NEWS: Zurich Fest joins forces with a Montreux institution

Last Updated: July 9, 2020By Tags: ,

The Zurich Film Festival and the Montreux Jazz Festival have entered into an alliance alliance. Europe’s most prestigious music festival is on board to present concerts in Zurich as partner of the “SoundTrack_Zurich” industry event which takes place during the Zurich Film Festival.

In a bid to further expand its engagement in the field of music, the Zurich Film Festival (ZFF) announced the launch of a new congress on music and film this year entitled “SoundTrack_Zurich” in conjunction with the Montreux Jazz Festival. Founded in 1967 by Claude Nobs, the music festival partners with SoundTrack_Zurich to present several concerts, including one by Ray Parker Jr., who penned the Oscar-nominated, Grammy Award-winning theme song for the movie “Ghostbusters” and who will be at the ZFF to present the world premiere of the documentary about his life “Who you gonna call.” Ray Parker Jr. has performed in Montreux on numerous occasions. “The Montreux Jazz Festival is the global music festival scene’s gold standard, which is why we are delighted with this strategic alliance. The Romands will be instrumental in bringing important players from the music scene to Zurich, as well as increasing our profile in the French-speaking world,” explains Christian Jungen, artistic director of the Zurich Film Festival.

Zurich Film Festival program director Christian Jungen

The partnership will see Mathieu Jaton, Director and CEO of the Montreux Jazz Festival, chair a panel discussion at the SoundTrack_Zurich event. “The Montreux Jazz Festival has invariably approached the arts and music in their widest sense, and has always championed successful collaborations between various forms of artistic expression. We are thrilled, therefore, by this partnership with the Zurich Film Festival and SoundTrack_Zurich, thanks to which, music and film are now united!” declares Jaton.

Michael P. Aust, curator of SoundTrack_Zurich, believes that the partnership with the Montreux Jazz Festival further reinforces the event’s objective of becoming an important Zurich-based platform in the field of music and film. “I’m delighted with this important alliance. We now have two important pillars, one in the music world with Montreux and one in the film world with the ZFF, that both increase our profile and enable us to access exciting guests.”

The Zurich Film Festival will hold a press conference at Claude Nobs’s chalet in Caux, Switzerland, on the slopes above Montreux on September 10th, 2020 and unveil his programme in French to Switzerland’s French-speaking public. In addition, the ZFF will screen a music-related film from this year’s programme at the Montreux Jazz Festival in 2021.