At this year’s Cannes Film Festival Switzerland was the ‘guest of honour’ of the Marché du Film, the most coveted film market in the world. It showed the money trail to Swiss co-productions and how the country deals with the past and the future of cinema. There is an enormous, subterranean world beneath the red carpets, celebrities, luxury brands and world premieres staged at the Cannes Film Festival. Literally beneath the iconic red stairs of the Grand Théâtre Lumière, Cannes also hosts the biggest annual gathering of film professionals: the Marché du Film, considered the “heart of the film industry”, is an essential hub for producers, distributors and delegates from festivals and institutions. It’s where many films effectively start – and where they eventually are sold (or not). The latest edition of the Marché, which ran from May 14 to 22, chose Switzerland as Country of Honour. The Swiss brought a substantial delegation with officials from Swiss Films (the national agency for ...
