The Zurich Film Festival is set to honor a distributor responsible for bringing Oscar winners, family-friendly blockbusters, and Swiss hits to German-language screens. DCM will receive a Career Achievement Award at the festival’s upcoming edition, which begins on September 24, recognizing the work of the company’s co-founders: Marc Schmidheiny, Christoph Daniel, Dario Suter and Joel Brandeis, alongside its Swiss managing director Stephanie Candinas, for their sustained dedication to culture.
DCM will be honored at the event before a screening of Wim Wenders’s documentary From Inside Out: The Architecture of Peter Zumthor, which the company distributed in Germany and Switzerland and also produced. The company was founded in 2008, and it has become known for distributing Oscar-winning films including The Artist, Moonlight, and most recently I’m Still Here. It also distributes the family-entertainment blockbusters Bibi & Tina and The School of Magic Animals (Schule der Magischen Tiere).
A Decade of Firsts
The Zurich Film Festival began in 2008, and DCM has since been closely linked to it. The company’s first feature production, Waffenstillstand, made its European premiere at ZFF in 2009, where it received the Audience Award.
DCM entered Switzerland in 2013, bringing Kon-Tiki to the country. From that point on, the company has worked closely with Swiss film culture, releasing local successes including The Awakening of Motti Wolkenbruch (Wolkenbruch) and Bonjour Switzerland (Bon Schuur Ticino).
The DCM-made series Heidi finished shooting in the Bergell valley this summer and is set to appear on Swiss broadcaster SRF next year.
The Ascot Takeover
In 2025, DCM consolidated its position in Switzerland with the acquisition of the country’s biggest independent distributor, Ascot Elite Entertainment, in a friendly takeover instigated by the latter company’s founding owners Karin G. Dietrich, Ralph S. Dietrich and Stephan Giger.
DCM has grown to become the biggest independent player in the German-speaking market through the deal, placing it firmly among the leading companies there. Christian Jungen, CEO of the ZFF, offered his approval of the arrangement.
What Jungen Said
“DCM is a company run by film and cinema lovers, and it has brought a breath of fresh air to the German-language film scene,” Jungen said.
The founders have consistently operated entrepreneurially and in the interest of the films. Just as we do at the ZFF, they hold a deep love for good American independent film, for German cinema and for Swiss film. By taking over Ascot Elite, they executed a remarkable move, and now they are making sure that striking auteur films keep reaching a large audience in cinemas as the biggest indie player in the German-speaking market.
“With our Career Achievement Award, we want to thank the DCM team for what they have accomplished so far and encourage them in their continued commitment with the new company.”
Schmidheiny’s Surprise
DCM’s co-founder and partner Marc Schmidheiny explained that the firm has harbored affection for Zurich from the moment it premiered Waffenstillstand at the festival during its fifth edition.
“Since then, we’ve watched as industry giants, role models and cherished colleagues were honored for their work on the ZFF stage, and we have celebrated alongside them,” he said.
“To now stand on this stage ourselves and receive a prize is both an honor and motivating for us. Because after the initial shock – caused by the misunderstanding that this was a Lifetime Achievement Award, which we feel far too young for – this is instead an incentive for the next chapters and films that will hopefully keep bringing us back to ZFF.”
Films at the Festival
Eurostrash sits alongside Wenders’ latest work, the 22nd Zurich Film Festival will present further films from the DCM Film AG catalog. Among them is the world premiere of Frauke Finsterwalder’.
The festival runs from September 24 to October 4.
The Companies Behind the Award
DCM’s portfolio spans Oscar winners, family entertainment, and Swiss cinema hits. The company’s growth has been steady:
- Founded in 2008
- Distributed The Artist, Moonlight, and I’m Still Here
- Produced Bibi & Tina and The School of Magic Animals
- Expanded into Switzerland in 2013 with Kon-Tiki
- Won the Audience Award for Waffenstillstand in 2009
- Acquired Ascot Elite Entertainment in 2025
This award honors a firm that has assembled its collection of work through years of effort.
The Award’s Significance
Before the Wenders screening, the founders will take the award. Both the Zurich Film Festival and DCM have grown together, and they share a common history and a common commitment to cinema.
With gratitude and humility, the founders will receive the award. But they will also take it with resolve, ready to face the next chapter and the next films that will hopefully return them to ZFF.
The Career Achievement Award recognizes sustained dedication to culture across a long career, and DCM’s co-founders have spent two decades building a business that has brought Oscar winners, family-friendly blockbusters, and Swiss hits to German-language screens. The company’s story began at the Zurich Film Festival itself, when its first feature premiered at the festival during its fifth edition. Since then, DCM has expanded into Switzerland, taken over Ascot Elite, and built a portfolio that includes some of the most acclaimed films of recent years.
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