Volker Bertelmann receives Career Achievement Award

The composer and Academy Award-winner Volker Bertelmann received the Career Achievement Award this evening at the Tonhalle Zurich. He accepted the award during the 11th International Film Music Competition and, appearing delighted with the honour.

Each year, the Zurich Film Festival honours celebrated filmmakers who have shaped and enriched the film landscape. As a virtuoso pianist, Volker Bertelmann has composed some truly iconic music. His extraordinary, invariably authentic and multi-layered compositions serve to underscore each film's narrative. He wrote his most successful composition to date for ALL QUIET ON THE WESTERN FRONT (2022). The anti-war movie won four Academy Awards, including the Oscar for Best Original Score. «The minimal three-tone motif literally hovers over Edward Berger's battlefields. As it penetrates deep under our skin, it provokes a profound sense of indeterminate melancholy,” says Artistic Director Christian Jungen. "Bertelmann's insatiable search for new sonic answers to cinematic effects can now be experienced in over thirty soundtracks, and I have a feeling this is just the beginning. It’s already a life’s work.»

As jury president of the 11th International Film Music Competition, Bertelmann in turn presented Elliot Murphy with the 10'000 CHF Golden Eye for Best International Film Music. The five-member jury made up of Volker Bertelmann, conductor Frank Strobel, composer Mark Bächle, director Sophie Linnenbaum und director Gabrielle Selnet begründet explained their decision: "His music gives the film an additional identity that is very much its own without overwhelming the visual, making you wish you couldn't see the film without the music."

The composer and Academy Award-winner Volker Bertelmann received the Career Achievement Award this evening at the Tonhalle Zurich. He accepted the award during the 11th International Film Music Competition and, appearing delighted with the honour.

Each year, the Zurich Film Festival honours celebrated filmmakers who have shaped and enriched the film landscape. As a virtuoso pianist, Volker Bertelmann has composed some truly iconic music. His extraordinary, invariably authentic and multi-layered compositions serve to underscore each film's narrative. He wrote his most successful composition to date for ALL QUIET ON THE WESTERN FRONT (2022). The anti-war movie won four Academy Awards, including the Oscar for Best Original Score. «The minimal three-tone motif literally hovers over Edward Berger's battlefields. As it penetrates deep under our skin, it provokes a profound sense of indeterminate melancholy,” says Artistic Director Christian Jungen. "Bertelmann's insatiable search for new sonic answers to cinematic effects can now be experienced in over thirty soundtracks, and I have a feeling this is just the beginning. It’s already a life’s work.»

As jury president of the 11th International Film Music Competition, Bertelmann in turn presented Elliot Murphy with the 10'000 CHF Golden Eye for Best International Film Music. The five-member jury made up of Volker Bertelmann, conductor Frank Strobel, composer Mark Bächle, director Sophie Linnenbaum und director Gabrielle Selnet begründet explained their decision: "His music gives the film an additional identity that is very much its own without overwhelming the visual, making you wish you couldn't see the film without the music."