Key Takeaways
- • Martin Moszkowicz, newly appointed President of the Zurich Film Festival, is spearheading a major private equity fund initiative based in Zurich with backing from family offices and banks to finance independent film production.
- • Moszkowicz identifies private equity as the critical funding mechanism for independent cinema as traditional subsidy models and presale structures face structural pressure and contraction.
- • The veteran producer departed Constantin in 2024 to focus on independent productions and leverage the institutional capital infrastructure concentrated in Zurich's financial ecosystem.
- • The new fund represents a strategic pivot in festival positioning, with Moszkowicz emphasizing the Zurich Film Festival's role as a connective hub for creative talent, distributors, platforms, and institutional capital rather than a transactional marketplace.
Summary
Martin Moszkowicz assumed the presidency of the Zurich Film Festival in summer 2026 and outlined an ambitious vision for reorienting the festival's strategic purpose while simultaneously developing a substantial private equity vehicle for film financing. In an interview at the festival, Moszkowicz emphasized that Zurich occupies a unique temporal and geographic position within the international festival calendar, positioning it as an optimal venue for consolidating stakeholders across creative, distribution, and financial domains.
The cornerstone of Moszkowicz's strategic agenda centers on repositioning the festival away from transactional film market dynamics toward a convening platform for capital formation. He characterized the Zurich Film Festival Summit as structurally distinct from traditional film markets, emphasizing its capacity to unite directors, distributors, platforms, financial institutions, and creative professionals in a non-transactional environment. This reframing directly supports the capital-raising imperative he identified as fundamental to independent film's viability.
Moszkowicz articulated a clear thesis on sectoral financing trends: traditional subsidy regimes face material reduction, while conventional presale models encounter mounting structural challenges. Private equity, he contends, will become the dominant funding source for independent cinema and the broader independent production sector. He referenced concrete progress toward establishing a substantial fund structure, noting he had recently concluded meetings regarding "a huge fund that we're going to set up with the help of some of the big family offices and banks that are all based here in Zurich." This financing vehicle, once operational, is positioned as a critical infrastructure component enabling future independent film production.
Moszkowicz, who stepped down from Constantin in 2024 to pursue independent production activities, brings operational experience in producer-led financing to his festival leadership role. His appointment signals institutional recognition of private equity's ascendant role in film financing and Zurich's concentration of family office and banking capital capable of deploying capital into alternative asset classes including media and entertainment.
The cornerstone of Moszkowicz's strategic agenda centers on repositioning the festival away from transactional film market dynamics toward a convening platform for capital formation. He characterized the Zurich Film Festival Summit as structurally distinct from traditional film markets, emphasizing its capacity to unite directors, distributors, platforms, financial institutions, and creative professionals in a non-transactional environment. This reframing directly supports the capital-raising imperative he identified as fundamental to independent film's viability.
Moszkowicz articulated a clear thesis on sectoral financing trends: traditional subsidy regimes face material reduction, while conventional presale models encounter mounting structural challenges. Private equity, he contends, will become the dominant funding source for independent cinema and the broader independent production sector. He referenced concrete progress toward establishing a substantial fund structure, noting he had recently concluded meetings regarding "a huge fund that we're going to set up with the help of some of the big family offices and banks that are all based here in Zurich." This financing vehicle, once operational, is positioned as a critical infrastructure component enabling future independent film production.
Moszkowicz, who stepped down from Constantin in 2024 to pursue independent production activities, brings operational experience in producer-led financing to his festival leadership role. His appointment signals institutional recognition of private equity's ascendant role in film financing and Zurich's concentration of family office and banking capital capable of deploying capital into alternative asset classes including media and entertainment.
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