The Zurich Movie Competition (ZFF) is ready to enter a brand new chapter following a administration buyout of pageant homeowners the NZZ group, led by Zurich pageant director Christian Jungen. The buyout, unveiled on Thursday, ends a decade-long partnership between the pageant and the Swiss media group.
Jungen is joined within the buyout by pageant vice director Reta Guetg, Swiss entrepreneur and TV host Max Loong, long-time ZFF President Felix E. Müller, and finance professional Marek Skreta. The brand new homeowners plan to take the Zurich pageant to the following degree, elevating the occasion to the highest tier of European movie festivals.
“I’m excited to steer the ZFF into a brand new period along with our present crew and new homeowners who love cinema and know the pageant inside out,” mentioned Jungen in a press release. “We’re a Zurich-based answer that has the belief of our companions and the filmmaking group. We’re considering huge and we’re considering internationally. Our purpose is to place the ZFF as one among Europe’s premier movie occasions, the place audiences can see the movies and stars that can go on to win Oscars later within the season. We wish to deliver pleasure and a celebratory ambiance to town and host a pageant that Zurich could be pleased with. To realize this, we are going to safe new personal companions and broaden help from foundations, donors, and public establishments.”
NZZ, which acquired the Zurich movie pageant ten years in the past, will stay a key associate for the following three years, the brand new homeowners mentioned. NZZ CEO Felix Graf described the transfer as a step towards additional professionalization whereas preserving the pageant’s current framework.
The brand new management crew combines deep pageant expertise with worldwide enterprise acumen. Jungen has overseen the ZFF’s inventive course since 2019, after spending a decade as a journalist at NZZ. Guetg, who has led business and programming at ZFF for ten years, brings robust ties to the worldwide movie group. Müller, additionally editor-in-chief of NZZ am Sonntag, authored a ebook on the ZFF’s historical past and is a central determine in Swiss cultural life. Loong and Skreta add experience in sponsorship, hospitality, and international pageant technique, with Skreta having ties to the Karlovy Range Worldwide Movie Competition.
The ZFF, which drew 140,000 guests final 12 months, will stage its twenty first version Sept. 25-Oct. 5.