“I Giacometti” is the most successful documentary in Switzerland in 2023
Published: Tuesday, Nov 28th 2023, 12:50
Back to Live Feed
The Swiss documentary "I Giacometti" attracts fans of the family of artists portrayed to the cinemas. With 36,000 admissions, the film is the most successful documentary in the 2023 Swiss cinema charts.
And yet "I Giacometti" was only released in cinemas in German-speaking Switzerland on October 19 and a week later in Ticino. In French-speaking Switzerland, it will not be released until March 6 next year.
This puts "I Gicacometti" ahead of the two other successful Swiss documentaries "Crows" and "Albert Anker. Painting Lessons with Raphael", according to the press release from distributor Vinca Film. Compared to all Swiss films, "I Giacometti" is in fifth place.
When the family portrait by Engadin filmmaker Susanna Fanzun was released in cinemas, the exhibition "Alberto Giacometti. Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man", which closed on November 19. According to the curators of the exhibition, both had been planned independently of each other. However, the museum and the filmmaker worked together at times. This coincidence may have contributed to the success of the film.
The documentary film in Switzerland
The example of "I Giacometti" also shows once again that no other European country has such a wide selection of documentary films in cinemas as Switzerland - and that audience interest in this genre is particularly high in Switzerland. Ivo Kummer, Head of Film at the Federal Office of Culture, pointed this out some time ago in an interview with Keystone-SDA.
One of the reasons Kummer gave for this was the BAK's film funding. Thanks to reforms, the support contributions have been increased, which has had a particular impact on the quality of the individual works, said Kummer.
"I Giacometti" follows the members of the Giacometti family of artists for almost a century and shows their relationship to their home in Bergell - from their father, the painter Giovanni Giacometti, to their sons, the painter and sculptor Alberto, the sculptor and designer Diego and the architect Bruno, to their daughter Ottilia, who was a tailor and textile designer. The family was held together by mother Annetta.
©Keystone/SDA
English 
German 
French 
Spanish 
Arabic