The Zurich Film Festival has revealed the first titles in their Gala section, which includes several films that will bring star power to the red carpet and directors with award-winning credentials.
Among the first 11 titles to be announced are “Conclave,” by the director of Oscar winner “All Quiet on the Western Front,” Edward Berger, with Ralph Fiennes, Stanley Tucci and John Lithgow heading the cast.
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Also selected is Tim Fehlbaum’s “September 5,” starring Peter Sarsgaard, and Gia Coppola’s “The Last Showgirl,” which is toplined by Pamela Anderson and Jamie Lee Curtis.
Steve McQueen, an Oscar winner with “12 Years a Slave,” delivers “Blitz,” starring Saoirse Ronan and rock star Paul Weller, and Nick Hamm presents “William Tell,” starring Claes Bang and Ben Kingsley.
Sean Baker’s “Anora,” the winner of the Palme d’Or at Cannes, also joins the selection, as does Jesse Eisenberg’s “A Real Pain,” featuring a cast led by Kieran Culkin and Eisenberg.
World premieres include Michael Krummenacher’s “Landesverräter” and Sönke Wortmann’s “Der Spitzname.”
Also in the lineup are Icíar Bollaín’s “Soy Nevenka” and Josh Margolin’s “Thelma.”
ANORA
Drama
U.S.
Director: Sean Baker
Cast: Mikey Madison, Paul Weissman, Lindsey Normington
Anora, a young sex worker from Brooklyn, gets her chance at a Cinderella story when she meets and impulsively marries the son of an oligarch. Once the news reaches Russia, her fairytale is threatened as the parents set out for New York to get the marriage annulled.
BLITZ
International Premiere
Drama/Action
U.K., U.S.
Director: Steve McQueen
Cast: Saoirse Ronan, Elliot Heffernan, Harris Dickinson, Paul Weller
The film follows the epic journey of George (Elliott Heffernan), a 9-year-old boy in World War II London whose mother Rita (Saoirse Ronan) sends him to safety in the English countryside. George, defiant and determined to return home to Rita and his grandfather Gerald (Paul Weller) in East London, ensues on an adventure, only to find himself in immense peril, while a distraught Rita searches for her missing son.
CONCLAVE
Thriller
U.K., U.S.
Director: Edward Berger
Cast: Ralph Fiennes, Stanley Tucci, John Lithgow
Following the death of the Pope, Cardinal Lawrence (Fiennes) is tasked with leading the search for a new Pope in the far corners of the Vatican. Lawrence quickly finds himself at the center of a conspiracy, as the cardinals forge factions and foster rivalries to serve their own ambitions. As the political scheming intensifies, Lawrence realizes that the late Pope concealed a secret from them. This must imperatively be uncovered before a new Pope is elected.
THE LAST SHOWGIRL
Drama
U.S.
Director: Gia Coppola
Cast: Pamela Anderson, Jamie Lee Curtis, Kiernan Shipka, Dave Bautista
Shelly, a seasoned showgirl, must plan for her future when her show abruptly closes after a 30-year run. As a dancer in her fifties, she struggles with what to do next. As a mother, she strives to repair a strained relationship with her daughter, who often took a backseat to her showgirl family.
A REAL PAIN
European Premiere
Drama
U.S.
Director: Jesse Eisenberg
Cast: Kieran Culkin, Jesse Eisenberg, Jennifer Grey, Will Sharpe
Mismatched cousins David (Jesse Eisenberg) and Benji (Kieran Culkin) reunite for a tour through Poland to discover more about the life of their recently deceased grandmother. The roadtrip, intended as a journey to the past, confronts the two with the present, in which they question their mutual relationship and their family history.
LANDESVERRÄTER
World Premiere
History
Switzerland, Germany
Director: Michael Krummenacher
Cast: Dimitri Krebs, Fabian Hinrichs, Stefan Gubser, Luna Wedler
St. Gallen during World War II: Deluded into believing he could become a famous singer in Germany, poor tramp Ernst Schrämli sells Swiss military information to a manipulative German Nazi spy. When he is caught, Ernst becomes the first Swiss person to be sentenced to death for espionage and treason. “Landesverräter” is based on real events and portrays a young daydreamer from the provinces who is exploited and betrayed during the war. Ernst Schrämli was the first of 17 traitors in Swiss history to be executed.
SEPTEMBER 5
Drama
Germany
Director: Tim Fehlbaum
Cast: Peter Sarsgaard, John Magaro, Leonie Benesch, Ben Chaplin
Munich, September 5, 1972, day 10 of the Summer Olympics. Returning to Germany for the first time since 1936, these were supposed to become known as the “cheerful games” to show the world the picture of a new, liberal Germany. But at 4:40 a.m., the ABC’s team on the early shift hears gunshots fired in the Olympic Village nearby. A group of Palestinian terrorists has taken 11 members of the Israeli delegation hostage. Against the resistance of its own news department, the ABC Sports team reports live on the 21-hour hostage-taking. The film follows the story of Geoff (John Magaro), a young, ambitious producer who wants to impress his boss, the legendary Roone Arledge (Peter Sarsgaard). With the help of the German interpreter Marianne (Leonie Benesch), Geoff unexpectedly takes over the management of the live show. With time running out, contradicting rumors circulating, and the lives of the hostages at stake, Geoff has to make difficult decisions and reflect on his own moral compass. How should one report on such a situation when the perpetrators are using the media attention for their own ends?
SOY NEVENKA
International Premiere
Drama
Spain
Director: Icíar Bollaín
Cast: Mireia Oriol, Ricardo Gomez, Pipo Suevos, Carlos Serrano
The real-life case of a pioneer, Nevenka Fernández: the first woman to successfully bring an influential and popular politician to justice for sexual harassment in the workplace.
DER SPITZNAME
World Premiere
Comedy
Germany
Director: Sönke Wortmann
Cast: Iris Berben, Christoph Maria Herbst, Florian David Fitz, Janina Uhse
Anns (Janina Uhse) and Thomas (Florian David Fitz) want to get married, and they have invited their family to the Alps in Tirol. In a bad mood as usual, Stephan (Christoph Maria Herbst) ponders about the current lives of the Böttchers, Wittmans, Bergers and Königs while on the ski lift. To everyone’s surprise, Anna has after all started an acting career, Thomas is about to be promoted to the managing committee of a real estate group – provided he passes the obligatory sensibility training course. Stephan’s wife Elisabeth (Caroline Peters) still works as a teacher but is secretly boosting their family’s budget with bitcoin trading. And René (Justus von Dohnányi) who has three-year-old twins with his wife Dorothea (Iris Berben), turns out to be an overly protective helicopter dad. Stephan himself was recently fired from his job as a university professor; there had been an incident. And Stephan and Elisabeth’s juvenile, woke children, Cajus (Jana Volkmann), 18, and Antigone (Kya-Celina Barucki), 17, add further chaos to the hoped-for idyll. In the end, it is not only the wedding that is on the rocks.
THELMA
Action
U.S.
Director: Josh Margolin
Cast: June Squibb, Fred Hechinger, Richard Roundtree, Parker Posey
When 93-year-old Thelma Post (June Squibb) gets duped by a phone scammer pretending to be her grandson, she sets out on a treacherous quest across the city to reclaim what was taken from her. A story exploring aging, family and autonomy (and inspired by action movies like “Mission: Impossible”) – “Thelma” is based on a real-life experience of writer/director Josh Margolin’s grandmother, and marks Squibb’s first leading film role of her 70 plus year career.
WILLIAM TELL
European Premiere
Epic
U.K., Italy
Director: Nick Hamm
Cast: Claes Bang, Connor Swindells, Ellie Bamber, Ben Kingsley
The 14th century. Within the Holy Roman Empire, the European nations compete for dominance. The Austrians, hungry for land, press into Switzerland, a rural and tranquil country. As his wife, son and country are threatened by the tyrannical Austrian king and his warlords, a once peaceful hunter and former crusader, William Tell, leads his people to rebellion.
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