Type | NPO[1] |
---|---|
Legal status | Private foundation[1] |
Purpose | Cinematheque[1] Cinematography study centre[1] National museum[1] |
Headquarters | Casino de Montbenon |
Location | |
Coordinates | 46°31′14″N 06°37′30″E / 46.52056°N 6.62500°E |
Chief Executive | Frédéric Maire |
Chairman | Jean Studer |
Affiliations | International Federation of Film Archives[2] |
Budget | CHF5 million[2] |
Staff | 100 (total) |
Website | cinematheque |
Formerly called | Archives cinématographiques suisses |
The Cinémathèque suisse (Swiss Cinematheque), formerly the Archives cinématographiques suisses (Swiss Film Archive), is a Swiss state-approved non-profit foundation headquartered in Lausanne. It aims to collect, protect, study and present film archives.[1][3] The Swiss Cinematheque has its archives in Penthaz and a branch office in Zürich.
With the support of the Kunstmuseum Basel, a group of admirers of independent films[2] founded the Archives cinématographiques suisses (Swiss Film Archive) in Basel in 1943.[4][5]
Subsequently, the Association cinémathèque suisse (Swiss Cinematheque Association) was created.[6] The archives were transferred to Lausanne to the Cinémathèque suisse (Swiss Cinematheque), co-founded by Freddy Buache in 1948 and inaugurated by Erich von Stroheim in 1950.[4][7] In precarious condition, the Swiss Cinematheque was located on Place de la Cathédrale in Lausanne.[2][6] At the time, it had no projection room.[6]
The Swiss Cinematheque was one of the first members of the International Federation of Film Archives.[2]
Claude Emery was the Swiss Cinematheque's first director until Buache held this position from 1951 to 1996.[7]
In 1981, the Cinematheque acquired and moved to the former Casino of Montbenon in Lausanne to establish itself in a better environment.[2][6]
In 1992, the Swiss Cinematheque began to store archives in a Penthaz building.[8]
The Swiss Cinematheque has been considered "one of the ten most important cinematheques in the world" by the International Federation of Film Archives.[8][9]
In 1995, the collection of the Swiss Cinematheque ranked sixth among the "most important in the world" after those of Bois d'Arcy [National Centre for Cinema and the Moving Image], Brussels [Cinematek], London [BFI National Archive], Moscow [Gosfilmofond], and Washington [Library of Congress].[10]
The Swiss Federal Office of Culture has been the foundation's primary funder with the City of Lausanne and the canton of Vaud.[11][12]
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.[8]
Dumont was succeeded by Vinzenz Hediger[15]
in 2008.Frédéric Maire[16]
was appointed director in 2009.In 2010, renovation and expansion work on the Penthaz building began.[8]
Jean Studer, chairman of the Bank Council of the Swiss National Bank and lawyer, became chairman of the Foundation Board of the Swiss Cinematheque on 1 July 2016, thus succeeding Marc Wehrlin.[17]
Filmmakers Jean-Luc Godard and Jean-Marie Straub were affiliated with the Swiss Cinematheque and maintained close relations with the foundation's members throughout their careers.[18][19]
The premises in Penthaz became the Swiss Cinematheque Research and Archiving Centre.[8] It was inaugurated on 6 September 2019 in the presence of Federal Councillor Alain Berset and Vaud State Councillor Cesla Amarelle.[8] The total cost was 50.6 million Swiss francs.[8] Located near Lausanne, in the canton of Vaud, the 13,000 square metres (140,000 sq ft) building properly stores hundreds of thousands of film reels and posters.[20] The archives are grouped on three levels in the basement of the Penthaz centre on an area of 5,300 square metres (57,000 sq ft).[8]
On average, 400 films are donated annually to the Swiss Cinematheque by filmmakers, distributors and collectors.[2] Around 15 to 20 films are restored annually by the involvement of the Swiss Cinematheque's staff, which includes 100 professionals, 75 of whom work full-time, as of 2023.[2] The 100 people working for the foundation are spread over three sites: Lausanne, Penthaz and Zürich.[3] About 50 people work at Penthaz, while the branch office is in Zürich and the seat is in Lausanne.[8]
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.[3][21] It also includes quantities of documents and other Swiss and foreign cinema objects.[8]