The 14h International Film Music Competition will take place during the 22nd Zurich Film Festival (24 September – 4 October 2026). Participants are invited to score the 9‑minute short film THE SHYNESS OF TREES by Sofiia Chuikovska, Loïck Du Plessis D’Argentré, Lina Han, Simin He, Jiaxin Huang, Maud Le Bras and Bingqing Shu for symphony orchestra.

An international expert jury will choose three compositions from all the submissions. These three compositions will be world-premiered by the Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich under the baton of Frank Strobel during a film music concert in the Tonhalle Zurich on 1 October 2026. On the same evening, the winner will be chosen by the jury and awarded the Golden Eye “Best International Film Music 2026” endowed with CHF 10 000.

A download link for the film to be scored can be requested here (free of charge), and the terms and conditions of the competition are available here.

You can register here and upload the competition documents (score, MP3 files with mockup and click track). The registration fee is CHF 90

The submission deadline for the competition documents (score and audio files) is on 2 June 2026.

Composers of any age, nationality and place of residence who have scored or orchestrated no more than three films longer than 60 minutes (according to IMDb) are eligible to enter.

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