Nuremberg

Source: WME Independent

‘Nuremberg’

The Zurich Film Festival (ZFF) has unveiled its full line-up for its 2025 edition, which takes place from September 25 to October 5.

The festival has programmed 114 films across multiple sections.

ZFF’s main competition line-up comprises 14 films by directors who have made their first, second, or third film. The competition includes two world premieres: German drama Obhut by Veronika Hafner, about a sibling relationship that threatens to break down because of their brother’s pedophilia; and Swiss film Wolves by Jonas Ulrich, about a young woman’s relationship with the enigmatic frontman of a metal band

There are also European premieres in main feature competition for three recent Toronto launches: Joscha Bongard’s Babystar, Taratoa Stappard’s Marama and Ted Evans’ Retreat, as well as James Sweeney’s Sundance title Twinless.

The documentary competition also comprises 14 films, among them four world premieres, including Dea Gjinovci’s poetic adaptation of memories of Kosovo in La Beauté De L’âne. UK director Eleanor Mortimer’s How Deep Is Your Love, about creatures of the deep sea, and Aboozar Amini’s Taliban portrait Kabul Between Prayers also make their German-speaking market premieres in the documentary section.

The festival has lined up a swathe of gala premieres for high-profile festival titles making their European or German speaking market premieres, including Luca Guadagnino’s After The Hunt, Yorgos Lanthimos’s Bugonia, Guillermo del Toro’s Frankenstein, Oliver Assayas’ The Wizard of the Kremlin and Richard Linklater’s Nouvelle Vague.

There are also eight gala world premieres, among them big budget Saudi action title Desert Warrior by Rupert Wyatt, Danish feature To New Beginnings by Paprika Steen and Momo by Germany’s Christian Ditter.

Stars expected in Zurich include Dakota Johnson, Colin Farrell, Benedict Cumberbatch, Alexander Skarsgård, Anthony Mackie, Wagner Moura, Dylan O’Brien and Claire Foy.

Russell Crowe will receive the festival’s Lifetime Achievement Award ahead of a screening of his latest film Nuremberg by James Vanderbilt. He will also take part in a ZFF Masters talk.

Swiss producer Anne Walser will also be honoured with the Career Achievement Award.

ZFF director Christian Jungen said. “More than a third of the 114 films in the programme are world or European Premieres – we have never had such a high proportion. This shows that producers have a high level of confidence in our festival and are using it in particular to add prestige to their works for the awards season, thus laying the foundation for a successful cinema release in the German-speaking world, which, with 100 million people, is one of the most important markets for Hollywood.”

Zurich Film Festival competition 2025

Babystar (Ger)
Dir: Joscha Bongard

Cuerpo Celeste (Chile-It)
Dir: Nayra Ilic Garcia

Father (Cz-Pol)
Dir: Tereza Nvotová

Homebound (India)
Dir: Neeraj Ghaywan

Left-Handed Girl (Taiwan)
Dir: Shih-Ching Tsou

Love Letters (Fr)
Dir: Alice Douard

Mārama (NZ)
Dir: Taratoa Stappard

Obhut (Ger)
Dir: Veronika Hafner

On Vous Croit (Belg)
Dirs: Charlotte Devillers, Arnaud Dufeys

Retreat (UK)
Dir: Ted Evans

The President’s Cake (Iraq-Qatar)
Dir: Hasan Hadi

Twinless (US)
Dir: James Sweeney

Un anno di Scuola (It)
Dir: Laura Samani

Wolves (Switz)
Dir: Jonas Ulric

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