ZFF: «’cause life is better with movies»

Just a few more days until the Zurich Film Festival kicks off: Managing Director Mehmet Inan is in the thick of preparations. In this interview, he talks about what’s new this year, how AI is helping behind the scenes, why he believes the ZFF has long since ceased to be just an 11-day event—and what he’d rather not reveal.

m&k Just a few more days until the Zurich Film Festival kicks off. How are you all doing?

Mehmet Inan: We’re in good shape; we’re ready to go. The program has already been released, and tickets go on sale September 14. This year we’re running a campaign with the Corso Cinema—the theater is a Swiss institution, and we want to honor that. There are T-shirts, mugs, pens, and lighters featuring «We love Corso.» We’re expanding from Switzerland out into the world and have strong partnerships with many Swiss brands, as well as international ones—such as TikTok.

Is it stressful so close to the start?

Last week was «the week from hell»—crazy. You have to finalize the schedule, manage the guests at the same time, handle client events, and juggle multiple tasks all at once.

What's new this year? What's changing?

Of course, we have our new partners: Sunrise, which we’re actively featuring, and Mercedes with new stories, especially at the Award Night. Then there’s our new partner, Gisada—you can see this, for example, on the trams in Zurich: we organized two ourselves, and Gisada added a third. That’s exactly where marketing begins for me: when the partner gets on board and we promote the stories together much more intensively. We have Nespresso as our coffee partner, San Pellegrino as our water partner—and on the other hand, partners like Gisada, a perfume manufacturer from Winterthur.

You operate internationally, but you bring a lot of things together at the local level—would that be an accurate way to put it?

You could put it that way. The important thing is: We’re here for Zurich, for Switzerland, and for the world.

 

The Lineup

 

Who's coming this year?

Willem Dafoe, Naomi Watts, Julianne Moore—these are, of course, big names. Then there’s the Albanian superstar and musician Noizy, who stars in the film «Blood Money,» a story not unlike his own: He was a street fighter, emigrated to England after the war, and had to fight his way through. «Blood Money» is a German production and is having its world premiere here.

Which of the stars needs the most support?

I can't really say for sure. I think, above all, they need time to themselves—that's important. That's the great thing about Zurich: you can be anonymous. Kate Winslet, for example, stayed at the Baur au Lac and just jumped into the lake the next day. She could hardly do that anywhere else.

 

Mehmet's Own Story

 

Tell me your story.

I was born in Switzerland, but many years ago, that was a huge challenge as the child of a Turkish family. I was born here, but you’re still always the foreigner and have to fight your way through. That was a difficult situation. Many others who came to Switzerland from the Balkans during the conflict—such as Xherdan Shaqiri or Granit Xhaka—experienced something similar. That’s why the film «Blood Money» is also personally important to me.

 

Numbers, Competition, and Selection

 

How many movies will be shown in total?

We’re screening 133 films—some of which will be shown once or twice, bringing the total number of screenings to 390. In addition, there’s the competition, as well as the galas and premieres—featuring stars such as Julianne Moore and Naomi Watts. These films are screened out of competition; the award presented there is an honorary prize, not the competition prize.

Who decides which movies will be shown, and when does the selection process begin?

The most important point: We screen films that are having at least one Swiss premiere. Then things get going relatively quickly—starting with Sundance and many other festivals. Festival Director Reta Guetg and her team screen the films, as does Christian Jungen. In total, the programming team watched around 4,000 films this year. This year, we’re screening 46 films that are having their world or European premieres here.

 

The motto «Dream Big»

 

Who actually comes up with the theme for the year?

Actually, the whole team, but most of the time it comes from management. Christian is very innovative in this regard; thanks to his journalistic perspective, he has a keen sense for it. We discuss things at length and break down topics until we figure out the next step. «Dream Big» fits well with our opening film, TENZING, about the first ascent of Everest, and also with the film I PLAY ROCKY, which is about actually trying to make your dreams come true. Of course, it’s also a great fit for a partner like Sunrise.

 

AI in Action

 

What role does AI play for you—not in the movies, but in your day-to-day business?

We started exploring AI relatively early on to become more efficient—primarily to collect and understand more data. My team and I built our own AI-powered dashboard: We can see exactly who is buying what and when, how different promotions are performing, and where people drop off in the purchasing process. Here’s an example: We sell about 45 percent of our tickets on the first day of sales. The question is how we can further optimize this using AI—including determining when we should start our promotional campaign. We also rely heavily on AI in our customer-facing work: I no longer create presentations the traditional way with PowerPoint; instead, I use AI to generate visuals that show what a campaign might look like at the Frauenbadi or the Corso—it practically explains itself to the client. But one thing is clear: the creativity, the relationships, the people—that’s still all up to us.

Does this mean that AI is now taking on tasks that used to be outsourced to agencies?

That’s a good question, and it’s actually two stories. The traditional world of advertising and media agencies is all about numbers, but behind the scenes, creativity is also increasingly based on data. I believe we’ll still need agencies, but the pressure on them is growing—including when it comes to pricing. At the same time, I believe there are certain things we increasingly need to be able to control ourselves. For us, that’s a bit easier because I know the media business well. For creative work, we’re still working with Publicis, but we’re increasingly handling the execution ourselves. The pressure on agencies is growing—but they also need to deliver more innovation and creativity.

 

What Makes the ZFF Special

 

What sets the ZFF apart from other festivals?

Compared to many other major festivals like Cannes, Berlin, or Venice, which are heavily B2B-oriented, we’re a social, public festival. You can just drop by and watch movies. What’s more, the stars love coming to Zurich, and our programming team—led by Reta and Christian—has a great eye for the right films, as was the case last year with «The Secret Agent,» which went on to win the Golden Prize at Cannes and had already received wide screenings here. Furthermore, we’re run as a business—Christian Jungen is the majority shareholder, along with other co-owners. That makes many things easier and faster: We don’t have to go through lengthy political decision-making processes; instead, we select the films we believe in.

The *Guardian* once wrote that the ZFF is something like the rising star among the major festivals …

Exactly, it was a top-ten ranking, and the headline basically said that Venice or Cannes is the «grandmother» of film festivals, and Zurich is the teenager. I think that’s a lovely image.

 

A Secret

 

Is there anything that hardly anyone knows about the ZFF?

The first festival wasn't actually called the Zurich Film Festival. It wasn't until a year after it was founded that it was renamed the Zurich Film Festival.

 

The Booming Movie Market and TikTok

 

How are things generally going at Swiss movie theaters right now?

Very good—we reported last week that movie theater attendance rose by 15 percent, the best result overall since 2019. For example, people lined up for eight days to see «Odyssey,» and the IMAX showing was sold out.

What role does your TikTok partnership play in this?

We have a strategic partnership with TikTok that we’re really putting to use for the first time this year—including featuring live TikTokers on the green carpet and at the Awards Night. This is crucial for us because we need to become younger and trendier. It’s important to remember: Over a billion people worldwide are active on TikTok.

 

A Year at a Glance

 

How do you see the future of the festival—will it remain at eleven days a year?

I believe the future of a festival is moving toward a 365-day model. Through social media and the medium of film itself, we can create touchpoints throughout the entire year, not just during the eleven days of the festival. One example was our collaboration with Denner around a film related to the World Cup, where we were on board as a credible partner for their short film «The Socceritos» because players like Granit Xhaka are «world stars» in their own right. These are exactly the kinds of touchpoints we want to create with our partners—Mercedes, Sunrise, UBS, NZZ, and the Glattzentrum—throughout the entire year. It’s also important to note that the festival takes place during the most crucial period for the advertising industry—September through October, extending into late October and early November. This is the approach we must adopt as a company going forward: telling the story throughout the entire year, not just over eleven days.

 

What Advertisers Are Missing

 

Does M&K's target audience actually know what they're missing out on if they don't attend the ZFF?

I think many people know us only superficially, but not in depth—what opportunities are available as a main partner, a collaboration partner, or through activations, customer events, or our own merchandise. That’s why I’ve developed a new format this year: «Meets ZFF,» which will take place every year going forward. On October 2, starting at 11 a.m., we’ll be showcasing the possibilities and innovations surrounding the ZFF at the Festival Center of the Advertising Industry; Christian will be there, and maybe a celebrity will join us, too. To give you an idea of the scale: Since August, we’ve had over 20 million views on our website and nearly 250,000 interactions. Engagement stands at over 60 percent—those interested in the festival do their research beforehand, come to the festival center, stay there, and only then head to the theater. That’s quite different from watching a movie at home on Netflix. The target audience is also often underestimated: The film «Blood Money» featuring Noizy, for example, appeals to a very young, extreme Gen Z audience—which is particularly exciting for certain clients. And you don’t necessarily have to buy the big sponsorship package: We also create customized, smaller formats for partners, ranging all the way down to a private dinner with a guest. You can’t just buy that off the shelf—I believe that’s one of our strengths.

How important are Swiss partners and products in this context?

Very important. We have San Pellegrino as a Swiss brand, Vital Protein from Nestlé—which is making its debut here this year—and Freitag bags as partners. For the festival center, we also have a new furniture partner and—as a small personal project of mine—a specially designed scent room intended to further enhance the atmosphere.

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Zurich Film Festival

The Zurich Film Festival (ZFF) is the second-largest film festival in the German-speaking world and, every fall, presents the year’s most remarkable discoveries and most anticipated films over the course of eleven days. It fosters dialogue between emerging directors, established filmmakers, the film industry, and the audience.

The 22nd edition will take place from September 24 to October 4, 2026.

More information: Zurich Film Festival | ZFF Industry