Swiss director Petra Volpe will be presented with Zurich Film Festival‘s Golden Eye Award for her film Late Shift, selected as the Swiss Oscar entry for the Best International Feature Film at the 98th Academy Awards.
Late Shift is currently shortlisted for the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film.
The film stars Leonie Benesch as dedicated nurse Floria navigating the relentless pace of her hospital’s understaffed surgical ward with humanity and warmth. As the day intensifies, she is pushed to the brink in a race against time.
The award will be presented in Los Angeles in the context of an exclusive For Your Consideration (FYC) screening of Late Shift for members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
Christian Jungen, CEO of the Zurich Film Festival, commented, “Petra Volpe has once again succeeded with Late Shift in creating a socially realist auteur film that is firmly rooted in the present, shedding light on the precarious working conditions in the nursing profession while paying tribute to the dedication of healthcare workers. In Switzerland, Late Shift became the most successful domestic film of the year with more than 200,000 admissions and sparked a national debate about improving working conditions in the care sector. In recognition of the film’s cinematic quality and its powerful contribution to public discourse, we are honoring Petra Volpe with the Golden Eye Award and wish her every success in the Oscar race.”
Petra Volpe welcomed the honor, saying, “We are incredibly grateful for this award and for the special recognition it represents. Late Shift continues to travel internationally and shows that Swiss cinema can have global impact. I have a special connection to Zurich Film Festival, as my first feature film celebrated its premiere there. It is wonderful to see how the festival has evolved, and I would like to sincerely thank Christian Jungen and the entire team for the award as well as for their support during the Oscar campaign. And when it comes to our chances: you gotta believe!”
Petra Volpe has shared a close relationship with the Zurich Film Festival for many years. In 2013, her feature film debut Dreamland celebrated its world premiere in the Zurich Film Festival competition and received strong international attention. In 2022, Volpe served as a member of the Zurich Film Festival International Feature Film Jury under the presidency of Asghar Farhadi. That same year, she also presented the film Golden Years, directed by Barbara Kulcsar, as its screenwriter at the festival.
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