Zurich Film Festival ends partnership with Läderach

The Zurich Film Festival is ending its partnership with chocolate maker Läderach.

According to the organisers, this is a reaction to a documentary by Swiss public television SRF about child abuse accusations at a public school. The SRF documentary broadcast on Thursday "stirred everyone up", the film festival said in a statement.

After an "open exchange", the festival and the chocolate company "jointly decided to end their partnership".

Although there were no accusations against the current Läderach management, "the suffering of the alleged victims is associated with the family and company name", wrote the management of the festival, which will start next week. Läderach would have been a partner of the festival for the first time this year. Corporal punishment

Jürg Läderach, patron of the chocolatier until 2018, co-founded the evangelical school "Domino Servite" (Serve the Lord) in Kaltbrunn in canton St Gallen in 1995. In the SRF programme “Dok”, former pupils talked about beatings with belts and living in a climate of fear in the religious institution.

Johannes Läderach, head of the company based in Bilten, in canton Glarus, since 2018, told Swiss newspaper group Tamedia that he visited this school himself. He could confirm the climate of fear. He was not been beaten there.

He was burdened by the fact that he wasn't able to prevent the abuse. A 2019 investigation triggered a changed within the Free Church. The church leadership resigned. He separated from this denomination.