Swiss Animation Hits Video on Demand

swissanimation.ch, the online platform of GSFA (Groupement Suisse du Film d’Animation, the Swiss section of ASIFA) has recently made animated shorts available through vimeo. Their VoD concept is very simple and practical: you can rent a film for CHF 1.00 (48h streaming) or buy it permanently for CHF 15.00.

ERLKÖNIG (Georges Schwizgebel)

Currently ten films are already available including Georges Schwizgebel's latest animated tone poem ERLKÖNIG (winner of two awards at Fantoche and the Swiss Film Award for best animation). Since many film makers wait until their films have completed their initial festival circuit, more shorts are to be made available over time.

MESSAGES DANS L'AIR (Isabelle Favez)

Apart from Schwizgebel and maybe Isabelle Favez whose film MESSAGES DANS L'AIR also appears on the list, Swiss animators are not as well-known abroad. But as the steadily increasing output of shorts and student films from Lausanne and Lucerne (and now even animated features) proves, the scene is very much alive and ready to face international exposure beyond film and animation festivals.

Here is a selection of some successful recent films worth checking out (no dialogue, so no language barrier). You can rent or buy the films by clicking on the trailers:

L'ILE NOIRE by Nino Christen


THE KIOSK by Anete Melece



TIMBER by Nils Hedinger

Note: Not all films are available in every country, as territorial rights contracts with distributors may apply to VoD as well.