The 72 Talent Contest is imminent

The Zurich Film Festival is launching a new audience competition called 72 Talent Contest. “We want to encourage the young audience to be creative and to make a movie,” says Karl Spoerri, co-director of the Zurich Film Festival. “We have our own YouTube channel, which we want to expand over the course of the year.” The idea of 72 Talent Contest is to discover new talents who have not yet made any movies.

“Young people have their own habits regarding how they use media,” underlines Spoerri. “For a festival, it is worth attracting the audience in a playful way with good films, and then asking them to participate in order for them to experience film as something vivid.” On 26 September, the Zurich Film Festival will announce the theme for the competition. The participants will have to deliver their contribution within 72 hours. “This is enough time to develop a creative idea and to shoot a short film.” The maximum length for the film is up to 72 seconds. “The most popular clips on the web only have a running time of between 45 and 90 seconds. If they are any longer, the audience doesn’t pay attention.” 

The Zurich Film Festival will check whether the contributions match the criteria. In total, 72 films will be published on ZFF's YouTube channel. The best film in this competition for newcomers will be rewarded with a prize worth 10,000 CHF; the winner will be chosen by a jury, but the audience can vote as well. The most-viewed film will receive the highest score. “The voting process will be over by 3 October, but the films will remain on our YouTube channel for all to see,” adds Spoerri. “For newcomers who have neither the money nor the know-how to make movies, this kind of format is perfect to get them on the right track.”