Zurich Film Festival Sets Gala Premieres With Dresen, Dörrie
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- Zurich Film Festival unveiled 11 titles for its Gala Premieres section, with CEO Christian Jungen calling the lineup "dedicated to auteur cinema for a broader audience."
- Andreas Dresen's "Love, After All" and Doris Dörrie's "How Can I Help?" will receive their world premieres, films Jungen said are "grounded in everyday life and, with a little wink, reflect on the state of our society."
- "I Play Rocky" (Peter Farrelly's European premiere about Sylvester Stallone's fight to star in his own screenplay) and "Josephine" (Channing Tatum-led Sundance sensation) are positioned by Jungen as films "that will play an important role later in the award season."
- "111 – Echoes From Halifax", Switzerland's most anticipated film, dramatizes the Sept. 2, 1998 Swissair Flight 111 crash off Halifax and its lasting impact on relatives, helpers and Canadian coastal residents.
- Lee Chang-dong's "Possible Love", the Korean director's first release in eight years, stars Jeon Do-yeon and Sul Kyung-gu as two married couples whose contrasting lives and hidden desires collide.
- The 22nd Zurich Film Festival runs Sept. 24 to Oct. 4, with the full program to be revealed on Sept. 9.
Why it matters: Jungen explicitly framed the lineup as one "that will play an important role later in the award season," making Zurich a potential European launchpad for Oscar contenders like 'I Play Rocky' and 'Josephine' weeks before wider release. For Dresen and Dörrie, world-premiere slots at Zurich rather than Berlin or Cannes signal the festival's growing pull as a venue for major German auteur debuts.
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