The three-time Oscar winner Oliver Stone will head the Jury of the 15th Zurich Film Festival’s International Competition. He will also present a restored version of the “The Doors” and his doc series “The Putin Interviews”.
“We are delighted that Oliver Stone has accepted our invitation,” say co-directors Nadja Schildknecht and Karl Spoerri. “Stone has been a friend of our festival for twelve years now. He was recipient of the ‘A Tribute to …’ award during our third year, and our first major Hollywood guest. He has also been an invaluable advocate for the ZFF in Los Angeles. We are doubly thrilled that he is doing us the honor of returning to the ZFF for our last year as its operations directors.”
The other two juries are also top notch: the jury of the International Documentary Film Competition is chaired by two-time Oscar winning producer Simon Chinn, while German producer Thomas Kufus heads the jury of the Focus Competition.
Oliver Stone, who won an Oscar for MIDNIGHT EXPRESS (best screenwriter), PLATOON and BORN ON THE FOURTH OF JULY (both for best director), has already attended the ZFF four times previously. He presented WALL STREET MONEY: NEVER SLEEPS as the fest’s closing film in 2010, opened the ZFF with his thriller SAVAGES in 2012, and presented his film SNOWDEN as a Gala Premiere in 2016.
As in previous years, Stone will not return to Zurich empty handed: he will present both a restored copy of his classic THE DOORS (1991), about the legendary band and its vocalist Jim Morrison, and his documentary series THE PUTIN INTERVIEWS. “Oliver Stone is an edgy Hollywood auteur who continues to create epoch-making masterpieces and manages to broach explosive issues with brilliance, including the Vietnam War with PLATOON and BORN ON THE 4TH OF JULY, the greed of stock market players with WALL STREET and the machinations of the secret services with SNOWDEN. In addition, he is also a highly gifted screenwriter who won his first Oscar for the scenario to MIDNIGHT EXPRESS in 1979”, say Nadja Schildknecht and Karl Spoerri.
Stone presides over a jury further comprising the Colombian director Ciro Guerra (WAITING FOR THE BARBARIANS), Italian director Laura Bispuri (FIGLIA MIA), German actor Sebastian Koch (WERK OHNE AUTOR) and Swiss producer Tiziana Soudani (LAZZARO FELICE).
The Jury of the International Documentary Film Competition is led by two-time Oscar winning producer Simon Chinn (MAN ON WIRE, SEARCHING FOR SUGAR MAN). The Briton is also the founder of the multimedia platform Lightbox. Chinn will be joined in the jury by American producer Stephen Nemeth (FEAR AND LOATHING IN LAS VEGAS), Swiss director Anja Kofmel (CHRIS THE SWISS), French director Maryam Goormaghtigh (AVANT LA FIN DE L’ETE) and Swiss documentary filmmaker Christian Frei (GENESIS 2.0).
With Thomas Kufus as President, the jury of the Focus Competition is also made up of top notch producers and screenplay authors. With over 100 works, including Markus Imhoof’s MORE THAN HONEY and ELDORADO, Kufus is one of the most experienced producers in the German-speaking world. The Focus jury also includes Swiss producer Aline Schmid (WALDEN), German producer Benjamin Herrmann (COLONIA), Austrian director Marie Kreutzer (DER BODEN UNTER DEN FÜSSEN) and Swiss screenwriter Natascha Beller (DIE FRUCHTBAREN JAHRE SIND VORBEI).
The 15th Zurich Film Festival takes place from September 26 to October 6, 2019.