Swiss Film Night 2018

Article, 23.10.2018

On 23rd of October, the Swiss Embassy together with its venue partner the Goethe Institut in Dhaka screened the award-winning Swiss film, The Divine Order, as a part of a series of events that will extend up to 2019.

Swiss Film Night 2018
Swiss Film Night 2018 © FDFA

During the screening, the Swiss Ambassador to Bangladesh, Mr. René Holenstein, had a lively interaction with the audience and discussed the cultural values of diversity, multilingualism, innovation, political expression, direct democracy and how they have evolved over time to give a unique identity to Switzerland, a country that is usually only associated with chocolates, watches and cheese. The Ambassador further defined the unique direct democracy that gives the Swiss citizens the rights allowing them to participate in the political decision-taking and can directly intervene in politics, for example by launching an initiative or a referendum. The audiences appreciated the selection of the movie and were enlightened to learn about 1971 women's suffrage movement in Switzerland and had enjoyed networking reception after the screening. The audiences also shared their viewpoint of a changed perception about Switzerland and the country’s heritage of strong and innovative political structure and cultural diversity.

These series of events comprise of a ready-made project by the Presence Switzerland office of the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs. This project enables the Swiss representations abroad to draw attention to modern direct democratic institutions in Switzerland and how they have evolved over time to audiences across the world.