German producer Martin Moszkowicz, the former chief executive of Constantin Film, has been appointed as president of Zurich Film Festival. Moszkowicz and Christian Jungen, the festival’s CEO, spoke to Variety about how they intend to achieve the event’s strategic objectives.
As producer, executive producer and co-producer, Moszkowicz has been involved in more than 300 film and television productions, including the hit “Resident Evil” and “Fack Ju Göhte” franchises.
In a statement, Jungen said Moszkowicz is “the ideal president for us because he comes from the creative side of the business, knows the festival extremely well, and, through his strong network in Munich and Los Angeles can help us strengthen our relationships in our two most important markets, Germany and the United States.”
He added that Moszkowicz is “an inspiring and highly respected international industry leader who will help us further develop the ZFF into a globally recognized brand synonymous with outstanding cinema and a strong connection to the awards season.”
Moszkowicz added: “Over the past few years, the Zurich Film Festival has become a fixture on the European festival calendar. With its clear focus on quality cinema and its proximity to the international awards season, it has the potential to grow into a globally recognized brand in the coming years.”
Moszkowicz also paid credit to the festival’s film finance event, the Zurich Summit, which had “established itself as a kind of Davos for the film industry and still offers significant growth potential,” and added that he would be “contributing my international networks” to the event.
Moszkowicz’s tenure as president will start on July 1, 2026. Claudia Lässer and Sabine Boss are also joining the board of directors, while current president Doris Fiala is stepping down. Lässer, CEO of Entertainment Programm, is one of the most influential figures in the Swiss media industry, while Boss is one of Switzerland’s most successful filmmakers. The festival’s 22nd edition will take place from Sept. 24 to Oct. 4.
Speaking to Variety about how he saw Moszkowicz contributing to the festival’s strategic objectives, Jungen said, “Zurich Film Festival is among Europe’s top 10 festivals, and very closely linked to the award season. Our goal is to showcase those films that six months later win Oscars or four months later win Golden Globes, and one important goal is to have a stronger presence after the festival in the award season. That means a strong presence in L.A., and Martin, being a member of AMPAS [and visiting L.A. often], is an ideal person to help us broaden our network there, and he has the strategic knowledge to help us play that role.”
He added, “The other [objective] is right now we’re in a transition away from an 11-day film festival to a year-round media platform. We are very strong on social media, by the way. That’s one of the reasons so many studios and streamers love to present films here. One thing is the event in Zurich on the ground, another is how far you can propel these images [of the festival]. Martin is very media savvy and has a lot of experience from being a producer but also the chairman of Constantin.
“He is a very well-connected producer, everybody likes him; he has authority, and therefore he was our first and only choice.”
Moszkowicz responded, “First of all, I’m very honored that Christian has asked me to take this role. I know the festival very well. I’ve been going there every year since it’s been in existence.
“My role is president — a strategic, non-executive one. I’m not involved in running the festival or selecting films. That’s Christian and his team’s remit. What I can bring to the table is, first of all, a lot of international contacts. I’ve worked internationally all my life, and I’m still travelling most of the year, from festival to festival, from market to market. I would very much bring that experience and know-how and knowledge into the mix at the festival.”
Jungen added, “For me, it’s important to underscore that somehow Martin embodies what we are trying to do here. Most film festivals, they start locally, and they’re very well connected to their home turf. The revolutionary thing about this festival, from day one on, we had an affirmative relationship with Hollywood. Keep in mind that 22 years ago, when the festival started, the film critics were the ‘68 generation. They hated Hollywood. Hollywood was the evil other. We differentiate ourself [from other festivals] in a positive way, and have an affirmative relationship with Hollywood. That means we love stars. We also love the directors, but we have a carpet, and the carpet is important, and we love to celebrate stars. But also the festival was, very early on, recognized and embraced by Hollywood. So, in year three, Stallone was here, then Schwarzenegger came, so we first made our name there before being accepted in our own country, and Martin is a guy who is very open and affirmative with the U.S. as well, and although he has roots in Germany, he has this openness towards the U.S. We are a transatlantic festival – that’s our backbone.
“The other thing is, as you might know, Zurich is one of the top three tech hubs in Europe. All the important AI companies have offices here. Google has the biggest headquarters outside of U.S. in Zurich. A close partner of our festival is the ETH, one of the top 10 technical universities in the world, so we are very tech affirmative. We want to be in sync with our times. Most of the festivals that were founded after the Second World War are around 80 years old now, but sometimes they risk being too conservative. We want to be early adopters in sync with the times. Last year at the Zurich Summit, Tilly Norwood, an AI actress, was announced by Particle6, which stirred up a whole debate on the use of AI actors. And Martin, as I have known him, he’s a producer of films for real people, but at the same time he’s very open to new technologies, and that’s why he’s a president that somehow embodies the DNA of our festival.”
Speaking about what he sees as the growth potential of the festival, Jungen said, “Well, the growth is certainly more premieres, either more world premieres or European premieres. More stars, of course. The goal is to have the director and the actors present for every film. But it means also more voting members of AMPAS and Golden Globes.”
With regards to the Summit, he said, “Last year we had 120 AMPAS members there – that’s a pretty good moment if you want to screen your films to the key people in the industry, because whether it’s Michael Barker or Roeg Sutherland, all these people, they’re very busy in the fall festival season, and for many of them, Zurich is the last stop, and the first time they have actually time to watch a movie – that was what happened with ‘All Quiet on the Western Front.’ It world premiered at Toronto, where it didn’t really explode, but in Zurich the whole Summit crowd went to the screening, and the buzz started. So we want to use the Summit weekend to position films for the award season in the industry, because you need the Roeg Sutherlands or the Michael Barkers to kick start the buzz.”
Moszkowicz added further points to underscore the festival’s importance. “I would say one thing to add is to mention where the festival sits in the calendar. It’s a perfect position for the award-season movies, and for the [distribution] slates that are going to be presented in the fall around the world. It is still the most important release season, so that it fits perfectly in there.
“And then, on top of that, Zurich is a place where a lot of people just like to go, because it’s such a beautiful city. It’s very international, even though it is very local, it’s not a huge city in terms of size, but it’s huge in terms of importance on the global scale, so that’s why I think a lot of the talent and a lot of the producers and financiers like to come to Zurich. It has such an important place within Europe, much more than many other cities that are probably bigger than Zurich. It is truly international. That’s really what I like about it because that’s part of what I’ve been doing. I’ve been trying to internationalize our local German-language business all my life. As you know, Constantin has a very, very long tradition in international movies, English-language movies, Hollywood-style movies, if you like, and I think that the festival stands for that to a certain degree, and that’s why we are bringing together a lot of different influences and powers, so to speak, and help to make it grow.”
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