Martin McDonagh to be Honored at Zurich Film Festival and Premiere ‘Wild Horse Nine’

Director Martin McDonagh will be honored at the 22nd Zurich Film Festival with its prestigious A Tribute To … Award in recognition of his outstanding contribution to cinema.

McDonagh will accept the award in person during the Gala Premiere of his latest film, Wild Horse Nine.

With acclaimed films including In Bruges, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri and The Banshees of Inisherin, McDonagh’s films have left an indelible mark on contemporary cinema and have earned widespread international acclaim. McDonagh has collaborated with some of the industry’s most celebrated actors, including Colin Farrell (recipient of the 2025 ZFF Golden Icon Award), Brendan Gleeson, Sam Rockwell and Woody Harrelson. Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri screened at the Zurich Film Festival in 2017, followed by the Gala Premiere of The Banshees of Inisherin in 2022.

In Wild Horse Nine, set shortly before the 1973 Chilean coup, CIA agents Chris (John Malkovich) and Lee (Sam Rockwell) set out from Santiago to Easter Island, where they are stationed alongside their boss and bureau chief, MJ (Steve Buscemi). Amongst the Island’s iconic statues, as the longtime partners wrestle with their dark pasts and present conspiracies, Chris’s newfound bond with a pair of rebellious students (Mariana di Girolamo and Ailín Salas) threatens to send everyone’s trip to this remote paradise sideways.

“Martin McDonagh is one of the most exciting auteur filmmakers of his generation,” says Christian Jungen, CEO of the Zurich Film Festival. “He is a master of dark comedy and character writing. Through his personal signature style, he showcases a rare ability to captivate audiences through the interplay of meticulously crafted cinematography, atmospheric settings and clever storytelling, combined with an artistic intuition for striking the perfect balance between the absurd and the familiar. His wonderfully curious characters never fail to draw us in, and he has a remarkable gift for maneuvering them into absurd predicaments through screenplays of exceptional wit and precision. McDonagh’s talent for eliciting complex and nuanced performances from his actors is a defining hallmark of his distinctive style. Wild Horse Nine is no exception and, in our view, one of the standout films of the season. We have had the privilege of screening several of Martin McDonagh’s earlier masterpieces, and we are delighted to honor his outstanding contribution to the art of cinema.”