The Zurich Film Festival (ZFF) and the FIFA Museum have launched a new collaboration, with the two organisations joining forces to screen five football films alongside talks with football legends. The collaboration kicks off at the 18th ZFF (Sept. 22 to Oct 2, 2022) with the world premiere of WHEN THE WOLRD WATCHED: ITALY 2006, a documentary about the Squadra Azzurra that will be presented in person by World Cup winner Gianluca Zambrotta.
Cinema and football have a great deal in common – both inspire and move audiences around the world. And now the Zurich Film Festival and the FIFA Museum are set to bring this to live with the screening of five football films in the run up to the FIFA World Cup™ in November and December and the FIFA Women’s World Cup™ in July and August. Each film will be accompanied by a live talk with at least one legendary football personality who will travel to Zurich especially for the occasion. The interviews will be conducted by ZFF Artistic Director Christian Jungen.
The joint venture kicks off with the documentary film WHEN THE WORLD WATCHED: ITALY 2006, commissioned by FIFA Studios and produced by UK-based agency Noah Media. It uses never-before-seen archive footage and interviews to shed light on how the Italians became world champions in Germany in 2006 and brought hope back to Italian football just weeks after the biggest bribery scandal rocked in the history of Serie A.
FIFA World Cup™ winner Gianluca Zambrotta will present the film in person on 28 September 2022 and take part in a one-hour Q&A session with Christian Jungen, Artistic Director of the ZFF the next day on 29 September 2022 at the FIFA Museum.
“FIFA Museum and ZFF are two cultural beacons that radiate far beyond Zurich. Now we’re teaming up to build a bridge between sport and cinema,” explains Christian Jungen. “I’m very excited about this collaboration and, of course, about welcoming football legends like Gianluca Zambrotta on the Green Carpet and on the live talk stage.”
Following the festival, the film can be seen exclusively on FIFA+, the new world-class digital destination for football fandom. A one-stop shop bringing to life the best stories that the world of football has to offer, it homes an extensive archive of all men’s and women’s FIFA World Cup™ matches, thousands of live fixtures every year, interactive games and predictors, and a slate of original documentaries, docuseries, talk shows, and shorts.
Further screenings of the football films and live talks will be organised collaboratively by the ZFF and the FIFA Museum and will be announced in due course.
Discussing the collaboration, FIFA Museum Managing Director Marco Fazzone, added:
“These cinematic events that will bring legendary footballers together to tell their own perspective on how they made history is a fascinating and unique offering. We are convinced that we have discovered an innovative platform for football and its social relevance, and we are very much looking forward to this collaboration with ZFF as part of our cultural programme.”
The Zurich Film Festival runs from Sept. 22 to Oct. 2, 2022. The ZFF has always welcomed great sportsmen such as tennis player Roger Federer or Formula 1 champion Lewis Hamilton.