The long read · Swiss cinema
The Resilience of Swiss Cinema and Its Global Stars
Switzerland is a small country with four languages and a big place in film history: it won one of the first Oscars for a foreign-language film, gave the world Ursula Andress and Bruno Ganz, and its mountains have hosted James Bond again and again. Here is the story, and where to watch in Zurich.
Updated October 2026
From Marie-Louise to Journey of Hope
Swiss cinema first won the world’s attention in the 1940s. Leopold Lindtberg and Franz Schnyder’s Marie-Louise, about a French girl taken in by a Swiss family, won the Oscar for Richard Schweizer’s screenplay, one of the first Oscars for a film not in English. In the 1970s Alain Tanner, Claude Goretta and other Geneva film-makers created a new Swiss cinema.
Markus Imhoof’s The Boat Is Full won the Silver Bear in Berlin and an Oscar nomination, and Xavier Koller’s Journey of Hope won the Oscar for best foreign-language film. Jean-Luc Godard, the great rebel of French cinema, grew up by Lake Geneva and spent his last decades in Rolle.
Must-watch films
To understand Swiss cinema, start with these.
- Marie-Louise (1944): Lindtberg and Schnyder’s moving story, winner of the Oscar for its screenplay.
- Jonah Who Will Be 25 in the Year 2000 (1976): Alain Tanner’s gentle comedy of eight friends near Geneva.
- The Boat Is Full (1981): Markus Imhoof’s drama, winner of the Silver Bear in Berlin.
- Journey of Hope (1990): Xavier Koller’s story of a family’s journey across the Alps, winner of the Oscar.
The stars
Swiss stars have lit up screens in many languages.
- Ursula Andress: born near Bern, the first Bond girl in Dr. No.
- Bruno Ganz (1941–2019): born in Zurich, the angel of Wim Wenders’s Wings of Desire.
- Liselotte Pulver and Marthe Keller: from German comedies to Hollywood thrillers.
- Marc Forster: raised in Davos, the director of Finding Neverland and Quantum of Solace.
- H. R. Giger (1940–2014): the Swiss artist who designed the creature in Alien and won the Oscar for its visual effects.
Where to watch in Zurich
Every autumn the Zurich Film Festival, held since 2005, brings stars and new films to the city, and in August Locarno shows films to thousands under the stars on its Piazza Grande. Our page Zurich on film tells the story of the city on screen.
Our advice: book an evening screening at the Zurich Film Festival, then have dinner by the lake.
Zurich Film Festival Zurich on film
Hidden on the silver screen: international productions filmed in Switzerland
The Swiss Alps are James Bond’s second home, and Bollywood’s favourite romance.
- Goldfinger (1964), the Furka Pass: Bond’s Aston Martin chases Goldfinger’s Rolls-Royce over the Alps.
- On Her Majesty’s Secret Service (1969), the Schilthorn: the revolving summit restaurant became Blofeld’s lair, Piz Gloria.
- GoldenEye (1995), the Verzasca Dam: Bond’s famous bungee jump in Ticino.
- Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge (1995), Saanen and Gstaad: the Bollywood classic that made Switzerland India’s favourite film backdrop.
The Swiss in Hollywood
Swiss talent has gone far. Ursula Andress rose from the sea in Dr. No, Marc Forster directed the Bond film Quantum of Solace, and the producer Arthur Cohn won several Oscars for films including The Garden of the Finzi-Continis.
Questions and answers
Which Swiss films have won the Oscar?
Marie-Louise won for its screenplay; Dangerous Moves (1984) and Journey of Hope (1990) won the Oscar for best foreign-language film.
When is the Locarno Film Festival?
Every August, with open-air screenings on the Piazza Grande.
Join the conversation
Which Swiss film or star do you love most? Share your favourite scenes and the films we should add.
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Sources: the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, the Locarno Film Festival, the Zurich Film Festival, the Berlinale and Swiss Films, checked on 6 November 2026. No trailers are embedded on this page.