There were several reasons why Karl Spoerri decided, in 2005, to
establish the Zurich Film Festival. Not only was there the undeniable
fascination of the city itself, due in large part to its evocative
older sections, its quality restaurants, and the famous Bahnhofstrasse,
but above all there was its affinity with motion pictures.
The
great success of the first festival, which had more than eighteen
thousand visitors from all over the world and was enthusiastically
received by the critics, encouraged the organizers not only to offer
the festival again in following years, but also to enrich its offerings.
The festival of 2007, which went from September 27th to October 7th,
lasted eleven days. The extent of the competition and the various
events connected to it was considerably expanded over earlier years.
The prestigious jury, which would award the "Golden Eye" in the three
categories of Debut Feature Film, New Fiction Film, and New Documentary
Film, was headed by Albert S. Ruddy, one of the most well-known and
esteemed film producers in the world. In 1972 he won an Oscar for "The
Godfather" and in 2004 he won for "Million Dollar Baby." The other
jurors were Moritz Bleibtreu, Bettina Oberli, Justus von Dohnányi,
Dieter Meier, and Matthew Modine. In addition, for three days the
Teatro am Neumarkt would be a mecca for film animation, thanks to the
"onedotzero" initiative with which the festival brought the most
important and innovative products in the field of digital film to
Zurich. A very interesting opportunity was presented by the Zurich
Master Class, a series of six workshops put on in cooperation with
Swiss Television. It enabled twenty-five specially chosen promising
directors from Switzerland, Austria, Germany, Italy, and France to have
a unique experience with important figures such as Jim Stark, Pavel
Lungin, and Oliver Stone, who was this year's recipient of the "Tribute
to...."
For this year's Festival, Moleskine produced a
personalized notebook that the organizers presented to each of the
participants. The cover shows the "Golden Eye" award given to the
winners, together with the name of the festival. On the paper band,
besides the logo and dates of the festival, there is an outline of some
of the city's buildings along with the web-site, printed in gold and
producing an elegant and precious effect. All in all, an ideal object
for someone who wishes to attend a festival of the highest quality and
keep a record of the emotions produced by eleven days full of films,
meetings, and unforgettable events.
For further info:
www.zurichfilmfestival.org
www.zurichmasterclass.org
www.onedotzero.ch
