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ZFF Academy

Explore! Connect! Collaborate!

In an effort to bring together as much talent from the field of filmmaking as possible, the Zurich Film Festival has been running the ZFF Academy (formerly ZFF Master Class) since 2006. Each year, 20 aspiring producers, directors and screenwriters from around the world are chosen from hundreds of applicants to take part in this 5-day talent promotion program. The next ZFF Academy will take place from Wednesday, October 1 to Sunday, October 5, 2025, as part of the 21st Zurich Film Festival (September 25 to October 5).

Applications are now open for the ZFF Academy 2025

The deadline for applications is July, 15, 2025. Further information and the application form can be found further down on this page.

Mission

Program

Application

Participants

Find out more about our ZFF Summit Climbers and alumni of the past years!

All ZFF Academy Alumni of the past years

ZFF Academy Speaker

Our Academy participants benefit from exclusive masterclasses led by high-profile speakers. Among others, Oliver Berben, Lee Daniels, Kevin Macdonald, and Snezana van Houwelingen have already shared their knowledge with our participants.

Our Speaker 2024

Ali AbbasiDirector
Martin BachmannManager (CEO) Constantin Film Verleih GmbH
Oliver BerbenCEO Constantin Film Verleih GmbH
Lee DanielsDirector & Producer
Susann HenggelerProducer
Kevin MacdonaldDirector
Joshua OppenheimerDirector
Ewa PuszczyńskaProducer (CEO & Founder) Extreme Emotions
Katrin RenzProducer (Partner & Managing Director) Tellfilm GmbH
Andrea ŠtakaProducer Okofilm Productions GmbH
Snezana van HouwelingenProducer This and That Productions

Speakers 2023:

Finola Dwyer

Todd Haynes

Susann Henggeler

Babak Jalali

Juho Kunstmanen

SicherMerkt

Crystal Moselle

Anouk Scherer

Christine Vachon

Speakers 2022:

Marta Balaga

Roland Emmerich

Lorenzo Mieli

Alexander Nanau

Christian Tafdrup

Maryam Touzani

Christine Vachon

Speaker 2021:

Marta Belag

John Durie

Asif Kapadia

Ulises Porra

Silvina Schnicer

Ada Solomon

Ninja Thyberg

Eskil Vogt

Speaker 2020:

Karim Aïnouz

Nir Bergman

Irune Gurtubai

Stefan Haupt

Wendy Mitchell

Baran Bo Odar

Sine Plambech

Ben Sharrock

Speakers 2019:

Fanny Herrero

Oliver Hirschbiegel

Agnieszka Holland

Tamer Jandali

Wendy Mitchell

Stephen Nemeth

Hlynur Pálmason

David Sandreuter

Lulu Wang

Speakers 2018:

Jacob Berger

Christian Frei

Ann Hui

Jon Kasbe

Kevin Macdonald

Thomas Meyer

James D. Stern

Gabrielle Tana

Speaker 2021:

Marta Belag

John Durie

Asif Kapadia

Ulises Porra

Silvina Schnicer

Ada Solomon

Ninja Thyberg

Eskil Vogt

Speaker 2020:

Karim Aïnouz

Nir Bergman

Irune Gurtubai

Stefan Haupt

Wendy Mitchell

Baran Bo Odar

Sine Plambech

Ben Sharrock

Speakers 2019:

Fanny Herrero

Oliver Hirschbiegel

Agnieszka Holland

Tamer Jandali

Wendy Mitchell

Stephen Nemeth

Hlynur Pálmason

David Sandreuter

Lulu Wang

Speakers 2018:

Jacob Berger

Christian Frei

Ann Hui

Jon Kasbe

Kevin Macdonald

Thomas Meyer

James D. Stern

Gabrielle Tana

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

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