The home of the Zurich Film Festival has a cinematic story of its own. During our exclusive office tour, ZFF CEO Christian Jungen takes SwissGlam inside the legendary Studio Bellerive in Zurich’s Seefeld — a place where Swiss film and television history has been written for almost a century.
The building dates back to the late 1920s and originally housed what were among Europe’s first indoor tennis courts. In the 1940s, one of the former tennis halls was transformed into a film studio, before becoming the first television studio of Swiss television in the 1950s.
Its history reads almost like a film itself. Swiss television productions were created here, and the studio later became home to Condor Films. The legendary Swiss duo Yello filmed several music videos here, including The Race. Condor also worked with major Swiss filmmakers, including Oscar-winning director Xavier Koller. Today, this heritage-filled space is home to the team behind the Zurich Film Festival.
Walking through the ZFF offices with Jungen reveals another layer of cinema history. The walls and rooms are filled with photographs, awards and personal memories of international stars who have visited Zurich. The festival’s iconic Golden Eye naturally takes pride of place, alongside more unexpected memorabilia — including the signed Rocky boxing shorts connected to Sylvester Stallone.
For Jungen, who spent 25 years as a film critic before taking the helm of ZFF, working in a place with such a past feels particularly fitting. Studio Bellerive is not simply an office; it connects Zurich’s cinematic heritage with its contemporary international film scene.
And soon, the stories being planned inside these historic walls will move onto the big screen again, as the Zurich Film Festival returns from 24 September to 4 October 2026.
Photos by Anastasia Diadio
