2008 Zurich Film Festival
Encyclopedia
The third annual 2008 Zurich Film Festival
runs from September 25 through October 5, 2008. Actor Peter Fonda
will act as prexy of the feature film jury. The festival will introduce a new section this year, Panorama D, dedicated to German-language film from Germany, Austria and Switzerland. The showcase opens with the Nicolette Krebitz
-directed psychological drama, Das Herz ist ein dunkler Wald (The Heart Is a Dark Forest).
Highlights of the festival include recent Toronto
and Venice Film Festival
hits such as the Coen brothers' Burn After Reading
, and the psychological Iraq war thriller, The Hurt Locker
directed by Kathryn Bigelow
, as well as the controversial film Religulous
, featuring Bill Maher
and lensed by Larry Charles
. Also screening is a documentary about iconic filmmaker Roman Polanski
directed by Marina Zenovichm, Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired
. Two films at the festival will feature the work of award-winning actor, the always compelling Sir Ben Kingsley
, Elegy
directed by Isabel Coixet
and The Wackness
helmed by Jonathan Levine
.
Documentary Jury:
Zurich Film Festival
The Zurich Film Festival ' is an important international film festival, held annually in Zurich, Switzerland. A stated objective of the festival is to discover and support young, aspiring filmmakers and to offer the industry, audiences, the press and a broader public an exciting cinema experience...
runs from September 25 through October 5, 2008. Actor Peter Fonda
Peter Fonda
Peter Henry Fonda is an American actor. He is the son of Henry Fonda, brother of Jane Fonda, and father of Bridget and Justin Fonda...
will act as prexy of the feature film jury. The festival will introduce a new section this year, Panorama D, dedicated to German-language film from Germany, Austria and Switzerland. The showcase opens with the Nicolette Krebitz
Nicolette Krebitz
Nicolette Krebitz is a director, actress, model and singer. She is often credited as "Coco" in her creative works.-Life and work:Nicolette Krebitz made her film debut at age eleven...
-directed psychological drama, Das Herz ist ein dunkler Wald (The Heart Is a Dark Forest).
Highlights of the festival include recent Toronto
2008 Toronto International Film Festival
The 2008 Toronto International Film Festival, was held in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. This 33rd annual festival was from September 4 to September 13, 2008...
and Venice Film Festival
65th Venice International Film Festival
The 65th Venice International Film Festival, held in Venice, Italy, was opened on August 27, 2008 by Burn After Reading, and closed on September 6, 2008....
hits such as the Coen brothers' Burn After Reading
Burn After Reading
Burn After Reading is a 2008 black comedy film written, produced, and directed by Joel and Ethan Coen. The film stars George Clooney, John Malkovich, Frances McDormand, Tilda Swinton, and Brad Pitt. It was released in the United States on September 12, 2008, and it was released on October 17, 2008...
, and the psychological Iraq war thriller, The Hurt Locker
The Hurt Locker
The Hurt Locker is a 2009 American war film about a three-man United States Army Explosive Ordnance Disposal team during the Iraq War. The film was directed by Kathryn Bigelow and the screenplay was written by Mark Boal, a freelance writer who was embedded as a journalist in 2004 with a US bomb...
directed by Kathryn Bigelow
Kathryn Bigelow
Kathryn Ann Bigelow is an American film director. Her best-known films are the cult horror film Near Dark , the surfer/bank robbery action picture Point Break , the science fiction/film noir Strange Days , the historical/mystery film The Weight of Water and the war drama The Hurt Locker...
, as well as the controversial film Religulous
Religulous
Religulous is a 2008 American comic documentary film written by and starring comedian Bill Maher and directed by Larry Charles. The title of the film is a portmanteau derived from the words "religion" and "ridiculous"; the documentary examines and mocks organized religion and religious...
, featuring Bill Maher
Bill Maher
William "Bill" Maher, Jr. is an American stand-up comedian, television host, political commentator, author and actor. Before his current role as the host of HBO's Real Time with Bill Maher, Maher hosted a similar late-night talk show called Politically Incorrect originally on Comedy Central and...
and lensed by Larry Charles
Larry Charles
Larry Charles is an American writer, director, and producer. He is best known as a staff writer for the American sitcom Seinfeld for its first 5 seasons, contributing some of the show's darkest and most absurd storylines...
. Also screening is a documentary about iconic filmmaker Roman Polanski
Roman Polanski
Roman Polanski is a French-Polish film director, producer, writer and actor. Having made films in Poland, Britain, France and the USA, he is considered one of the few "truly international filmmakers."...
directed by Marina Zenovichm, Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired
Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired
Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired is a 2008 documentary film directed by Marina Zenovich. It concerns film director Roman Polanski and his sexual misconduct case...
. Two films at the festival will feature the work of award-winning actor, the always compelling Sir Ben Kingsley
Ben Kingsley
Sir Ben Kingsley, CBE is a British actor. He has won an Oscar, BAFTA, Golden Globe and Screen Actors Guild awards in his career. He is known for starring as Mohandas Gandhi in the film Gandhi in 1982, for which he won the Academy Award for Best Actor...
, Elegy
Elegy
In literature, an elegy is a mournful, melancholic or plaintive poem, especially a funeral song or a lament for the dead.-History:The Greek term elegeia originally referred to any verse written in elegiac couplets and covering a wide range of subject matter, including epitaphs for tombs...
directed by Isabel Coixet
Isabel Coixet
Isabel Coixet is a Spanish film director.She received an M.A. in history from the University of Barcelona...
and The Wackness
The Wackness
The Wackness is a 2008 American coming of age drama film by Jonathan Levine and starring Ben Kingsley, Josh Peck, Famke Janssen, and Olivia Thirlby. The film is distributed by Sony Pictures Classics and was released in the U.S. on July 3, 2008.-Plot:...
helmed by Jonathan Levine
Jonathan Levine
Jonathan A. Levine is an American film director and screenwriter.-Biography:Levine won the Audience Award at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival for his film The Wackness. In January 2010, it was announced that he will direct a project entitled Warm Bodies...
.
Festival Hits & Features: Out of Competition
- BlindnessBlindness (film)Blindness is a 2008 English-language film that is an adaptation of the 1995 novel of the same name by the Portuguese writer José Saramago about a society suffering an epidemic of blindness. The film is written by Don McKellar and directed by Fernando Meirelles with Julianne Moore and Mark Ruffalo...
- directed by Fernando MeirellesFernando MeirellesFernando Ferreira Meirelles is a Brazilian film director, producer and screenwriter.He was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Director in 2004 for his work in the Brazilian film City of God, released in 2002 in Brazil and in 2003 in the U.S. by Miramax Films... - The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas (film)The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas is a 2008 historical-drama film based on the novel of the same name by Irish writer John Boyne. Directed by Mark Herman and produced by David Heyman, it stars Asa Butterfield, Jack Scanlon, David Thewlis, Vera Farmiga and Rupert Friend.A Holocaust drama, the film...
- directed by Mark HermanMark HermanMark Herman is an English film director and screenwriter best known for writing & directing the 2008 film The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas.... - Burn After ReadingBurn After ReadingBurn After Reading is a 2008 black comedy film written, produced, and directed by Joel and Ethan Coen. The film stars George Clooney, John Malkovich, Frances McDormand, Tilda Swinton, and Brad Pitt. It was released in the United States on September 12, 2008, and it was released on October 17, 2008...
- directed by the Coen brothers - Cloud 9 - directed by Andreas Dresen
- Crouching Tiger, Hidden DragonCrouching Tiger, Hidden DragonCrouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon is a 2000 wuxia film. An American-Chinese-Hong Kong-Taiwanese co-production, the film was directed by Ang Lee and featured an international cast of ethnic Chinese actors, including Chow Yun-Fat, Michelle Yeoh, Zhang Ziyi, and Chang Chen...
(2000) directed by Ang LeeAng LeeAng Lee is a Taiwanese film director. Lee has directed a diverse set of films such as Eat Drink Man Woman , Sense and Sensibility , Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon , Hulk , and Brokeback Mountain , for which he won an Academy... - Eagle EyeEagle EyeEagle Eye is a 2008 thriller film directed by D. J. Caruso and starring Shia LaBeouf and Michelle Monaghan. The two portray a young man and a single mother who are brought together and coerced by an anonymous caller into carrying out a plan by a possible terrorist organization...
- directed by D.J. Caruso - ElegyElegy (film)Elegy is a 2008 drama directed by Spanish director Isabel Coixet and based on a Philip Roth novel, The Dying Animal. Staring Penélope Cruz and Ben Kingsley. The film is set in New York City, but was filmed in Vancouver.-Plot:...
- directed by Isabel CoixetIsabel CoixetIsabel Coixet is a Spanish film director.She received an M.A. in history from the University of Barcelona... - The Hurt LockerThe Hurt LockerThe Hurt Locker is a 2009 American war film about a three-man United States Army Explosive Ordnance Disposal team during the Iraq War. The film was directed by Kathryn Bigelow and the screenplay was written by Mark Boal, a freelance writer who was embedded as a journalist in 2004 with a US bomb...
- directed by Kathryn BigelowKathryn BigelowKathryn Ann Bigelow is an American film director. Her best-known films are the cult horror film Near Dark , the surfer/bank robbery action picture Point Break , the science fiction/film noir Strange Days , the historical/mystery film The Weight of Water and the war drama The Hurt Locker... - Nights in RodantheNights in RodantheNights in Rodanthe is a 2008 American/Australian film adaptation of the novel with the same name by Nicholas Sparks. The film stars Richard Gere and Diane Lane in their third screen collaboration after Unfaithful and The Cotton Club . The film is rated PG-13 by the MPAA for "some sensuality" and...
- directed by George C. WolfeGeorge C. WolfeGeorge Costello Wolfe is an American playwright and director of theater and film. He won a Tony Award in 1993 for directing Angels in America: Millennium Approaches and another Tony Award in 1996 for his direction of the musical, Bring in 'da Noise/Bring in 'da Funk.-Early life and... - Paris, Paris - directed by Christophe BarratierChristophe BarratierChristophe Barratier , son of actress Eva Simonet and nephew of film director Jacques Perrin, is a French film producer, film director and screenwriter. He has directed three hugely successful features films The Chorus...
- ReligulousReligulousReligulous is a 2008 American comic documentary film written by and starring comedian Bill Maher and directed by Larry Charles. The title of the film is a portmanteau derived from the words "religion" and "ridiculous"; the documentary examines and mocks organized religion and religious...
- directed by Larry CharlesLarry CharlesLarry Charles is an American writer, director, and producer. He is best known as a staff writer for the American sitcom Seinfeld for its first 5 seasons, contributing some of the show's darkest and most absurd storylines...
In Competition: Fiction
- BallastBallast (film)Ballast is a 2008 film directed by Lance Hammer. It competed in the Dramatic Competition at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival, where it won the awards for Best Director and Best Cinematography...
directed by Lance Hammer - Before the Fall directed by F. Javier Gutierrez
- Blood Appears - directed by Pablo Fendrik
- Boogie - directed by Radu Muntean
- Boy of Pigs directed by William Sten Olsson
- Dr. Aleman - directed by Tom Schreiber
- Dunya & Desie - directed by Dana Nechushtan
- For a Moment, Freedom directed by Arash T. Riahi
- Jerusalema - directed by Ralph Ziman
- The Man Who Loved Yngve directed by Stian Kristiansen
- Moscow, BelgiumMoscow, BelgiumMoscow, Belgium is a 2008 Belgian film directed by Christophe Van Rompaey and written by Jean-Claude Van Rijckeghem and Pat van Beirs.Moscou is the name of a neighbourhood of the Flemish city of Ghent.-Plot:...
directed by Christophe van Rompaey - Sell Out! directed by Yeo Joon Han
- A Thousand Oceans - directed by Luki Frieden
- Tulpan directed by Sergey Dvortsevoy
- The WacknessThe WacknessThe Wackness is a 2008 American coming of age drama film by Jonathan Levine and starring Ben Kingsley, Josh Peck, Famke Janssen, and Olivia Thirlby. The film is distributed by Sony Pictures Classics and was released in the U.S. on July 3, 2008.-Plot:...
- directed by Jonathan LevineJonathan LevineJonathan A. Levine is an American film director and screenwriter.-Biography:Levine won the Audience Award at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival for his film The Wackness. In January 2010, it was announced that he will direct a project entitled Warm Bodies... - The World Is Big and Salvation Lurks Around the CornerThe World is Big and Salvation Lurks Around the CornerThe World is Big and Salvation Lurks Around the Corner is a 2008 Bulgarian drama film, co-produced with Slovenia, Germany and Hungary. Its original Bulgarian title is Светът е голям и спасение дебне отвсякъде , literally meaning The World is Big and Salvation Prowls on All Sides.The film is...
directed by Stephan Komandarev
In Competition: Documentary
- Brides of Allah - directed by Natalie Assouline
- My Life Inside - directed by Lucia Gaja
- The Flower Bridge - directed by Thomas Ciulei
- Suddenly, Last Winter - directed by Gustav Hofer & Luca Ragazzi
- Blind Loves - directed by Juraj Lehotsky
- The Art Star and the Sudanese Twins - directed by Pietra Brettkelly
- Roman Polanski: Wanted and DesiredRoman Polanski: Wanted and DesiredRoman Polanski: Wanted and Desired is a 2008 documentary film directed by Marina Zenovich. It concerns film director Roman Polanski and his sexual misconduct case...
- directed by Marina Zenovich - Mr. Rakowski - directed by Jan Diederen
Jury
- Peter Fonda - head jurist
- Michael DoughertyMichael DoughertyMichael Dougherty is a screenwriter who is known for his work with Dan Harris on the scripts for Bryan Singer's films X2 and Superman Returns.-Early life:...
- Stephen Nemeth
- Claudia Puig
- Herve Schneid
- Dror ShaulDror ShaulDror Shaul, , is an Israeli film-maker.He came to prominence with the release of his first film, the 50-minutes Mivtza Savta , a comedy with a focus on the kibbutz experience. It is considered a cult movie, especially amongst kibbutzniks...
- Andrea StakaAndrea StakaAndrea Staka is a Swiss film director best known for winning the Golden Leopard at the 59th Locarno International Film Festival in 2006 for her film, Das Fräulein....
Documentary Jury:
- Christian FreiChristian FreiChristian Frei is a Swiss filmmaker. He is mostly known for his two films War Photographer and The Giant Buddhas . Both deal with topics and themes more or less linked to war and intolerance....
- Walter Huegli
- Lorna Tee