Zurich Film Festival
68,000 people at the 16th Zurich Film Festival
Who would have thought the Zurich Film Festival would take place this year? Then when it did, how many people would come to the cinemas?
The ZFF´s team revealed the numbers of visitors for the full 10 days: 68,000 people bought tickets to see the 165 films. It was a real success for the new directors Christian Jungen and Elke Mayer.
“We are highly satisfied,” sums up director Christian Jungen. “With the ZFF, we wanted to send a signal of optimism and new beginnings. And we succeeded. It has been shown that people are keen on cinema again.” Around 100 screenings were completely sold out; more than 100 of the 165 films were over 90 per cent sold out in the cinemas. After deducting the seats that had to be left vacant due to the security measures, the attendance figures are on a par with the previous year. “We have proven that it is possible to organise a cultural event even under the current conditions. Now we hope that other organisers will dare to resume operations and that people will go to the cinema more often,” said Jungen.
Award Night Ceremony – Christian Jungen and Elke Mayer (©Andreas Rentz/Getty Images for Zurich Film Festival)
The French actress Juliette Binoche received the most honourable award for her career accomplishment. The French director and actress Maïwenn received the A Tribute to… Award. Til Schweiger received a Golden Eye Award for his career and Rolf Lyssy was awarded with the Career Achievement Award.
This year all main prizes went to women directors. The award ceremony happened as the previous years in the beautiful Zurich opera house.
Award Night Ceremony ©Andreas Rentz/Getty Images for Zurich Film Festival
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- The Golden Eye of the Focus Competition – HOCHWALD – An Austrian film by Evi Romen. It tells the story of Mario, a young South Tyrolean who wants to become a dancer and falls in love with his childhood friend Lenz.
- The Golden Eye of the Feature Film Competition – SIN SEÑAS PARTICULARES/IDENTIFYING FEATURES, by Mexican Fernanda Valadez. The drama is a debut for the director and tells the story of a Mexican mother in search of her son who wanted to emigrate to the USA but was kidnapped on the way.
- The Documentary Film TIME by Garrett Bradley. The long-term documentary portrays Sibil and her husband Rob, who robbed a bank 21 years ago. While she got away with a light sentence, he was sentenced to 60 years in Louisiana state prison.
Award Night Ceremony – Winner (©Tim Hughes for Zurich Film Festival)
We hope you enjoyed your time at the movies. The 17th Zurich Film Festival is scheduled to take place from September 23rd to October 3rd, 2021.
Stay tuned for upcoming interesting interviews with film directors who came to the festival.
