The 9th Zurich Film Festival awarded its main prize, the Golden Eye for Best Film in the International Feature Film Competition to to LA JAULA DE ORO by Diego Quemada-Diez (Mexico); Golden Eye for Best Film at the International Documentary Film Competition to LEJ EN FAMILY A / S (RENT A FAMILY INC.) by Kaspar Astrup Schroeder (Denmark); Golden Eye for Best Film in the German-Language Feature Film Competition to FINSTERWALDE WORLD by Frauke Finsterwalder (Germany), and Golden Eye for Best Film in the Documentary Competition Germany, Austria, Switzerland to NEULAND by Anna Thommen (Switzerland).
The Critics ‘Prize goes to FINSTERWALDE WORLD by Frauke Finsterwalder (Germany), the Audience Award goes to JOURNEY TO JAH by Noël Dernesch and Moritz Springer (Germany), and the first time awarded Audience Award of the Section ZFF for children’ given the young audience to BELIEVE by David Schein man (UK).
The Golden Eye for Best Film in the International Feature Film Competition to:
LA JAULA DE ORO by Diego Quemada-Diez (Mexico)
“Everything is better in the north”. Juan has decided to leave his impoverished home in Guatemala City and set off on the difficult journey to California with Sara and Samuel, two chance acquaintances. Sara not only cuts off her hair for the trip, but also bandages her youthful breasts and changes her name to Osvaldo. While traveling, the teenagers meet the Indio Chauk, who doesn’t speak Spanish. While Sara takes care of the forlorn boy, Juan sees the paperless child as a new threat to their travel plans, but a ride on the perilous “death train” through Mexico soon has the refugees bonding – until their paths suddenly and unexpectedly separate. Director Diego Quemada-Díez’s well-researched debut follows the infamous Central American migratory path with a group of young amateur actors, who were promptly and rightly awarded the A Certain Talent Prize after the world-premiere screening in Cannes.
A special mention goes to:
the actor Michael B. Jordan FRUITVALE STATION Ryan Coogler (USA)
The Golden Eye for Best Film at the International Documentary Film Competition to:
LEJ EN FAMILY A / S by Kaspar Astrup Schroeder (Denmark)
On the surface, Ryuichi Ichinokawa leads an ordinary family life. With his own home in a Tokyo suburb, this mid-forties business man lives together with his wife, two children and a Chihuahua. He has various jobs to help him pay the bills – including one that he created himself. Clients of his company, “I Want to Cheer You Up Ltd”, can rent a husband, friend, father, bridesmaid or relatives by the dozen from him. Be it at a wedding, birthday or funeral, Ryuichi and his employees take on any role in order to cast a better light upon their clients. While he is able to embody the perfect husband or the understanding father in his professional life, his ability to fill these roles at home is somewhat lacking. His family knows nothing of his unusual activities, and while his pubescent son sleeps in the marital bed, Ryuichi spends his nights sleeping on the floor in the children’s room. Will he ever realize that in order to help others, he must first help himself?
A special mention goes to:
THESE BIRDS WALK by Omar Mullick and Bassam Tariq (Pakistan)
Karachi, Pakistan. The Edhi Home takes in homeless children regardless of whether they have run away from home or been driven out by neglect. For the last sixty years, Abdul Sattar Edhi, the founder of this social institution, has personally cared for the weakest members of society. He provides kids such as 9-year-old Omar with shelter, schooling and love, until, with the help of ambulance driver Asad – himself a former street child – he manages to find his way back to his parents. Filmed over three years, the camera follows Omar and other kids torn between a yearning for freedom and a desire to return home.
The Golden Eye for Best Film in the German-Language Feature Film Competition to:
FINSTERWALDE WORLD by Frauke Finsterwalder (Germany)
A journey through a surreal Germany: A police officer in a bear costume. A female documentary filmmaker who is unable to find an interesting story. A pedicurist who carefully sets aside the hard skin removed from the feet of his aged female patient. A rich couple that refuses to sit in a German-built car. A history student uninterested in a class visit to a concentration camp. A wild man training a raven in the woods. In this anthology film, all are bound by family ties or a moment of coincidence in a country where the sun always shines and everybody is beautiful, polite, successful or happy. That is until they reveal their darker side, and we discover that the step from idyll to inferno is a short one. FINSTERWORLD is an ironic antithesis of the Heimatfilm and full of malicious observations and sharp-tongued remarks. Not even the name of its director Frauke Finsterwalder remains unscathed. Rarely has German cinema produced so much black humor in one fell swoop.
A special mention goes to:
THE WOMAN, THE DARING by Marc Rensing (Germany)
The Golden Eye for Best Film in the Documentary Competition Germany, Austria, Switzerland to:
NEULAND by Anna Thommen (Switzerland)
An unusual scene is witnessed on Basel’s Kasernenareal during the summer of 2010: Dozens of young people are seen standing around in groups trying to follow the talk given by their teacher Mr Zingg. They arrived in Switzerland by plane, train, bus and rubber boat from Afghanistan, Cameroon, Serbia and Venezuela, and today is their first day in an integrated class. Hopes are high that they will connect with their teacher, as it is his job over the next two years to teach them the basics and idiosyncrasies of Swiss culture. Above all, Mr Zingg’s function is to prepare these adolescents, traumatized by the severe turns of fate handed to them, for occupational integration into society. As the end of school draws nearer, each of the young immigrants is faced with the same painful question: Is there a place for me in this country? The filmmaker Anna Thommen followed the students of the Basel Integration Class for two years to create her first feature-length documentary film.
A special mention goes to:
Nan Goldin – I REMEMBER YOUR FACE by Sabine Lidl (Germany)
The critic of the price Swiss Association of Film Journalists and film journalists (SVFJ) to:
FINSTERWALDE WORLD by Frauke Finsterwalder (Germany)
Audience Award
The Audience Award goes to:
JOURNEY TO JAH by Noël Dernesch and Moritz Springer (Germany)
Audience Children’s Movies
The Audience Award goes to children’s films:
BELIEVE by David Schein Man (UK)
Treatment-price competition
The first prize, awarded for the best treatment goes to the British living in Switzerland for the project STÜRM Dave Tucker – TILL I’M DEAD OR FREE.
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