MISSION
SWAN connects women and interested men of the audiovisual industry and cooperates with other networks and organizations.
SWAN supports the role and the position of women in Swiss and in international cinema,
television and other audiovisual media.
SWAN aims to enable exchange – with an online platform (search and offer) as well as with live events and networking occasions.
SWAN provides gender relevant information about the audiovisual industry on all kinds of levels, from Switzerland and internationally.
OUR STORY
SWAN has a lot of mothers and a few fathers. Find information about our beginnings and the people and associations behind it on Short History and read more about the International Context. SWAN is more than grateful for all the support from our initial supporters ARF/FDS and FOCAL (scroll down to meet them) and for the work everyone has done so far. We thank all the fighters, partners and allies. We continue to cooperate on national and international levels and keep developing SWAN. The team currently behind SWAN is the SWAN Executive Committee. Please get in contact anytime! Want to join us? Go here.
' Films shape our perception of the world. The more variety is shown in film, the more versatile our experience of the world.'
Nicole Schroeder, SWAN Co-Founder, ex-director @ FOCAL & Teacher BA Film Department @ ZHdK
FRIENDS, ALLIES AND SUPPORTERS
SWAN thanks its two initial supporters: ARF/FDS is the Swiss Film Directors & Writers Association - SWAN started has an Interest Group of the ARF/FDS and was able to develop thanks to ARF/FDS's strong financial and political support. FOCAL offers advanced training for the Swiss film and audiovisual industry. Both supporters initiated the first Swiss gender study on film funds distribution and have supported the gender task force and SWAN from the beginning.
WORDS AND DEEDS
In 2015, ARF/FDS, FOCAL and Cinésuisse conducted a study about Swiss public film fund distribution which showed women filmmakers were clearly prejudiced against. Following the appalling results, a gender taskforce formed and created SWAN, Swiss Women's Audiovisual Network. SWAN was joined on Facebook by a thousand women within a few months. The study was published in a brochure. Networking events were held connecting women and men in the industry. The Swiss film fund passed new gender based funding criteria. An Association was funded. A hundred members joined immediately. 5050 parity Pledges were signed with Swiss Film Festivals. Panels to raise awareness were held at festivals across the country. A Gender Study on Television Series Crew and Cast was published. New Gender Measures were included in the Swiss Television Audiovisual Pact.
SWAN aims to pursue and broaden the work and the network. Join us!
The Beginnings
Find out more about the key players in gender equality and how it all got started for SWAN.
The Studies and Tools
Download our gender equality tool, our brochure on the gender question in Swiss film funding or our latest gender study about TV.
Gender Measures in Film Funds
In the 2016-2020 national film fund regulation's edition, the FOC - Swiss Federal Office of Culture - included gender equality as a criterion and started collecting data.
It then launched the Gender Map, a full fledge data collection of cast and crew.
Each year, the FOC publishes its latest data tracking improvement.
Gender Measures
in TV
NEW!
In the 2020-2023 Audiovisual Pact the SSR-SRG and the producers' associations
ARF/FDS, SFP, IG, GARP, GSFA, Aropa, & Swiss Films, included the first gender equality measures!
The Network
Do you want to join us?
Become a member of SWAN Association and register here.
You can check out our SWAN Facebook page or send us a request to join our closed SWAN Facebook-group of 1500 members.
You can also follow us on Instagram to see live stories of SWAN events
CONTACT