The 18th Zurich Film Festival will honor Italian director and screenwriter Luca Guadagnino with the A Tribute to… Award for his cinematic work. Luca Guadagnino will accept the honorary award during the Gala Premiere of his latest film Bones and All and will also hold a public ZFF Masters.

“Receiving this award is a great honor. The Zurich Film Festival has held a special place for me since premiering Call Me By Your Name there in 2017. I’m so happy to return to the festival with Bones and All.” states Luca Guadagnino.

Bones and All is a story of first love between Maren (Taylor Russell), a young woman learning how to survive on the margins of society, and Lee (Timothée Chalamet), an intense and disenfranchised drifter, as they meet and join together for a thousand-mile odyssey which takes them through the back roads, hidden passages and trap doors of Ronald Reagan’s America. But despite their best efforts, all roads lead back to their terrifying pasts and to a final stand that will determine whether their love can survive their otherness.

The Italian has been one of the most internationally sought-after directors since the global success of Call Me By Your Name (2017), which Guadagnino presented in person at the ZFF. “Luca Guadagnino is a filmmaker who tells incredibly powerful visual stories and surprises time after time. With his distinctive style, the European director has also managed to make a name for himself abroad and is at the peak of his creative powers,” says Christian Jungen, Artistic Director of the ZFF.

“Guadagnino is also not afraid to reinterpret the works of great directors,” continues Jungen.

The Zurich Film Festival presents The A Tribute to… Award to auteur filmmakers for their contribution to film history. Former recipients include Paolo Sorrentino, Wim Wenders, Olivier Assayas, Claire Denis, Michael Haneke, Oliver Stone and Maïwenn.