GENEVA, April 19 (Xinhua) -- Tristan Albrecht, co-chair of the Switzerland Film Commission, who is attending Beijing International Film Festival for the first time, said he will avail this opportunity to understand "what we can bring, how we can work together, what bridges can be made between the two countries."

Expressing his eager anticipation of a "big surprise" at the film festival ahead of his departure for Beijing, Albrecht told Xinhua in a recent interview in Sion, capital of the southern Swiss Canton of Valais that the first thing in Beijing was really to understand better how the film market works in China, as he planned to meet as many Chinese producers and film executives as possible.

It was really to "get a taste of the culture of the country and of the people, and of course, to watch the movies and understand the festival," he stressed.

Also as the head of the Valais Film Commission, Albrecht wears many hats: producer, cinematographer, editor, director, screenwriter and location sound mixer. Acknowledging Switzerland's film industry is smaller compared to China's vast market, he envisioned collaborations between Chinese and Swiss producers "on beautiful stories."

"Being able to tell stories that are coming, for instance, from China or having stories shared between China and Switzerland could be something very rich for our culture and for the stories that can be told," he said.

Noting that not many Chinese films are seen in Switzerland, Albrecht pledged more efforts to bring the Chinese cinema to his country, saying "This is probably part of the job, really to be able to see more of the Chinese culture and more of the Chinese movies here."

Albrecht said the 75th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties between China and Switzerland to be marked this year is a good opportunity. "This anniversary and the length of our diplomatic relations show that we could go a step further and do something more, maybe in the film industry, but maybe also in other fields."

The 15th Beijing International Film Festival is taking place in Beijing on April 18-26, and Switzerland is this year's guest of honor. The Swiss film "Frieda's Case" will contend for the Tiantan Award. ■