German-Austrian actor Christoph Waltz (pictured above in INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS) will preside over the jury for Filmmaker Award at the 2015 Zurich Film Festival. Waltz will also hold a keynote conversation at the Zurich Summit, and strut the Green Carpet for press and public before presenting the screening of Quentin Tarantino’s INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS at the corso cinema. The four finalists competing for the Filmmaker Award are: EUROPE, SHE LOVES; GOLIATH; UND MORGEN SEID IHR TOT; and WAFFENLÄUFER.
The Four Nominees and Their Projects
EUROPE, SHE LOVES
Producer: Lisa Blatter (2:1 Film GmbH), Andreas Hörl (lüthje schneider hörl | FILM) Director: Jan Gassmann
Director Jan Gassmann and his small team travelled 20,000 kilometres in a bus to film portraits of couples in Seville, Dublin, Tallinn, Zagreb and Thessaloniki. The result is a semi-fictional political documentary about Europe during the economic crisis, and portrays the daily struggle for survival of five couples who use their reserves of wit and love. The storyline of the film, which is now in post-production, moves cleverly between fiction and documentary. The intimate camerawork and the bleak atmosphere are striking.
GOLIATH
Producers: Dario Schoch, Rajko Jazbec (Cognito Films)
Director: Dominik Locher
Goliath tells the tale of the young David, who is mugged while on the way home with his pregnant girlfriend. This leaves him feeling like a weakling. Rendered insecure in his role as a man and father-to-be, he pumps himself full of anabolic steroids – only to turn into a threat to his family, who he had actually wanted to impress and protect. Goliath began shooting in July 2015, and is directed by Dominik Locher, who trained at Zurich University of the Arts and the American Film Institute and is considered to be one of Switzerland’s most promising directors.
UND MORGEN SEID IHR TOT (TOMORROW YOU’LL BE DEAD)
Producer: Bernhard Burgener, Norbert Preuss (Kontraproduktion AG)
Director: Michael Steiner
This film tells the true story of Daniela Widmer and David Och, two Swiss citizens kidnapped by the Taliban in July 2011 while on a trip along Pakistan’s historic Silk Road. After eight months in captivity they managed to make their escape. According to the gripping script, the film will tackle the difficult time after their return to Switzerland and examine the events that took place in Pakistan. Shooting is planned to start in India in February 2016. The film will be directed by well-known Swiss director Michael Steiner (Grounding, Mein Name ist Eugen).
WAFFENLÄUFER (THE GUN RUNNER)
Producers: Stefan Eichenberger, Ivan Madeo (CONTRAST FILM)
Director: Hannes Baumgartner
Zurich-based director and winner of the Zurich Film Award Hannes Baumgartner chose a controversial topic for his first movie: his story of Jonas Fischer is based on the real-life tragedy of a famous Swiss long-distance runner. At the peak of his sporting career, it is revealed that he has been living an ill-fated double life and is in fact wanted across Switzerland for over two-dozen attacks on women, who he robbed, injured or murdered. The Waffenläufer project is currently in the financing stage.