30/08/2006

After a disastrous 2005 for distributors and exhibitors (with a 12.8% drop in admissions), the upturn in the first semester of 2006, which closed with a rise in attendance of 11.5% (7.5m admissions), is the highest yet.

Released on 160 screens (of Switzerland’s 500), US animated title Ice Age: The Meltdown was the most popular title and joins the very exclusive club of only four films to exceed the 1m admissions mark.

Swiss films were also not left out, with three titles in the top ten: Grounded – The Last Days of Swissair [+see also:
trailer
film profile], by Michael Steiner and Tobias Fueter, came in at third with 367,000 admissions, while Jürg Ebe’s comedy Handyman came in eighth (194,000) and Fredi M. Murer’s Vitus [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Christian Davi
interview: Fredi M. Murer
film profile] (see Focus), came in a delightful tenth place (166,000).

For Swiss films, which did very well in 2005 despite a drop in admissions, this is yet another confirmation of increased audience interest. September’s release of Das Fräulein [+see also:
trailer
film profile] by Andrea Staka, Golden Leopard winner at Locarno, and My Brother is Getting Married by Jean-Stéphane Bron in October, should strengthen this trend.

(Translated from French)