This is the poster for the ZFF - designed by the ZHdK students
The 22nd Zurich Film Festival presents its official poster - designed by ZHdK students Mimi Peneva and Nico Frei. More than 3500 people chose the winning poster in a public vote.
Zurich Film Festival Key Visual: Faces for the ZFF 22
The Zurich Film Festival presents the official key visual for its 22nd edition. The winning poster was created by ZHdK students Mimi Peneva and Nico Frei and was the result of a public vote held for the first time. More than 3500 people cast their votes and chose the winning project from three submitted designs.
A poster that makes the diversity of the festival visible
The new poster translates the diversity of the festival into a concise visual language. Based on the existing logo, Peneva and Frei developed a modular design system that constantly creates new, abstract faces - representing the people who characterize the ZFF: from international stars to up-and-coming talent to the audience.
The design is particularly strong in the digital space: in animated form, the faces become mobile and change playfully - an approach that also translates the festival visually into the present.
Different perspectives, one vision
Mimi Peneva (27) and Nico Frei (23) are both studying at Zurich University of the Arts (ZHdK) - but in different subject areas. Peneva is studying Art Education, Frei Visual Communication. They created the design as part of the Student Design Agency minor. They got to know each other in the street art scene, where they had already worked together creatively before.
Despite their different backgrounds, they quickly found a common visual language. Their aim was to create a design that would appeal to as many people as possible and reflect the openness of the festival. «We are very pleased that our design will soon be seen everywhere. It's always special when the work you do mainly on the computer suddenly becomes real and you can show what you do,» says Nico Frei. Mimi Peneva adds: «We wanted to appeal to as many people as possible with our key visual and give the ZFF a face that the largest possible audience can identify with. A face is something that can portray emotions from young to old and represents the diversity of the festival.»
A video interview with the two students is available here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VIDEO_ID
The Zurich Film Festival Key Visual is the result of active promotion of young talent
The project underlines the close collaboration between the ZFF and the ZHdK. Every year, the key visual is designed by students from the university - as a living form of promoting young talent. Christian Jungen, CEO of the ZFF, comments: «The ZFF has been committed to promoting young talent since it was founded. We also put this commitment into practice by having the key visual designed by ZHdK students every year. This year there were a particularly large number of good proposals to choose from - our audience opted for this motif. It is a real eye-catcher and expresses the diversity of our program.»
Corina Zuberbühler and Rebecca Morganti-Pfaffhauser, co-directors of the Student Design Agency at ZHdK, say: «It's always a special moment when students work directly in the real world of work. Mimi and Nico have left a visible mark with a real job - that's an experience that no teaching program can replace.»
The 22nd edition of the Zurich Film Festival will take place from September 24 to October 4, 2026. The ZFF is considered the second largest film festival in the German-speaking world and presents discoveries and the most anticipated films of the year over eleven days.
More information: https://zff.com
