Every year, the Zurich Film Festival (ZFF) presents honorary awards to important filmmakers whose works have shaped the international film landscape. With this year's Career Achievement Award, the ZFF is honouring the multifaceted life's work of Gabriel Yared and honouring an Oscar winner for film music for the sixth time in a row. The Golden Eye will be presented on 1 October 2026 as part of the International Film Music Competition at the Grosse Tonhalle.
Yared is one of the most influential voices in international film music and has created unforgettable soundscapes for films such as "The English Patient", "The Talented Mr Ripley", "Cold Mountain" and "Betty Blue". He was honoured with an Oscar, a Golden Globe, a Grammy and a BAFTA for his score for "The English Patient".
On this evening, Yared will also preside over the jury of the International Film Music Competition, in which three different film scores for the nine-minute short film "The Shyness of Trees" will be performed live by Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich. Frank Strobel will also conduct the orchestra with excerpts from various soundtracks.
Alongside Gabriel Yared and Frank Strobel, German actress Martina Gedeck is on the jury for the 14th International Film Music Competition. She and Gabriel Yared both appeared in the film "The Lives of Others", which was honoured with an Oscar for best foreign film in 2007.
The International Film Music Competition was launched in 2011 by Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich, the Zurich Film Festival and the Forum Filmmusik and has established itself as a leading international film music event in recent years. Each year, a newly composed jury selects three finalists from hundreds of submissions. The high-calibre jury has already been presided over by big names such as Hans Zimmer, Rachel Portman, Mychael Danna, Don Davis, Herbert Grönemeyer, Volker Bertelmann, Howard Shore and Hildur Guðnadóttir.
