Following the public performance and announcement of the winner of the 13th International Film Music Competition on 2 October 2025, the organisers received an indication that the award-winning work may not have been composed entirely by the winner himself.

The institutions involved – the Tonhalle-Gesellschaft Zürich, the Forum Filmmusik and the Zurich Film Festival – investigated this report immediately and with due diligence. To this end, an independent expert was commissioned to carry out a scholarly and musicological analysis.

The investigation concluded that significant passages of the winning composition had been taken from protected works without sufficient copyright-related distance being maintained. On the basis of these findings, the prize-winner was retrospectively disqualified. The jury awards only a first place in the competition. The organisers have therefore decided not to award a prize for the 2025 competition year.

We deeply regret this incident. The International Film Music Competition sees itself as a platform for promoting composers at the beginning of their career and is based on the principles of artistic autonomy and integrity. Until now, there had been no indications that a systematic plagiarism check would be necessary. The juries involved assessed the submitted works according to artistic criteria. A thorough copyright check has not previously been part of the assessment process. However, the current case demonstrates that additional verification mechanisms must be introduced. The organisers have therefore reviewed their processes and introduced various measures, such as appropriate tools for preliminary checks.

The two other finalists were:

Antonio Di Iorio
(USA/Italy)

Gary Hirche
(Germany)

The compositions of the finalists have been world-premiered by the Zurich Tonhalle Orchestra on 2 October 2025. They have been chosen in a first round by an international expert jury (see below) out of 170 participants from 36 countries. Entrants were asked to score the 7‑minute short film WILD LOVE by Paul Autric, Quentin Camus, Léa Georges, Maryka Laudet, Zoé Sottiaux and Corentin Yvergniaux for symphony orchestra. The submission deadline was on 16 June 2025.

The members of the jury were:

President of the jury:
Hildur Guðnadóttir, film composer

Balz Bachmann, film composer

Jasmin Gordon, film director and producer

Frank Strobel, conductor of the award concert
Photo: Kai Bienert

The award ceremony took place during a film music concert. Under the baton of Frank Strobel, Zurich Tonhalle Orchestra world-premiered the compositions of the three finalists and performed pieces by jury president Hildur Guðnadóttir who recieved the ZFF’s Career Achievement Award during the same evening. Sandra Studer took the audience through the evening.

The event is organised by Zurich Film Festival, Tonhalle-Gesellschaft Zürich AG, and Forum Filmmusik.