Miscellaneous Life for film: Frédéric Maire leaves the Cinémathèque suisse
After 16 years, Frédéric Maire is leaving the Cinémathèque suisse - Switzerland's most important institution when it comes to preserving film heritage. In this interview, the film director and journalist explains how he has dedicated his entire life to film.
19.06.2025, 06:30
SDA
He made his first film with friends at the age of 12 and began writing texts about the art of film at 22. Born in 1961, Frédéric Maire's life is inextricably linked to cinema. At the end of September, he will officially step down as director of the Cinémathèque suisse (Swiss Film Archive). But there will be celebrations this Thursday.
Writing and directing brought him to the cinema, Maire told the Keystone-SDA news agency. At the beginning of the 1980s, the young filmmaker and student founded the "Nuits du cinéma neuchâtelois" film night with others in his home town of Neuchâtel. At university, he helped to rebuild the Cinéclub: "I may not have been a good student, but I was a good programmer," he said with a laugh.
His work in the film industry goes back a long way and is extensive. In 1991, together with producer Vincent Adatte, he founded the Passion Cinéma association, which is active in the Neuchâtel and Jura regions. A year later, together with Francine Pickel and Yves Nussbaum, he launched the Zauberlaterne - an association that is active throughout Switzerland and aims to inspire children for the medium of film.
From 1986, he worked for the Locarno Film Festival, first for the festival newspaper, then in the design of the program. From 2006 to 2009, he was artistic director and thus at the peak of his career as a programmer. He then moved into the field of archiving.
Ferryman of the cinema
"When I describe myself, I use a term that the French film critic Serge Daney used, namely 'ferryman'" - because he conveys cinema to children and adults. He is someone who helps people discover cinema and talk about it. He wants to continue to play this role after his 16 years at the Cinémathèque suisse, because: "I love this work."
"My relationship with cinema will not change," says Maire. He may be invited to festivals less often, but he will attend some that he has never been to before. What will be new for him is "no longer being responsible for such an important institution as the Cinémathèque suisse". The institution is certainly important: founded in 1948, it is one of the ten most important film archives in the world thanks to its extensive holdings.
Transition to digitization
Since 2009, when Maire became director of the national film archive, he has been responsible for the construction of the research and archiving center in Penthaz, Vaud, which opened in 2019.
For him, dealing with digitization was indispensable. At the time Maire took office, a blockbuster was released that was crucial for this: James Cameron's sci-fi film "Avatar" broke all records at the box office. "At that time, almost all cinemas worldwide switched to digital technology," said Frédéric Maire.
This was good news for the Cinémathèque suisse and film heritage in general: "When we restore or digitize a film, we do so with the aim of distributing it." It goes without saying that this is easier to do digitally than with film reels.
This development was indeed a "revolution". However, the constant innovations that come with it will continue to challenge the film institution in the future. "As soon as the digital medium becomes obsolete, all the data has to be migrated every five to ten years." According to Maire, the Cinémathèque will be facing this challenge in the coming months.
Farewell at the House of Cinema
In Maire's 16 years at the Swiss Film Archive, the number of employees has more than doubled and the budget has almost tripled. It had taken at least five years for the institution to receive these financial resources and support. This is why he is now leaving 13 months before his retirement to make room for a new person.
Maire's time as director of the Cinémathèque also includes finding an alternative for the Casino Montbenon. The casino was "perceived as a place of culture, but not of cinema". This is why Maire oversaw the renovation of Lausanne's Capitole cinema. The city of Lausanne bought the venerable building in 2010 and transferred it to the Cinémathèque.
The Capitole is the largest historic cinema in Switzerland. It was reopened at the beginning of 2024 and is now the flagship of the Cinémathèque as the "House of Cinema". Visitor interest has been growing since the reopening. The aim is to further increase this number.
He is also celebrating his farewell at the Capitole today. To mark the occasion, the drama comedy "Palombella rossa" (1989) by Italian director Nanni Moretti will be shown. By choosing this particular film for his farewell, Maire is expressing his regret: "I would always have liked to invite Nanni Moretti to the Cinémathèque." And: "The film is also a wonderful reminder of the time in Locarno, where we dedicated a retrospective to Moretti in 2008."
