Thomas Stephens Born in London, Thomas was a journalist at The Independent before moving to Bern in 2005. He speaks all three official Swiss languages and enjoys travelling the country and practising them, above all in pubs, restaurants and gelaterias.
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See in other languages: 8 - Deutsch
(de) Happy End für Schweizer Kinos? - Español
(es) ¿Final feliz para los cines suizos? - Português
(pt) Final feliz para a crise dos cinemas suíços? - 中文
(zh) 瑞士影院会不会有个大团圆结局？ - عربي
(ar) هل ستكون هناك نهاية سعيدة لصناعة السينما السويسرية؟ - Pусский
(ru) Счастливый конец для швейцарских кинотеатров? - 日本語
(ja) コロナ後のスイス映画館 待ち受けるのはハッピーエンド？ - Italiano
(it) Ci sarà un lieto fine per i cinema svizzeri?
'I think at that point we were all relieved – the days before the lockdown were very difficult because of all the uncertainty,' says Edna Epelbaum, president of the Swiss Cinema Association, referring to the government's decision to declare an 'extraordinary situation' and basically close the country in an attempt to contain Covid-19.
'Each canton was deciding for itself, which made it very difficult for our industry, where we are all dependent on national and international releases. So at one point, the Sunday evening [March 15], half the country was already in lockdown and the other half didn't know yet. It got to the point where we were relieved when it applied to all of Switzerland.'
But on Saturday doors can re-open, corn can re-pop and films can once again flicker across the country's roughly 600 cinema screens. In the almost three months that the curtains have stayed down, their owners – like those of most businesses across the country – have been working out how to survive until things return to relative normal.
This cinema in Bern will be "back soon" Helen James/swissinfo.ch
Epelbaum, who also owns several cinemas in Bern and Biel and in French-speaking Switzerland, tells swissinfo.ch over the phone that after a few days of no one knowing how to deal with staffing issues, 'it became clear pretty quickly that all our staff could enter into so-called Kurzarbeit'. This short-time working mechanism allows employees to work at a lower percentage while their employer pays a lower salary supplemented by unemployment insurance.
Epelbaum also got an interest-free loan 'that also went quickly and smoothly'. But she stresses that while the loan was 'very much appreciated and still is appreciated', it is not a subsidy. 'Right now it helps cover the rest of the salaries; it helps cover ongoing bills. But it's a loan and at some point it will have to be paid back. This is quite worrying because until now cinemas haven't received any money other than the loan and the Kurzarbeit.'
Kai Reusser / swissinfo.ch
Is it possible to say how bad 2020 will be? 'I think we'll try to forget 2020 as fast as possible and just stay positive for the future. It's going to be a bad year. It's going to be a very bad year.'
She points out that they missed the important spring season and the release of the latest James Bond, postponed until November. Eight Bond films feature in the 25 most successful films in Swiss history.
Ivo Kummer, head of film at the Federal Office of Culture, has said it's clear that cinemas will have to count on blockbusters to survive the year.
'But as I always say, it's not the first crisis that cinema has overcome and it's not going to be the last,' Epelbaum adds.
The S word Yet despite mothballed theatres, cancelled film festivals and postponed film shoots, more films are being watched than ever. The big winners of the lockdown are, unsurprisingly, the streaming providers.
Film consumption is currently reaching record levels thanks to billions of people around the world stuck at home desperate for some form of entertainment. Industry leader Netflix has reported the largest growth in its history and Swiss streaming portals such as Cinefile, Filmingo and Artfilm.ch are also reporting sharply rising numbers.
'By the end of April we'd already had five times as many viewings as in the whole of 2019,' said Andreas Furler, founder and managing director of Cinefile. 'And we're convinced that streaming will remain important in the future.'
The film Mare by Swiss director Andrea Štaka, for example, which was released in cinemas just as the lockdown was imposed, is in great demand, Furler told the Keystone/SDA Swiss News Agency. Other Swiss films that should have got a big-screen release have also switched to streaming portals.
Epelbaum says several of her cinemas have joined up with Cinefile 'to give our audience a chance to catch up on films they missed on the big screen and to show them our favourite films and the most successful films'.
But income from video-on-demand streaming contributes hardly anything to a cinema's operating turnover. 'This is an offer for the audience so that they don't forget us completely,' Tobias Faust, manager of the kult.kino in Basel, told Swiss public radio, SRF. 'Economically, it will never be able to make up for the damage.'
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