Nicolas Cage’s “Dream Script” opens Zurich, Jessica Chastain, Ethan Hawke, Mads Mikkelsen among festival guests

The Zurich Film Festival opens on Thursday with the European premiere of Kristoffer Borgli’s “Dream Script,” starring Nicolas Cage. The festival boasts a strong line-up of international films, including Bradley Cooper’s Maestro, Yorgos Lanthimos’s Poor Men and Emerald Fennell’s Saltburn, and high-profile guests including Jessica Chastain, Ethan Hawke, Todd Haynes, Mads Mikkelsen. , Pete Doherty, Diane Kruger and Wim Wenders.

This year the Film Festival is showing a record number of world and European premieres – 52 out of 148. Another 52 films are debut works. “Such a large number reflects ZFF’s growing reputation in the global film industry,” says ZFF artistic director Christian Jungen. “The Zurich Film Festival is the ideal festival to raise the profile of films in the upcoming awards season.”

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Praising “Dream Script,” Jungen notes, “Film is like a seismograph that records trends in society, what we talk about, what worries us, and the impact of social media on the daily lives of ordinary people is certainly a big topic. .

“The film is a dark comedy about a professor whose life changes completely when he becomes a social media star, but it is also a reflection of not only celebrity culture, but also the cancel culture that often follows celebrity culture. I think this is one of the best performances of Nicolas Cage’s career. I’m curious to see how it resonates with our audience here.”

ZFF is also a key platform for works in German, Jungen notes. “It is important for us to have world premieres of major German productions such as Stella. Life.'”

Kilian Ridhof’s World War II film tells the fact-based story of a young Jewish woman in Berlin who, while trying to survive and save herself and her parents from deportation to Auschwitz, is forced by the Gestapo to betray other Jews, including her friends.

“It’s a very moving film because she’s both a victim and a perpetrator,” Jungen says.

Another major German-language film is Hans Steinbichler’s A Whole Life, an adaptation of Robert Seethaler’s best-selling novel. “It’s about someone growing up in the Alps and how the Alps have changed thanks to tourism. This resonates particularly well in Switzerland.”

South Korean cinema is the focus of the festival’s New Worldview section, which highlights countries experiencing a cinematic renaissance.

“There has been a new wave of talent and quality for 10 to 15 years now,” Jungen says. “What’s really amazing is that the quality of the production—the technical quality, the editing, the camera—is truly at Hollywood level. The stories are often about the complex connections between rich and poor, and are often genre films but with a social conscience. And although they have local roots, these themes are very universal.”

On the industry side, ZFF pays tribute to Fred Kogel, CEO of Munich-based entertainment group Leonine Studios, and Swiss producer Michel Merkt, whose recent credits include Ruben Östlund’s Palme d’Or-winning film Triangle of Sadness.

“Fred Kogel has a long career in film and entertainment,” Jungen notes. “He is truly a visionary. Together with Leonine Studios, he built a studio from the ground up that allows creative people to do what they love best, be creative and make their films. And the parent company takes care of all other aspects: marketing, distribution.”

Jungen adds: “Leonine is able to create films that have a wider appeal and that can also be seen internationally.” The company has achieved enormous success worldwide with its family film franchise, School for Magical Animals.

ZFF presents Koegel with the Game Changer Award, “in recognition of how he changed German industry. He is Bayern Munich from Germany – number 1 in his market, but also capable of making a splash internationally.”

As for Merkt, Jungen says the Geneva native “really helps authors realize their ideas.”

Merkt, who received the ZFF Career Achievement Award, has worked with the likes of David Cronenberg, Paul Verhoeven, Maren Ade, Jacques Audiard and Xavier Dolan.

He also demonstrated that films from a small country like Switzerland can “be a big success internationally if you have the right attitude. We have a close relationship with him – 15 of his productions have been shown at the Zurich Film Festival, and he was a member of the jury here in 2017… It seemed like the right moment to celebrate this extraordinary career.”

The festival will feature Merkt’s latest production, “Passages” by Ira Sachs.

The Zurich Summit, ZFF’s largest industry event, will once again keep its finger on the pulse of the industry through daylong discussions on some of the most pressing issues facing the entertainment sector.

“The hot topic we’re going to discuss is, are film festivals moving away from what works in movie theaters?”

Film festivals should promote films as well as facilitate their theatrical presentation, Jungen adds. “But more and more, some film festivals are becoming smaller, maybe edgier, but taking on a life of their own. It’s like you have festival films and then market films. We are going to discuss what the role of festivals is these days. Shouldn’t festivals remain tied to the market? At least in Zurich we want to be present for films that are also released after their premiere here at our festival.”

Another hot topic will be “how to bring positivity back to an industry that needs healing, deals and an end to strikes.”

“As hard as it was to get stars this year and the strike was a nightmare – a lot of decisions were put on hold or you didn’t get answers – on the industry side everyone wanted to come. There is a great need to meet, exchange views and talk, so I think the Zurich summit will take place at the right time.”

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