ZFF 2022

Screened in the Focus Competition are first, second or third directorial works from Switzerland, Germany and Austria. Screened as world premieres are the documentary films STUNTWOMEN by Elena Avdija, which sheds light on the hard-hitting daily business of professional stuntwomen, as well as Laura Kaehr’s BECOMING GIULIA, which portrays the prima ballerina Giulia Tonelli who has to fight to keep her place in the elite ballet company after maternity leave. Both are the directors’ first feature-length films.

In her documentary film GIRL GANG, Susanne Regina Meures offers an intimate glimpse into the life of a Berlin-based influencer and social-media megastar. The film is in the Documentary Selection of the European Film Awards. Antione Cattin’s HOLIDAYS is a cinematic mosaic shot in St. Petersburg that tells of a divided Russian society, xenophobia, class differences and gender relations. Both films celebrated their premieres at the Copenhagen International Documentary Film Festival CPH:DOX and will now make their Swiss premieres at the ZFF.

The #FocusCompetition consists of 14 films, 9 of them by female directors. A recurring theme in films like BECOMING GIULIA and GIRL GANG is the topic of identity. #ZFF2022 pic.twitter.com/dHrC90Q8fo

— Zurich Film Festival (@zurichfilmfest) September 8, 2022

Also screened as Swiss premieres are two feature film debuts with striking, young leading actresses: THE WATER by Elena López Riera and THUNDER by Carmen Jaquier were both screened at the renowned film festivals in Toronto and San Sebastian in September. The same goes for the Canadian-Swiss coproduction SOMETHING YOU SAID LAST NIGHT by Luis de Filippis, which is in the running for the Golden Eye in the Feature Film Competition.

Gala premieres for Swiss feature films

Barbara Kulcsar’s best-age comedy GOLDEN AGE, starring the much-loved Swiss actors Stefan Kurt and Esther Gemsch, will celebrate its world premiere in the out-of-competition Gala Premieres section. In addition, Laurent Nègre’s political thriller A FORGOTTEN MAN, inspired by Thomas Hürlimann’s stage play “Der Gesandte”, highlights the shady role of the Swiss ambassador in Hitler’s Reich.

Also presented in the Gala Premieres section are Ursula Meier’s Berlinale film THE LINE and Kirill Serebrennikov’s Cannes film TCHAIKOVSKY’S WIFE, coproduced by Dan Wechsler and his company Bord Cadre film in Geneva.

Special Screenings with a crazed Heidi

The Special Screenings section will present the Swiss premiere of Jan Gassmann’s Cannes film 99 MOONS as well as the world premieres of Heinz Bütler’s documentary film ALBERT ANKER. MALSTUNDEN BEI RAFFAEL and the eagerly awaited action-adventure MAD HEIDI. Directors Johannes Hartmann and Sandro Klopfstein catapult the world-famous children’s book character into dystopian Switzerland that has fallen under the rule of a fascist cheese magnate. The film will be befittingly juxtaposed with the screening of a restored version of Luigi Comencini’s classic film HEIDI (1952).

Also presented as a Special Screening and world premiere will be the FUTURA! short film collection: ten original short documentaries by ten young Swiss filmmakers portray Switzerland in all its diversity, changing and developing at a rapid pace. This project was developed in collaboration with the Akka Films, Cinédokké and Dschoint Ventschr production companies and SRG SSR, RSI, RTS and SRF media.

RÄUBER HOTZENPLOTZ on the big screen

The ZFF children’s programme includes Dominique Othenin-Girard’s feature film COLOMBINE and the film version of the classic children’s book RÄUBER HOTZENPLOTZ by Michael Krummenacher. The latter was produced by the tried-and-tested German-Swiss team Claussen+Putz Filmproduktion and Zodiac Pictures, which have enjoyed enormous success at the box office with the children’s films DIE KLEINE HEXE, HEIDI and DAS KLEINE GESPENST.

A platform for Switzerland’s Oscar entry

In collaboration with SWISS FILMS, the ZFF has organised an exclusive screening of A PIECE OF SKY (DRII WINTER), Switzerland’s Oscar entry. Members of the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences attending the festival will have the opportunity to see the film in the presence of director Michael Koch and producer Christof Neracher (Hugofilm).