Glenn Close (with Jonathan Pryce) in The Wife[/caption]
Actress Glenn Close will receive the Golden Icon Award at this year’s Zurich Festival, and present her latest film, The Wife with her co-stars Jonathan Pryce and Annie Starke and director Björn Runge.
The Golden Icon Award is the Festival’s most prestigious symbol of recognition, in appreciation of the lifetime achievements of an actor or actress. Glenn Close will be honored with the award on Sunday October 1.
ZFF Co-Directors Nadja Schildknecht and Karl Spoerri state “We’re honored to present Glenn Close with our Golden Icon Award at this year’s Festival. From her commanding portrayal of Patty Hewes in Damages to the glorious Marquise de Merteuil in Stephen Frears’ Dangerous Liasions via Alex Forrest and Cruella De Vil, Glenn Close has brought her extraordinary presence to countless memorable roles over a truly formidable career. We are delighted to welcome her to Zurich and screen her latest film The Wife.”
Zurich Film Festival
The Zurich Film Festival provides a platform for the most promising filmmakers from around the globe. It aims to promote exchange between emerging directors, successful film workers, the film industry and the general public. Every autumn, the ZFF presents the year’s greatest discoveries and most anticipated films.
Zurich Film Festival started in 2005 and takes place in Zurich, Switzerland
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Glenn Close to Receive Zurich Film Festival’s Golden Icon Award and Present Latest Film THE WIFE
[caption id="attachment_23598" align="aligncenter" width="1296"] Glenn Close (with Jonathan Pryce) in The Wife[/caption]
Actress Glenn Close will receive the Golden Icon Award at this year’s Zurich Festival, and present her latest film, The Wife with her co-stars Jonathan Pryce and Annie Starke and director Björn Runge.
The Golden Icon Award is the Festival’s most prestigious symbol of recognition, in appreciation of the lifetime achievements of an actor or actress. Glenn Close will be honored with the award on Sunday October 1.
ZFF Co-Directors Nadja Schildknecht and Karl Spoerri state “We’re honored to present Glenn Close with our Golden Icon Award at this year’s Festival. From her commanding portrayal of Patty Hewes in Damages to the glorious Marquise de Merteuil in Stephen Frears’ Dangerous Liasions via Alex Forrest and Cruella De Vil, Glenn Close has brought her extraordinary presence to countless memorable roles over a truly formidable career. We are delighted to welcome her to Zurich and screen her latest film The Wife.”
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Former Vice President Al Gore to Present AN INCONVENIENT SEQUEL: TRUTH TO POWER at Zurich Film Festival
Former Vice President Gore will attend the 2017 Zurich Film Festival to present An Inconvenient Sequel: Truth to Power, the long awaited follow-up to An Inconvenient Truth, on Sunday October 8th at the Corso Cinema.
A decade afterAn Inconvenient Truth brought climate change into the heart of popular culture, comes the riveting and rousing follow-up that shows just how close we are to a real energy revolution. Vice President Al Gore continues his tireless fight traveling around the world training an army of climate champions and influencing international climate policy.
Cameras follow him behind the scenes – in moments both private and public, funny and poignant – as he pursues the inspirational idea that while the stakes have never been higher, the perils of climate change can be overcome with human ingenuity and passion.
ZFF Co-Directors Nadja Schildknecht and Karl Spoerri comment “We are proud to welcome Al Gore, one of the most globally influential politicians, environmental activists and Nobel Prize winners of recent years.An Inconvenient Truth was a truly powerful and impactful movie and we respect his continued efforts to inform and inspire audiences around the world. We are delighted to be able to screen An Inconvenient Sequel: Truth to Power.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=huX1bmfdkyA
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2015 Zurich Film Festival Awards, RAMS Wins Top ‘Golden Eye’ Award
RAMS (HRÚTAR) by Grimur Hakonarson from Iceland continues its winning streak, grabbing the top award, the Golden Eye for International Feature Film at the 11th Zurich Film Festival. Winner of the Un Certain Regard Award at 2015 Cannes Film Festival, Rams “details the hardships of daily farm work in remote Iceland with humanism and humor,” where two brothers who haven’t spoken in forty years will have to come together in order to save what’s dearest to them : their rams.
The other top 2015 Zurich Film Festival Awards – Golden Eye awards went KINGS OF NOWHERE (LOS REYES DEL PUEBLO QUE NO EXISTE) by Betzabé García from Mexico for International Documentary Film and THANK YOU FOR BOMBING by Barbara Eder from Austria for Focus: Switzerland, Germany, Austria.
The Emerging Swiss Talent Award given to a Swiss film went to THE MIRACLE OF TEKIR by Ruxandra Zenide (Switzerland). The Critics’ Choice Award goes to PIKADERO by Ben Sharrock (Spain), The Audience Award goes to AMATEUR TEENS by Niklaus Hilber (Switzerland) and the Audience Award in the ZFF for Kids section goes to SUPILINNA SALASELTS by Margus Paju (Estonia).
2015 Zurich Film Festival Awards
Golden Eye for Best International Feature Film:
HRÚTAR by Grimur Hakonarson (Iceland, Denmark)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?t=1&v=IybJjb3VHhM
A Special Mention goes to:
Koudous Seihon (actor) in MEDITERRANEA by Jonas Carpignano (Italy, France, USA, Germany, Qatar)
Marielle Heller (director) for THE DIARY OF A TEENAGE GIRL (USA)
Golden Eye for Best International Documentary Film:
KINGS OF NOWHERE (LOS REYES DEL PUEBLO QUE NO EXISTE) by Betzabé García (Mexico)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=49kLABSplPM
A Special Mention goes to:
KILLING TIME – ENTRE DEUX FRONTS by Lydie Wisshaupt-Claudel (Belgium, France)
Golden Eye for Best Film in the Focus: Switzerland, Germany, Austria:
THANK YOU FOR BOMBING by Barbara Eder (Austria)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KpE4RSMuLTs
A Special Mention goes to:
GRUBER GEHT by Marie Kreutzer (Austria)
The Emerging Swiss Talent Award for Best Swiss Film:
THE MIRACLE OF TEKIR by Ruxandra Zenide (Switzerland/Rumania)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zd8fGetLsWw
Critic’s Choice Award
The Swiss Association of Film Journalists (SVFJ) award their prize for Best Debut Feature Film in the Competition Section to:
PIKADERO by Ben Sharrock (Spain, UK)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3r5Cv5_YugY
Audience Award
AMATEUR TEENS by Niklaus Hilber (Switzerland)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?t=1&v=o5tjEnAJc5E
Audience Award for Children’s Film
SUPILINNA SALASELTS by Margus Paju (Estonia)
Treatment Competition Award
Stefanie Klemm for RENATAS ERWACHEN (Switzerland)
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Swiss directors Michael Steiner and Jan Gassmann Win 1st Filmmaker Award at 11th Zurich Film Festival
Oscar winner Christoph Waltz presented the first-ever ‘Filmmaker Award’ on Saturday Evening to the two Swiss directors Michael Steiner and Jan Gassmann. Michael Steiner’s project “Und morgen seid ihr tot” (“Tomorrow You’ll Be Dead”) received CHF 75’000 and Jan Gassmann’s project “Europe, She Loves” received CHF 25’000. The two winners were chosen from a total of four nominated projects.
The presentation took place at the IWC gala dinner‚ For the Love of Cinema held as part of the 11th Zurich Film Festival.
Said the delighted film actor Christoph Waltz: “I am proud to be here in person to present this award, which is very important for the Swiss film industry”. He continued: “Providing sponsorship for filmmakers is a necessary and relevant task, one which makes a significant contribution to the diversity of Swiss film.” Christoph Waltz shot to fame with roles in INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS and DJANGO UNCHAINED by the American cult director Quentin Tarantino.
The project UND MORGEN SEID IHR TOT from producers Bernhard Burgener and Norbert Preuss tells the true story of two Swiss citizens, Daniela Widmer and David Och, who were kidnapped by the Taliban in Pakistan in July 2011 and succeeded in making a spectacular escape after eight months spent in captivity. Shooting is planned to start in February 2016. The film will be directed by Michael Steiner, known for his works MEIN NAME IST EUGEN and GROUNDING.
Now in post-production, the project EUROPE, SHE LOVES from producer Lisa Blatter portrays five couples forced to draw deep on their reserves of wit and love as they struggle for everyday survival in a Europe shaken by the economic crisis. “The scripts of both these films stood out for their compelling storytelling and the exceptional sensitivity with which these two very different stories were told. Hopefully we’ll be able to see both of them on the big screen soon,” said IWC CEO Georges Kern during the award ceremony.
For director Marc Forster, who was also a member of the jury, the Filmmaker Award represents a real milestone for the domestic film industry: “By specifically backing projects in the pre- or post-production stages, we are plugging a gap in the existing funding available for films,” he explained.
image credit: IWC SCHAFFHAUSEN FOR THE LOVE OF CINEMA GALA DINNER
26 SEPTEMBER, ZURICH, SWITZERLAND Bernhard Burgener, Norbert Preuss and Michael Steiner (Und morgen seid ihr tot) and Lisa Blatter and Jan Gassmann (Europe, She Loves) receive the Filmmaker Award. The award was set up by the Association for the Promotion of Film in Switzerland (Verein zur Filmfoerderung in der Schweiz), a non-profit organization founded by Marc Forster, IWC CEO Georges Kern, the co-directors of the Zurich Film Festival Nadja Schildknecht and Karl Spoerri, and the CEO of Ringier, Marc Walder. (Photo by Lennart Preiss/Getty Images for IWC)
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Steve Golin Producer of SPOTLIGHT, to Receive Zurich Film Festival’s Career Achievement Award
US producer Steve Golin will be the recipient of the 2015 Zurich Film Festival’s Career Achievement Award. He will bring along his latest feature film SPOTLIGHT, which will screen at the festival as a Gala Premiere. Golin will also attend the festival together with showrunner Sam Esmail and the actors Christian Slater and Rami Malek from the TV series MR. ROBOT. The award and celebration will include a retrospective featuring some of his most popular hit films.
Steve Golin is the founder and CEO of the multimedia development, production and talent management company Anonymous Content. He made his name with such films as BABEL, ETERNAL SUNSHINE OF THE SPOTLESS MIND and BEING JOHN MALKOVICH. Starring Rachel McAdams in the lead and such greats as Liev Schreiber, Mark Ruffalo, Michael Keaton, Stanley Tucci, John Slattery and Billy Crudup in further roles, his latest production SPOTLIGHT screens as a Gala Premiere on Monday September 28.
Written and directed by Tom McCarthy, SPOTLIGHT tells the true story of how the Boston Globe uncovered the massive scandal of child molestation and cover-up within the local Catholic Archdiocese, shaking the entire Catholic Church to its core. Golin produced the film with Michael Sugar, Nicole Rocklin and Blye Pagon Faust.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yXymzwz0V2g
Steve Golin has produced a number of feature films throughout his career, including David Fincher’s THE GAME, Spike Jonze’s BEING JOHN MALKOVIC, Michel Gondry’s ETERNAL SUNSHINE OF THE SPOTLESS MIND, Alejandro González Iñárritu’s BABEL and Gavin Hood’s RENDITION. BABEL received an Academy Award nomination for Best Picture in 2006.
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Arnold Schwarzenegger to be Honored at Zurich Film Festival, Fest to Screen Latest Film “MAGGIE” | TRAILER
Arnold Schwarzenegger will receive the coveted Golden Icon Award at this year’s Zurich Film Festival (ZFF), taking place September 24 to October 4, 2015.
The award is considered the Festival’s most prestigious symbol of recognition, awarded in appreciation of the lifetime achievements of an actor or actress.
In addition to receiving ZFF’s Golden Icon Award, Schwarzenegger will present his latest film, MAGGIE, and discuss his body of work in A Conversation With… Arnold Schwarzenegger’.
“We are extraordinarily proud to welcome Arnold Schwarzenegger one of Hollywood’s most iconic legends, to Zurich and are delighted that he will share his films and stories with our public,” said Zurich Film Festival Artistic Director Karl Spoerri. “Arnold has had a transformative career that no one in Hollywood can match and established himself as a global brand, even beyond the box office. We are honored to present him with our Golden Icon award at this year’s Festival.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cthHQnwk9zY
Image: Arnold Schwarzenegger with Abigail Breslin in ‘Maggie.’ Tracy Bennett/Roadside Attractions
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Kiefer Sutherland to Receive Zurich Film Festival’s ‘Golden Eye’ Award; Latest Film FORSAKEN to Gala Premiere at Fest
Golden Globe®, Emmy®, and Screen Actors Guild® winner, Kiefer Sutherland will be the recipient of the Zurich Film Festival’s prestigious ‘Golden Eye’ award. Kiefer Sutherland’s latest western-inspired film, FORSAKEN, in which he stars alongside his father Golden Globe® and Emmy® winner Donald Sutherland (“Citizen X,” “The Hunger Games”), Golden Globe® and Emmy® nominee Demi Moore (“If These Walls Could Talk,” “Ghost”) and Golden Globe® nominee and Emmy® winner Brian Cox (“Nuremberg,” “L.I.E”), has been selected for a gala premiere at the festival. The film is helmed by Emmy® winner Jon Cassar and adapted from a script by Brad Mirman.
FORSAKEN brings together two generations of a legendary acting dynasty in a riveting, bloody, and moving western that stars Kiefer Sutherland and Donald Sutherland as a long-estranged father and son attempting to make amends whilst their community is besieged by ruthless land-grabbers.
After years of wandering and making a name for himself as a formidable quick-draw gunfighter, Civil War veteran John Henry Clayton (Kiefer Sutherland) quietly returns to his hometown. Weary of his years of violence, John Henry is determined to lay down his guns for good. John Henry’s father, the Reverend William Clayton (Donald Sutherland), resolutely condemns his son’s past and is skeptical of his pledge to reform.
“I don’t know if a man can get away from who he is,” says the reverend. As father and son bear witness to a murderous gang’s appropriation of local properties — including that of John Henry’s long-lost love, Mary Alice (Demi Moore) — John Henry is faced with an onerous existential dilemma. Is it better to turn the other cheek or to use his deadly talents to dispose of the villains — led by powerful landlord and saloon keeper McCurdy (Brian Cox) — who are corrupting the town?
FORSAKEN poses complex moral questions as it escalates in suspense and mayhem, comparable to classics of the genre such as Academy Award® and Golden Globe® winning film, “Unforgiven.” John Henry alternately displays tenderness and cold-blooded skill, while Reverend Clayton comes to realize that his stern moral code does not necessarily offer salvation.
FORSAKEN offers thrilling action and gorgeous pastoral vistas, but at its core it’s a universal tale of arduous familial reconciliation — brought to life by a real-life father and son who just happen to be two of the screen’s finest living talents. Producers of FORSAKEN are Kevin DeWalt, Gary Howsam, Bill Marks, Josh Miller and Isabella Marchese Ragona.
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4 Finalist for 2015 Zurich Film Festival Filmmaker Award, Christoph Waltz to Preside Over Jury
German-Austrian actor Christoph Waltz (pictured above in INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS) will preside over the jury for Filmmaker Award at the 2015 Zurich Film Festival. Waltz will also hold a keynote conversation at the Zurich Summit, and strut the Green Carpet for press and public before presenting the screening of Quentin Tarantino’s INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS at the corso cinema. The four finalists competing for the Filmmaker Award are: EUROPE, SHE LOVES; GOLIATH; UND MORGEN SEID IHR TOT; and WAFFENLÄUFER.
The Four Nominees and Their Projects
EUROPE, SHE LOVES
Producer: Lisa Blatter (2:1 Film GmbH), Andreas Hörl (lüthje schneider hörl | FILM) Director: Jan Gassmann
Director Jan Gassmann and his small team travelled 20,000 kilometres in a bus to film portraits of couples in Seville, Dublin, Tallinn, Zagreb and Thessaloniki. The result is a semi-fictional political documentary about Europe during the economic crisis, and portrays the daily struggle for survival of five couples who use their reserves of wit and love. The storyline of the film, which is now in post-production, moves cleverly between fiction and documentary. The intimate camerawork and the bleak atmosphere are striking.
GOLIATH
Producers: Dario Schoch, Rajko Jazbec (Cognito Films)
Director: Dominik Locher
Goliath tells the tale of the young David, who is mugged while on the way home with his pregnant girlfriend. This leaves him feeling like a weakling. Rendered insecure in his role as a man and father-to-be, he pumps himself full of anabolic steroids – only to turn into a threat to his family, who he had actually wanted to impress and protect. Goliath began shooting in July 2015, and is directed by Dominik Locher, who trained at Zurich University of the Arts and the American Film Institute and is considered to be one of Switzerland’s most promising directors.
UND MORGEN SEID IHR TOT (TOMORROW YOU’LL BE DEAD)
Producer: Bernhard Burgener, Norbert Preuss (Kontraproduktion AG)
Director: Michael Steiner
This film tells the true story of Daniela Widmer and David Och, two Swiss citizens kidnapped by the Taliban in July 2011 while on a trip along Pakistan’s historic Silk Road. After eight months in captivity they managed to make their escape. According to the gripping script, the film will tackle the difficult time after their return to Switzerland and examine the events that took place in Pakistan. Shooting is planned to start in India in February 2016. The film will be directed by well-known Swiss director Michael Steiner (Grounding, Mein Name ist Eugen).
WAFFENLÄUFER (THE GUN RUNNER)
Producers: Stefan Eichenberger, Ivan Madeo (CONTRAST FILM)
Director: Hannes Baumgartner
Zurich-based director and winner of the Zurich Film Award Hannes Baumgartner chose a controversial topic for his first movie: his story of Jonas Fischer is based on the real-life tragedy of a famous Swiss long-distance runner. At the peak of his sporting career, it is revealed that he has been living an ill-fated double life and is in fact wanted across Switzerland for over two-dozen attacks on women, who he robbed, injured or murdered. The Waffenläufer project is currently in the financing stage.
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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.