Zurich Film Festival

Academy Award Nominated-German Actor Armin Mueller-Stahl to Receive Zurich Film Festival’s Lifetime Achievement Award

Armin Mueller-Stahl, one of the few German actors whose careers have spanned East Germany, West Germany and Hollywood, will be the recipient of the 2015 Zurich Film Festival’s prestigious Lifetime Achievement Award. Following the award ceremony, Mueller-Stahl will present Jim Jarmusch’s NIGHT ON EARTH (1991), where he played an East German taxi driver trying his luck in New York. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o_ESHkySoJs His most noteworthy films include LOLA (1981), OBERST REDL (1985), MOMO (1986), MUSIC BOX (1989), NIGHT ON EARTH (1991), DAS GEISTERHAUS (1993) and SHINE (1996). Raised in the German Democratic Republic (GDR) and initially trained as a concert violinist, East Prussia-born Mueller-Stahl played the lead role in approximately 60 TV and cinema films, and became one of the most decorated GDR actors ever. Armin Mueller-Stahl’s career came to an abrupt end when he signed the petition against the expatriation of singer-songwriter Wolf Biermann. He moved from East to West Berlin in 1980, where his career continued with roles in Rainer Werner Fassbinder’s LOLA (1981) and DIE SEHNSUCHT DER VERONIKA VOSS (1982) et al. Despite being barely able to speak English, Armin Mueller-Stahl decided to make a fresh start in the USA. His first film MUSIC BOX (1989) by Costa Gavras was both an artistic and commercial success. He received an Academy Award nomination for his role in his second Hollywood film, Barry Levinson’s AVALON (1990), and SHINE (1996), garnered him his second Academy Award nomination. Despite his success in Hollywood, Armin Mueller-Stahl returned to Germany, where he took on such leading roles as Thomas Mann in the three-part TV series DIE MANNS – EIN JAHRHUNDERTROMAN (2001).
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THE MAN WHO KNEW INFINITY Starring Jeremy Irons, Dev Patel to Open Zurich Film Festival

Matthew Brown’s dramatic bio-pic THE MAN WHO KNEW INFINITY has been selected to open the 11th edition of the Zurich Film Festival. He directed the film from a screenplay he adapted from Robert Kanigel’s novel “The Man Who Knew Infinity: A Life of the Genius Ramanujan”. The film stars Jeremy Irons, Dev Patel, Toby Jones, Stephen Fry, Devika Bhise, Jeremy Northam and Kevin McNally. THE MAN WHO KNEW INFINITY tells the true story of Srinivasa Ramanujan (Dev Patel), a self-taught mathematics genius from India, who leaves behind his beloved young bride, Janaki (Devika Bhise), to travel across the world to Cambridge where he forges a bond with his mentor, the eccentric professor G.H. Hardy (Jeremy Irons), and becomes a pioneer in mathematical theories using the magic of his mind. From Madras to Cambridge In 1913, a young unschooled Indian clerk wrote a letter to G.H. Hardy, begging the preeminent English mathematician’s opinion on several ideas he had about numbers. Realizing the letter was the work of a genius, Hardy arranged for Srinivasa Ramanujan to come to England. Thus began one of the most improbable and productive collaborations ever chronicled. The story takes audiences from the temples and slums of Madras to the courts and chapels of Cambridge University, where the devout Hindu Ramanujan, ‘the Prince of Intuition,’ tested his brilliant theories alongside the sophisticated and eccentric Hardy, ‘the Apostle of Proof.’ In time, Ramanujan’s creative intensity took its toll: he died at the age of thirty-two and left behind a magical and inspired legacy that is still being plumbed for its secrets today.
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Director Mike Leigh To Receive A Tribute to… Award at Zurich Film Festival

Zurich Film Festival will honor British film director Mike Leigh, described as “one of the most significant exponents of New British Cinema” with A Tribute to… award during the Award Night ceremony at the upcoming festival taking place September 24 to October 2, 2015. Screened during the ZFF, a comprehensive retrospective comprising a number of his productions will offer insight into his work. Mike Leigh will also head a ZFF Public Master Class. Mike Leigh is known to cinema audiences across the globe for films such as HIGH HOPES (1988), LIFE IS SWEET (1990), NAKED (1993), SECRETS AND LIES (1996), VERA DRAKE (2004), HAPPY-GO-LUCKY (2008), ANOTHER YEAR (2010) and, most recently, MR. TURNER (2014). Often set against the backdrop of a working-class Britain, his sensitive works have garnered a variety of important film awards.
Theatre, Television, Cinema Mike Leigh was born in 1943 in Salford, North West England. He learned his craft and his oft-praised sensitive approach to actors and actresses in the theatre. He began training as an actor and director at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and continued at the London Film School. He worked as an assistant director with the Royal Shakespeare Company and has written and directed more than 20 of his own plays, including his celebrated social comedy “Abigail’s Party”. Leigh developed his first feature in 1971 from the play BLEAK MOMENTS, a film which won him the Golden Leopard at Locarno Film Festival. He worked primarily throughout the 1970s and 80s for television and created during this period numerous films for the BBC, most of which were caustic commentaries on British society and the politics of the time. He completed his second feature film HIGH HOPES in 1988 and continued on a regular basis to create exceptional films that screened at the world’s most important film festivals and garnered countless awards, including seven Oscar nominations. In 1993 his film NAKED won the award for best director at Cannes Film Festival. In 1996, again at Cannes, his SECRETS AND LIES took the coveted Golden Palm. VERA DRAKE won the Golden Lion for Best Film at Venice Film Festival in 2004, and HAPPY-GO-LUCKY won the film’s main actress, Sally Hawkins, the Silver Bear for Best Actress at the Berlinale in 2008. Humour and Wit Star actors such as Tim Roth, Gary Oldman and Stephen Rea cut their teeth in the films of Mike Leigh, and character actors such as Alison Steadman, Jim Broadbent, Timothy Spall, Sally Hawkins and Lesley Manville appear regularly in his films. Created with humour, wit and extreme sensitivity, Mike Leigh’s films capture the struggle for survival and minor trials and tribulations of Britain’s working class. Leigh is less a social warrior and more a person who takes the weaknesses and psychological idiosyncrasies of his protagonists seriously, and develops them into dialogue-rich stories. Leigh does not write screenplays per se, but develops his films in collaboration with his actors. His productions are usually understated and low budget, exceptions include the historical drama TOPSY-TURVY (1999) and MR. TURNER, which was released last year. A retrospective of his films will be screened during the ZFF.
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James Brown Music-Biopic GET ON UP to Open 2014 Zurich Film Festival

Zurich Film Festival kicks off its 10-year jubilee edition on September 25 with the biopic music film GET ON UP from director Tate Taylor. The film tells the life story of James Brown, the Godfather of Soul. Young star Chadwick Boseman plays the charismatic singer. Chadwick Boseman and Tate Taylor will be in Zurich to attend the premiere.

In 2011, director Tate Taylor presented his Academy Award winning THE HELP as the ZFF’s Closing Film. Now he’s back with GET ON UP. He trod the Green Carpet on that occasion with Octavia Spencer, who plays the aunt of protagonist James Brown in this production. GET ON UP follows the soul & funk musician’s rise from extreme poverty to his status as a superstar of the music industry.

James Brown (1933-2006), raised in the US state of Georgia, discovered music during a stint behind bars, he joined a gospel group after being released. His distinctive voice soon helped the band secure a recording contract. Their first record „Please, Please, Please“ was released in 1956 and became a bestseller.

Brown enjoyed further success with such titles as „Try Me“, „I’ll Go Crazy“ and „Lost Someone“. His breakthrough came in 1963 with „Live at the Apollo“. His charismatic stage presence during his live performances was key to his success. Further hits, such as the song „Sex Machine“, made him one of the busiest and soon-to-be most successful artists in show business, appearing at up to 300 concerts per year.

As a self-confident Afro-American, James Brown emerged as an icon of the USA’s civil rights movement. His song title „Say It Loud – I’m Black and I’m Proud“ became one of its slogans. Brown has also appeared in many film and TV productions, the most well-known of these being the film BLUES BROTHERS (1980).

http://youtu.be/2M4JjXfxqpo

In addition to Chadwick Boseman and Octavia Spencer, the cast further comprises such acting talent as Dan Aykroyd, Viola Davis and Lennie James. GET ON UP was produced, amongst others, by Academy Award winner Brian Grazer and Rolling Stones’ lead singer Mick Jagger. GET ON UP hits cinemas on September 26 in French-speaking Switzerland, October 9 in German-speaking Switzerland and November 6 in Ticino.
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9th Zurich Film Festival Winners; LA JAULA DE ORO, RENT A FAMILY INC., FINSTERWALDE WORLD, NEULAND Wins Golden Eye Awards

The 9th Zurich Film Festival awarded its main prize, the Golden Eye for Best Film in the International Feature Film Competition to to LA JAULA DE ORO by Diego Quemada-Diez (Mexico); Golden Eye for Best Film at the International Documentary Film Competition to LEJ EN FAMILY A / S (RENT A FAMILY INC.) by Kaspar Astrup Schroeder (Denmark); Golden Eye for Best Film in the German-Language Feature Film Competition to FINSTERWALDE WORLD by Frauke Finsterwalder (Germany), and Golden Eye for Best Film in the Documentary Competition Germany, Austria, Switzerland to NEULAND by Anna Thommen (Switzerland).

The Critics ‘Prize goes to FINSTERWALDE WORLD by Frauke Finsterwalder (Germany), the Audience Award goes to JOURNEY TO JAH by Noël Dernesch and Moritz Springer (Germany), and the first time awarded Audience Award of the Section ZFF for children’ given the young audience to BELIEVE by David Schein man (UK).

The Golden Eye for Best Film in the International Feature Film Competition to:
LA JAULA DE ORO by Diego Quemada-Diez (Mexico)

LA JAULA DE ORO by Diego Quemada-Diez

“Everything is better in the north”. Juan has decided to leave his impoverished home in Guatemala City and set off on the difficult journey to California with Sara and Samuel, two chance acquaintances. Sara not only cuts off her hair for the trip, but also bandages her youthful breasts and changes her name to Osvaldo. While traveling, the teenagers meet the Indio Chauk, who doesn’t speak Spanish. While Sara takes care of the forlorn boy, Juan sees the paperless child as a new threat to their travel plans, but a ride on the perilous “death train” through Mexico soon has the refugees bonding – until their paths suddenly and unexpectedly separate. Director Diego Quemada-Díez’s well-researched debut follows the infamous Central American migratory path with a group of young amateur actors, who were promptly and rightly awarded the A Certain Talent Prize after the world-premiere screening in Cannes.

A special mention goes to:
the actor Michael B. Jordan FRUITVALE STATION Ryan Coogler (USA)

The Golden Eye for Best Film at the International Documentary Film Competition to:
LEJ EN FAMILY A / S by Kaspar Astrup Schroeder (Denmark)

LEJ EN FAMILY A / S by Kaspar Astrup Schroeder

On the surface, Ryuichi Ichinokawa leads an ordinary family life. With his own home in a Tokyo suburb, this mid-forties business man lives together with his wife, two children and a Chihuahua. He has various jobs to help him pay the bills – including one that he created himself. Clients of his company, “I Want to Cheer You Up Ltd”, can rent a husband, friend, father, bridesmaid or relatives by the dozen from him. Be it at a wedding, birthday or funeral, Ryuichi and his employees take on any role in order to cast a better light upon their clients. While he is able to embody the perfect husband or the understanding father in his professional life, his ability to fill these roles at home is somewhat lacking. His family knows nothing of his unusual activities, and while his pubescent son sleeps in the marital bed, Ryuichi spends his nights sleeping on the floor in the children’s room. Will he ever realize that in order to help others, he must first help himself?

A special mention goes to:
THESE BIRDS WALK by Omar Mullick and Bassam Tariq (Pakistan)

THESE BIRDS WALK by Omar Mullick and Bassam Tariq

Karachi, Pakistan. The Edhi Home takes in homeless children regardless of whether they have run away from home or been driven out by neglect. For the last sixty years, Abdul Sattar Edhi, the founder of this social institution, has personally cared for the weakest members of society. He provides kids such as 9-year-old Omar with shelter, schooling and love, until, with the help of ambulance driver Asad – himself a former street child – he manages to find his way back to his parents. Filmed over three years, the camera follows Omar and other kids torn between a yearning for freedom and a desire to return home.

The Golden Eye for Best Film in the German-Language Feature Film Competition to:
FINSTERWALDE WORLD by Frauke Finsterwalder (Germany)

FINSTERWALDE WORLD by Frauke Finsterwalder

A journey through a surreal Germany: A police officer in a bear costume. A female documentary filmmaker who is unable to find an interesting story. A pedicurist who carefully sets aside the hard skin removed from the feet of his aged female patient. A rich couple that refuses to sit in a German-built car. A history student uninterested in a class visit to a concentration camp. A wild man training a raven in the woods. In this anthology film, all are bound by family ties or a moment of coincidence in a country where the sun always shines and everybody is beautiful, polite, successful or happy. That is until they reveal their darker side, and we discover that the step from idyll to inferno is a short one. FINSTERWORLD is an ironic antithesis of the Heimatfilm and full of malicious observations and sharp-tongued remarks. Not even the name of its director Frauke Finsterwalder remains unscathed. Rarely has German cinema produced so much black humor in one fell swoop.

A special mention goes to:
THE WOMAN, THE DARING by Marc Rensing (Germany)

The Golden Eye for Best Film in the Documentary Competition Germany, Austria, Switzerland to:
NEULAND by Anna Thommen (Switzerland)

NEULAND by Anna Thommen

An unusual scene is witnessed on Basel’s Kasernenareal during the summer of 2010: Dozens of young people are seen standing around in groups trying to follow the talk given by their teacher Mr Zingg. They arrived in Switzerland by plane, train, bus and rubber boat from Afghanistan, Cameroon, Serbia and Venezuela, and today is their first day in an integrated class. Hopes are high that they will connect with their teacher, as it is his job over the next two years to teach them the basics and idiosyncrasies of Swiss culture. Above all, Mr Zingg’s function is to prepare these adolescents, traumatized by the severe turns of fate handed to them, for occupational integration into society. As the end of school draws nearer, each of the young immigrants is faced with the same painful question: Is there a place for me in this country? The filmmaker Anna Thommen followed the students of the Basel Integration Class for two years to create her first feature-length documentary film.

A special mention goes to:
Nan Goldin – I REMEMBER YOUR FACE by Sabine Lidl (Germany)

The critic of the price Swiss Association of Film Journalists and film journalists (SVFJ) to:
FINSTERWALDE WORLD by Frauke Finsterwalder (Germany)

Audience Award
The Audience Award goes to:
JOURNEY TO JAH by Noël Dernesch and Moritz Springer (Germany)

Audience Children’s Movies
The Audience Award goes to children’s films:
BELIEVE by David Schein Man (UK)

Treatment-price competition
The first prize, awarded for the best treatment goes to the British living in Switzerland for the project STÜRM Dave Tucker – TILL I’M DEAD OR FREE.

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Hugh Jackman to Receive Golden Icon Award at Zurich Film Festival

Actor Hugh Jackman will be honored with the Golden Icon Award of this year’s Zurich Film Festival. In addition to receiving ZFF’s Golden Icon Award, Jackman will present his latest movie, the intense thriller PRISONERS, directed by Denis Villeneuve and co-starring Jake Gyllenhaal.

The festival describes Jackman as an Academy Award nominated, Golden Globe and Tony Award winning actor, who from his award-winning turn on Broadway as the 1970’s singer / songwriter Peter Allen, to his metal claw-wielding Wolverine in the lucrative X-Men franchise, Jackman has proven to be one of the most versatile actors of our time.
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AMOUR Director Michael Haneke to be Honored at Zurich Film Festival

Michael Haneke, director of the Oscar®-winning film “Amour”

The 9th Zurich Film Festival will honor Austrian screenwriter, television, film, theater and opera director Michael Haneke with the coveted A Tribute to … Award.

Hanele’s international breakthrough came with the 1989 drama THE SEVENTH CONTINENT, followed by further successes such as BENNY’S VIDEO (1992), FUNNY GAMES (1997), THE PIANO TEACHER (2001), CACH É (2005), THE WHITE RIBBON (2009) and AMOUR (2011), which won the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film.
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“THE FIRST SEA” Among Films in the German Documentary Series at 9th Zurich Film Festival

THE FIRST SEA, Clara Trischler

The 9th Zurich Film Festival (ZFF) announced its competition films in the series German documentary. All eight films are world premieres: THE FARMER YOU REMAIN Benedict Kuby (Germany), WHO IS THOMAS MULLER? by Christian Heynen (Germany), NEULAND by Anna Thommen (Switzerland), Nan Goldin – I REMEMBER YOUR FACE by Sabine Lidl (Germany), THE FIRST SEA Clara Trischler (Austria), THE FAMILY by Stefan Weinert (Germany) JOURNEY TO JAH by Noël Dernesch and Moritz Springer (Germany) and SERVICE epitome of Eric Bergkraut (Switzerland).

THE FARMER YOU REMAIN
Benedict Kuby
In THE FARMER YOU REMAIN Benedict Kuby portrayed the 82-year-old mountain farmers Wanner. For 40 years he managed his farm alone and according to old traditions. The view that the absence of descendants 10 generations-ending succession on the Wannerhof, robs him of sleep. Thus, the grumpy man looks in the Tyrolean village for a successor to – and finds him in the 20-year-old John.

WHO IS THOMAS MULLER?
Christian Heynen
Thomas Mueller is 45 years old, Catholic, 28 minutes listening to music every day, has sex 117 times a year and lives in a 90 square meter apartment. The statistically calculated average German is of course a construct. But who are the people behind the most common name in Germany. Thomas Müller and how much is in each? Christian Heynens road movie with comedic impact provides the answers.

NEULAND
Anna Thommen
From Afghanistan, Cameroon, Serbia and Venezuela – by plane, train, bus or boat rubber. They have long ways behind, the new students of Class Integration Basel. Dreaming of a better future, they have traveled to Switzerland. Zingg teacher always has only one goal in mind: to enable the people traumatized by blows a professional career. But the closer the end of school, the more agonizing arises for the young migrants the question: Is there a place for me in this country?

Nan Goldin – I REMEMBER YOUR FACE
Sabine Lidl
The oeuvre of the New York photographer Nan Goldin characterize as intimate and candid testimony of life and love – provocative, and erreged staggering. There are very personal pictures, according to Goldin’s conviction can not be separated Personal and professional. Sabine Lidl’s empathetic portrait of the charismatic American woman gives insight into a fascinating artist.

THE FIRST SEA
Clara Trischler
The sea is just 40 kilometers from her home in the West Bank. However, for Wafaa Raneen and it is unattainable, and the Israeli border is closed. An Israeli peace activist group organized a trip to the beach of Tel Aviv. Wafaa looking forward to the first visit to Israel, Raneen not going to, because they want no invitation that follow occupying the land of their family. With curious look leads us to the problems of documentation of Israeli settlement policy in mind, but also contradictions pro-Palestinian projects.

THE FAMILY
Stefan Weinert
“Two years on probation. For a gunman. That’s what? “Said the mother of one of the 136 victims who were at the German-German border death. While the perpetrators were rarely brought to justice, the affected families suffer today. THE FAMILY is the face and voice of those affected and can be so painful actually a dark chapter in the Cold War.

JOURNEY TO JAH
Noël Dernesch and Moritz Springer
Years ago they came back and broke Europe – in search of a new spiritual home and musical inspiration – to Jamaica on. The Cologne Gentleman and Alborosie Sicilians are two of the most famous European reggae musician. Add JOURNEY TO JAH they take us on a trip to Jamaica, to her musical friends and the roots of the Rastafari culture. The documentation raises an unfiltered look at a Jamaica far from the Caribbean dream and tourist idyll.

SERVICE epitomes
Eric Bergkraut
Landladies regulars, passers: The pickling, a public living room – and much more. Place of refuge and of the crash, the profundity and idling. Eric Bergkraut takes us on an enlightening journey to loud places that the (normalization) constraints of globalization (yet) resist: On the outskirts of Zurich, in the Val de Travers, to Biasca and the Hundwilerhöhi in Appenzell, where the mother of the nation wirtet.
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Ron Howard’s Formula One Racing Drama “RUSH” to Open 9th Zurich Film Festival

RUSH directed by Ron Howard

The ninth Zurich Film Festival will open on Thursday, 26 September, 2013, with the Formula One racing drama RUSH from director Ron Howard. RUSH portrays the legendary rivalry between the two Formula One drivers Niki Lauda (Daniel Bruhl) and James Hunt (Chris Hemsworth).

The film is based on the 1976 season with Lauda and his infamous accident suffered at the Nürburgring. To the surprise of his fans and competitors, and driven by the ambition to win, Lauda was back after six weeks of the life-threatening incident, and to the top of the podium with the win.

Niki Lauda is played by Daniel Brühl (GOOD BYE, LENIN!, INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS, PURPLE, PURPLE) and James Hunt by Australian actor Chris Hemsworth (THOR, SNOW WHITE AND THE HUNTSMAN). The supporting cast includes Alexandra Maria Lara whose movies include NAKED, THE FALL and THE READER.
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‘GRAVITY’ ‘DIANA’ Among First Gala Premieres Announced for 9th Zurich Film Festival

The 9th Zurich Film Festival (ZFF) taking place from 26 September to 6 October 2013, announced its first Gala Premieres: GRAVITY by Alfonso Cuarón, DEVIL’S KNOT by Atom Egoyan, THE RAILWAY MAN by Jonathan Teplitzky, JOE by David Gordon Green, DIANA by Oliver Hirschbiegel, ALL IS LOST by JC Chandor and LE WEEKEND by Roger Michell.

GRAVITY
Alfonso Cuarón
In his latest work, Mexican director Alfonso Cuarón ventures into the infinite realm of deep space in a film did is Already drawing comparison to Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY. In GRAVITY, Cuaron presents a production did pulls the audience into extraordinary spectacle of. The two astronauts Matt Kowalsky (George Clooney) and Dr. Ryan Stone (Sandra Bullock), are on a space mission When a seemingly routine spacewalk turns into a disaster: The shuttle is destroyed, leaving Ryan and Matt completely alone, tethered to nothing but each and spiraling into complete blackness.

DEVIL’S KNOT
Atom Egoyan
Armenian-Canadian auteur filmmaker Atom Egoyan, is renowned for his powerful and haunting film-drama. Loss and mourning form two key aspects of his oeuvre – and therefore apply to his most recent work DEVIL’S KNOT. Based on true events, the story centers round the brutal murder of three children – so-called synthesis Memphis Murders kept the USA holding its breath in 1993. Three victims, all eight-year-old boy scouts are found naked and mutilated in a ditch in West Memphis. Rumours circulate soon did the children were murdered as part of satanic rituals. Three men are Suspected of committing the crime. Working for free for the defendants, private investigator Ron Lax (Colin Firth) goes in search of evidence to prove them innocent. Pam Hobbs (Reese Witherspoon), mother of one of the murdered boys, is Convinced the trio is guilty – until the first feelings of doubt surface.

THE RAILWAY MAN
Jonathan Teplitzky
THE RAILWAY MAN, by Australian director Jonathan Teplitzky, is the screen adaptation of an autobiographical novel of the same name by Eric Lomax: officer During the Second World War, this Scottish (Colin Firth) is captured by the Japanese and sent to a prisoner of was camp, where he is forced to work on the Thai-Burma Railway, also known as the Death Railway, after more than 100 000 victims perished during the laying of its tracks. Lomax survives but Continues to suffer the psychological trauma of his wartime experiences. Years later, Lomax, supported by his wife Patti (Nicole Kidman) and his best friend Finlay (Stellan Skarsgård), returns to the scene of his torture where he meets his former captor. Will this journey turn into a campaign of revenge – or wants Lomax finally manage to put his past and its ghosts to rest?

JOE
David Gordon Green
In the dirty unruly world of small-town Texas, ex-convict Joe Ransom (Nicolas Cage) has tried to put his dark past behind him and to live a simple life. He works for a lumber company by day, by night drinks. But When 15-year-old Gary (Tye Sheridan) – a kid trying to support his family – comes to town, desperate for work, Joe has found a way to atone for his sins – to finally be someone’s hero. As Joe tries to protect Gary, the pair will take the twisting road to redemption in the hope for a better life in this tough, hard-hitting but incredibly moving story.

Equally as overwhelming as it is gloomy, this is a beautifully filmed modern-day fairytale by Southern State Director Gordon Green (GEORGE WASHINGTON, ALL THE REAL GIRLS, PINEAPPLE EXPRESS) based on a 1991 novel of the same name by Larry Brown.

DIANA
Oliver Hirschbiegel
So is the highly anticipated biopic of one of the most popular royals of all time: Diana, Princess of Wales, played by Naomi Watts. Following the breakdown of her marriage to Prince Charles, Princess Diana finds her great love in the heart surgeon Hasnat Khan (Naveen Andrews). When this relationship collapses Following Following enormous media interest, Diana begins a new affair with Dodi Al-Fayed.

Approximately 15 years after her tragic accidental death in Paris, Oliver Hirschbiegel highlights Diana’s personal path to happiness and her commitment to humanitarian issues. DIANA is the portrait of a strong yet distraught woman balancing motherhood, her duties and her heart’s desires.

Hirschbiegel (DAS EXPERIMENT, THE DOWNFALL et al.) Attended the 2 ^nd Zurich Film Festival as a jury member and therefore presented FIVE MINUTES TO HEAVEN as a gala premiere here in 2009.

ALL IS LOST
JC Chandor
The one-man odyssey ALL IS LOST depicts the thrilling adventure of an experienced sailor (Robert Redford) cruising the Indian Ocean in his sailboat. A spectacular fight for survival begins Following Following a collision with a freight container. Despite his nautical skills and incredible will to survive, the skipper soon finds himself having to stare death in the eye.

Director of this gripping survival drama is Jeffrey C. Chandor, Whose Oscar-nominated MARGIN CALL production celebrated a gala premiere screening at the 7 ^th Zurich Film Festival.

LE WEEKEND
Roger Michell
LE WEEKEND is an accurate and humorous excursion into the nature of love, or more described precisely: How a long-married British couple attempt to rekindle Their love life. Played by Jim Broadbent and Lindsay Duncan, the two Protagonists return to Paris for the first time since Their honeymoon. There They bump into a former colleague (Jeff Goldblum) who turns Their Lives upsidedown. LE WEEKEND is a captivating and enjoyable celebration of big emotions set before the mundane backdrop of the City of Lights and directed by Roger Michell (NOTTING HILL, HYDE PARK ON HUDSON).

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Swiss Films “THE BLACK BROTHERS” “HILLSIDE” “GERGIEV – A CERTAIN MADNESS” are First Films Announced for 2013 Zurich Film Festival

The 9th Zurich Film Festival (ZFF) announced its first films – three Swiss films that will have their world premiere at the upcoming festival. The films are the remake of the youth’s classic THE BLACK BROTHERS by Oscar-winner Xavier Koller, Markus Imboden HILLSIDE, the cinema adaptation of the eponymous bestseller by Markus Werner, as well as the documentary GERGIEV – A CERTAIN MADNESS, in which the photographer Alberto Venzago the Russian conductor Valery Gergiev exception comes into focus.

THE BLACK BROTHERS
Xavier Koller

A world premiere celebrates the remake of the classic YA THE BLACK BROTHERS Tetzner Lisa and Kurt Held in the newly created program section “Children and family films.” The 1940/41, published a fictionalized novel dark chapter Ticino social history: Material hardship forced many farming families to hire out their underage sons in the northern Italian cities, where they were under inhuman conditions as chimney sweeps agents risking their lives daily. The novel portrays vividly how Giorgio rebels against his fate with his fellow establishes a protective collar and finally the dangerous escape ventured back into the home.

As a director, acting Oscar winner Xavier Koller. Giorgio is played by the rediscovery Finn handle, which makes his screen debut here. Beside him, Moritz Bleibtreu act in the role of ruthless trafficker Luini, Waldemar Kobus as Kaminfegermeister Rossi and Richy Müller as Father Roberto.

HILLSIDE
Markus Imboden

No less excited waiting for the film adaptation HILLSIDE. Markus Werner was presented in 2004 with the novel a profound relationship thriller. Two men, random acquaintances, whose characters could not be more, can be applied to a dialogue about the capriciousness of love and beyond in a female phantom, which they always bring each other closer – dangerously close. The cinematic presentation concerned with Markus Imboden an award-winning director whose last work, Der Verdingbub became the local Blockbuster. Imboden was available to a performer Trio: Martina Gedeck embodies the female phantom, Henry and Max Hübchen Simonischek the male antagonists.

GERGIEV – A CERTAIN MADNESS
Alberto Venzago

Third in league is the documentary GERGIEV – A CERTAIN MADNESS by Alberto Venzago. The realized production with great expenditure of time focused on the Russian conductor Valery Gergiev, a force of nature in the international music scene. Every year at Easter complete the Maestro and 115 musicians from the St. Petersburg Mariinsky Theatre, a veritable tour de force: the Trans-Siberian Express traveling over 10,000 kilometers strike up to every night in a different place. “We need to bring culture to the people – not the other way around”, Gergiev justified this commitment. With GERGIEV – A CERTAIN MADNESS Alberto Venzago proves once more that he equally at home in the movie – and a firm grasp – as in the photograph.
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“WORLD Z” and “MONSTER BALL” Director Marc Forster to Head Jury for 2013 Zurich Film Festival

WORLD WAR Z Director Marc Forster

Swiss-German director, producer and screenwriter Marc Forster, whose most recent film WORLD WAR Z starring Brad Pitt is currently in theaters will preside over the jury for the 2013 Zurich Film Festival (ZFF), taking place September 26 – October 6.

Ever since his big breakthrough in 2001, the 43-year-old Marc Forster has directed many films, from the award winning drama MONSTER’S BALL to the melancholy FINDING NEVERLAND, from the experimental film STAY to the cinematic adaptation THE KITE RUNNER and the James Bond adventure QUANTUM OF SOLACE, from the tragicomedy STRANGER THAN FICTION to the social study MACHINE GUN PREACHER and last but not least to the blockbusting WORLD WAR Z.

The other members of the jury include American producer Stacy Sher, (PULP FICTION and DJANGO UNCHAINED), Indian producer, Guneet Monga (THE LUNCHBOX and MONSOON SHOOTOUT), Australian director and screenwriter Andrew Dominik (THE ASSASSINATION OF JESSE JAMES BY THE COWARD ROBERT FORD with Brad Pitt and Casey Affleck, and KILLING THEM SOFTLY) and Luzern-born Swiss director, screenwriter and producer Thaoms Imbach (HAPPINESS IS A WARM GUN).
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