projection Projection or projections may refer to: Physics * Projection (physics), the action/process of light, heat, or sound reflecting from a surface to another in a different direction * The display of images by a projector Optics, graphics, and carto ...

room. The Swiss Cinematheque was one of the first members of the

International Federation of Film Archives The International Federation of Film Archives (, FIAF) was founded in Paris in 1938 by the Cinémathèque Française, the Reichsfilmarchiv in Berlin, the British Film Institute and the Museum of Modern Art in New York City. FIAF brings togethe ...

. Claude Emery was the Swiss Cinematheque's first director until Buache held this position from 1951 to 1996. In 1981, the

Cinematheque A cinematheque is an archive of films and film-related objects with an exhibition venue. Similarly to a book library (bibliothèque in French), a cinematheque is responsible for preserving and making available to the public film heritage. Typically ...

acquired and moved to the former

Casino A casino is a facility for gambling. Casinos are often built near or combined with hotels, resorts, restaurants, retail shops, cruise ships, and other tourist attractions. Some casinos also host live entertainment, such as stand-up comedy, conce ...

Montbenon The Esplanade of Montbenon () is an area of the city of Lausanne (Switzerland). It is located in the centre of the city, to the south of Le Flon (Lausanne), Flon. Casino de Montbenon The Casino de Montbenon was built in 1908. It hosted the h ...

in Lausanne to establish itself in a better environment. In 1992, the Swiss Cinematheque began to store archives in a Penthaz building. The Swiss Cinematheque has been considered "one of the ten most important cinematheques in the world" by the International Federation of Film Archives. In 1995, the collection of the Swiss Cinematheque ranked sixth among the "most important in the world" after those of Bois d'Arcy ,

Brussels Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) is a Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium#Regions, region of Belgium comprising #Municipalit ...

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

, and Washington . The Swiss Federal Office of Culture has been the foundation's primary funder with the City of Lausanne and the canton of

Vaud Vaud ( ; , ), more formally Canton of Vaud, is one of the Cantons of Switzerland, 26 cantons forming the Switzerland, Swiss Confederation. It is composed of Subdivisions of the canton of Vaud, ten districts; its capital city is Lausanne. Its coat ...

. was its director from 1996 to 2008. In the early 2000s, a project was initiated to make the Penthaz site the first federal building dedicated to cinema. Dumont was succeeded by in 2008. was appointed director in 2009. In 2010, renovation and expansion work on the Penthaz building began. Jean Studer, chairman of the Bank Council of the

Swiss National Bank The Swiss National Bank (SNB; ; ; ; ) is the central bank of Switzerland, responsible for the nation's monetary policy and the sole issuer of Swiss franc banknotes. The primary goal of its mandate is to ensure price stability, while taking econ ...

and lawyer, became chairman of the Foundation Board of the Swiss Cinematheque on 1 July 2016, thus succeeding Marc Wehrlin.

Activities

Filmmakers

Jean-Luc Godard Jean-Luc Godard ( , ; ; 3 December 193013 September 2022) was a French and Swiss film director, screenwriter, and film critic. He rose to prominence as a pioneer of the French New Wave film movement of the 1960s, alongside such filmmakers as ...

and

Jean-Marie Straub Jean-Marie is both a given name and a surname. Notable people with the name include: * Jean-Marie Carroll (born 1956), English musician and composer * Jean-Marie Abgrall (born 1950), French psychiatrist, criminologist, specialist in forensic medic ...

were affiliated with the Swiss Cinematheque and maintained close relations with the foundation's members throughout their careers. The premises in Penthaz became the Swiss Cinematheque Research and Archiving Centre. It was inaugurated on 6 September 2019 in the presence of Federal Councillor

Alain Berset Alain Berset (; born 9 April 1972) is a Swiss politician who served as a Member of the Swiss Federal Council from 2012 to 2023. A member of the Social Democratic Party (SP/PS), he headed the Federal Department of Home Affairs from when he too ...

and Vaud State Councillor

Cesla Amarelle Cesla Virginia Amarelle (born 14 September 1973, Montevideo) is an Uruguayan-Swiss jurist and politician. She is a member of the Social Democratic Party of Switzerland and a professor of law at University of Neuchâtel. Early life Cesla Amarell ...

. The total cost was 50.6 million

Swiss franc The Swiss franc, or simply the franc, is the currency and legal tender of Switzerland and Liechtenstein. It is also legal tender in the Italian exclave of Campione d'Italia which is surrounded by Swiss territory. The Swiss National Bank (SNB) iss ...

s. Located near Lausanne, in the canton of Vaud, the building properly stores hundreds of thousands of film reels and posters. The archives are grouped on three levels in the basement of the Penthaz centre on an area of . On average, 400 films are donated annually to the Swiss Cinematheque by filmmakers,

distributors A distributor is an electric and mechanical device used in the ignition system of older spark-ignition engines. The distributor's main function is to route electricity from the ignition coil to each spark plug at the correct time. Design A ...

and collectors. Around 15 to 20 films are

restored ''Restored'' is the fourth studio album by American contemporary Christian musician Jeremy Camp. It was released on November 16, 2004, by BEC Recordings. Track listing Standard release Enhanced edition Deluxe gold edition Standard Aus ...

annually by the involvement of the Swiss Cinematheque's staff, which includes 100 professionals, 75 of whom work full-time, as of 2023. The 100 people working for the foundation are spread over three sites: Lausanne, Penthaz and

. About 50 people work at Penthaz, while the

branch office A branch office is an outlet of a company or, more generally, an organization that – unlike a subsidiary – does not constitute a separate legal entity, while being physically separated from the organization's main office. Branching is particu ...

is in Zürich and the

seat A seat is a place to sit. The term may encompass additional features, such as back, armrest, head restraint but may also refer to concentrations of power in a wider sense (i.e " seat (legal entity)"). See disambiguation. Types of seat The ...

is in Lausanne.

Holdings

As of 2019, the Swiss Cinematheque holds 700,000 reels, 85,000 films, 10,000 scripts, 26,000 books, 500,000 posters, 2,000 old cameras, 3 million photos and 1 million posters. It also includes quantities of documents and other Swiss and foreign cinema objects.

Gallery

Hervé Dumont.jpg, Hervé Dumont was director of the Swiss Cinematheque from 1996 to 2008 FredericMaire CarineRoth-Cinemathequesuisse HD-07.jpg, Frédéric Maire, director since 2009 Jean Studer.jpg, Jean Studer, chairman of the Foundation Board of the Swiss Cinematheque since 2016 Centre de recherche et d'archivage de la Cinémathèque suisse à Penthaz.jpg, The Swiss Cinematheque Research and Archiving Centre in Penthaz

References

External links

* {{Authority control Film organisations in Switzerland Film archives in Europe Archives in Switzerland