Slovak director Tereza Nvotová’s Father has gained the twenty first Zurich Movie Competition’s Golden Eye for Finest Movie within the Swiss occasion’s principal competitors dedicated to first, second and third options.
The drama follows a work-stressed father who forgetfully leaves his two-year-old daughter in a automotive all day in the midst of a heatwave.
The movie initially world premiered in Venice’s Orizzonti and has since been chosen as Slovakia’s entry to the Finest Worldwide Function Movie class of the 98th Academy Awards.
The jury was presided over by U.S. director and producer Reinaldo Marcus Inexperienced, with its members additionally together with German actress Leonie Benesch, Italian producer Carlo Cresto-Dina, Iranian director and producer Ali Asgari, and movie curator and cinema operator Nicole Reinhard.
“This movie tells the story of an bizarre household dealing with extraordinary circumstances. Its central character is neither a villain nor a hero, however a flawed human being caught in a single, devastating mistake,” learn the jury assertion.
“The movie exhibits how that mistake can shatter what we love most, and but it’s, at its coronary heart, about compassion, hope, and the resilience of the human spirit. We had been deeply moved by the craft and the humanity of this movie.”
The jury additionally awarded particular mentions to French director Alice Douard’s Love Letters and Taiwanese-American filmmaker Shih-Ching Tsou’s Left-Handed Woman, which is Taiwan’s 2026 Oscar entry.
In different key prizes, Zurich-based filmmaker Moris Freiburghaus’s I Love You, I Go away You gained Finest Documentary, in a primary for a Swiss documentary.
Freiburghaus captures musician and buddy Dino Brandão’s battle with psychological sickness after a visit to his father’s native nation of Angola raises questions on his personal sense of identification.
“In capturing his finest buddy’s battle with manic episodes over the course of a 12 months, Moris Freiburghaus’ daring directorial debut offers us an unflinching have a look at psychological sickness and the unshakeable bonds of friendship and household,” mentioned the jury, presided over by director and producer Matthew Heineman (Cartel Land, The Savant).
The documentary jury additionally gave particular mentions to Yrsa Roca Fannberg’s The Floor Beneath Our Toes, capturing scenes of life gently transitioning to loss of life in an Icelandic nursing residence, and Namir Abdel Messeeh’s Life After Siham, during which the Egyptian-French filmmaker processes the loss of life of his beloved mom.
The ZFF Critics’ Jury Award went to Damien Hauser’s Kenyan sci-fi love story Reminiscence of Princess, which world premiered in Venice’s Orizzonti sidebar, whereas there was a particular point out for I Love You, I Go away You.
Freiburghaus’s documentary additionally gained the Viewers Award.
The awards ceremony on Saturday night wrapped a buzzy twenty first version during which a bunch of stars had been additionally feted with honorary awards throughout the 10-day occasion, with Dakota Johnson, Benedict Cumberbatch, Claire Foy and Wagner Moura receiving Golden Eye Awards; Russell Crowe, a Lifetime Achievement Award; Colin Farrell, a Golden Icon, and Noah Baumbach, A Tribute To… Award.
Profession Achievement Awards additionally went to Swiss producer Anne Walser and Oscar-winning Icelandic composer Hildur Guðnadóttir, whereas Neon founding CEO Tom Quinn acquired the industry-focused Recreation Changer Award.
