Commitment to the film music of the future

According to a press release from the Zurich Film Festival composers from all over the world are invited to write a score for the short film Reign of death (2009, Matthew Savage), which will be available for download from April 15, 2013. The five best entries will be presented at a film music concert on September 27 by the Zurich Chamber Orchestra and the Zurich Jazz Orchestra will be premiered under the overall musical direction of André Bellmont at the Arena Cinemas in Sihlcity. An international jury will select the winning composition from these entries on the same evening. It will be awarded the Golden Eye "Best International Film Music 2013", worth CHF 10,000.

An instant success
The success of the composition competition for film music, held for the first time as part of the 8th Zurich Film Festival (ZFF), exceeded all expectations. 145 composers from 27 countries submitted a score for the Swiss animated film Evermore. In the end, the Golden Eye went to the young Basel percussionist and composer Michael Künstle.
It was not only the international response that prompted the Zurich Film Festival to make this special competition a permanent part of the supporting program. The primary motivation for establishing the composition competition is respect for a widely underestimated musical genre and its creators. After all, the soundtrack is a factor with high artistic standards that essentially determines the tonality, atmosphere and emotional impetus of a film.
The commitment to film music unites the partners who support the composition competition together with the Zurich Film Festival. This also includes the Tonhalle Orchestra Zurichin whose venue and with whose participation the competition will be held every second year from 2014. As a further co-organizer, the Forum Film Musicthe professional Swiss platform for music in the media.