BALZ
BACHMANN
Balz Bachmann studied double bass at the SJS in Bern in the early 1990s, before shifting from instrumental performance—guitar and bass—towards composition. Since 1997, his work has focused on film, theatre, and media art, gradually expanding his sonic vocabulary to include electronics and piano. From the outset, he has approached sound not as accompaniment, but as a narrative force—an active element within cinematic dramaturgy.
He has collaborated over many years with Arists and directors such as Jasmila Žbanić, Sophie Heldman, Dani Levy, Sabine Lidl, Lisa Brühlmann, Andro Wekua, Sophie Heldman, Sophie Hunger, Julian Sartorius, Michael Flury, Thomas Imbach, Ramon and Silvan Zürcher, Sabine Gisiger, or Academy Award winner Xavier Koller and many more. These collaborations reflect a shared interest in developing film and the Art with a musical language and through music and sound.
Alongside his film work, Bachmann has composed for Schauspielhaus Zürich, and his music has been performed by the Tonhalle Orchestra Zurich. Although he defines himself not much as a musical performer for the stage, his background remains present: he has appeared on international stages, including extensive tours with Sophie Hunger’s early band—at venues such as Montreux, L’Olympia in Paris, and elsewhere.
His work moves between orchestral and clasical, electroacoustic, and experimental, noise and electronic environments. Yet stylistic range is not the point. Each project demands its own language—its own internal logic. Composition, for Bachmann, is the search for this specific musical DNA of each project.
He understands music as something physical. It must act on the body. At the same time, he is drawn to instability: to moments where music withdraws, fractures, or resists the image. Rather than reinforcing emotion, his scores often question it.
Each film is approached as a system—a constellation of mood, melody, rhythm, silence, and perception. His compositions frequently emerge through reduction: through the decision of what to leave out. What remains is not commentary, but presence.
Bachmann prefers to enter projects early, where sound can shape form, not merely follow it. His work spans cinema, theatre, and interdisciplinary contexts, A defining aspect of his practice is the use of unconventional music and sound sources.
His compositions have received numerous prestigious awards and nominations. Among the most notable are the prize and nominations for Best Film Score at the Locarno Film Festival (Little Girl Blue, 2003; Jeunne Homme, 2006; Bis ans Ende der Träume, 2015), the Swiss Film Award (Happy New Year, 2009; Day Is Done, 2012; Someone Like Me, 2012; Yalom’s Cure, 2015; The Sparrow in the Chimney, 2025), and the German Documentary Film Music Award (Bis ans Ende der Träume, 2018; Willkommen in der Schweiz, 2018, Siri Hustvedt-dance around the Self” 2026).
In 2024, he was selected for the “Spot the Composer” programme at the Cannes Film Festival.
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FULL FILMOGRAPHY
2026 German Documentary Filmmusic Award,
at Doc Fest München Nomination Best Filmmusic with «Siri Hustvedt-Dance around the self»
2025 Geneva, Swiss Film Awards Quarz,
Nomination Best Filmmusic for “The Sparrow In The Chimney”
2024 Entrevues Film Festival, Achievement in Music & Sound, Nomination for “The Sparrow In The Chimney”
2024 77th Festival de Cannes
Selected for “Spot The Composer” Program
2018 German Documentary Filmmusic Price, at Doc Fest München Nomination Best Filmmusic with «Willkommen in der Schweiz»
2018 German Documentary Filmmusic Price, at Doc Fest München,Nomination Best Filmmusic with «Bis ans Ende der Träume»
2017 Locarno International Filmfestival, Fondation Suisa,
Winner Best Filmmusic, for «Bis ans Ende der Träume»
2015 Swiss Film Awards Quarz,
Nomination Best Filmmusic for «Yalom’s Cure»
2012 Swiss Film Awards Quarz,
Winner Best Filmmusic for «Day is Done»
2012 Swiss Film Awards Quarz,
Nomination Best Filmmusic for «Someone Like Me»
2010 Swiss Film Award Quarz,
Nomination Bests Filmmusic for «Giulias Verschwinden»
2008 Swiss Film Awards Quarz,
Nomination Best Filmmusic for «Happy New Year»
2006 Musique & Cinema Auxxere
Shortlisted with «Jeune Homme»
2006 Locarno International Filmfestival, Fondation Suisa,
Winner Best Filmmusic, for «Jeune Homme»
2003 Locarno International Filmfestival, Fondation Suisa,
Winner Best Filmmusic, for «Little Girl Blue»
REPRESENTATION Annette Gentz Art Management Berlin
www.annettegentz.com
ag@annettegentz.com
REPRESENTATION SWITZERLANDMyMusicRights GmbH – Yann Michelutti, Geneva
www.mymusicrights.com
yann@mymusicrights.ch