That was the 2026 Zurich Film Festival

The Zurich Film Festival (ZFF) has concluded its 22nd edition. Under the theme «Dream Big,» the festival celebrated cinema for eleven days. According to a press release, 135,000 visitors attended, about one-third of whom participated in the supporting program. A total of 136 films were screened, including 46 world and European premieres. Approximately 500 guests from the film industry were in attendance.

Zurich Film Festival Doubles Its Social Media Reach

On its own social media channels, the ZFF achieved a reach of 6.3 million. This represents a doubling compared to last year. On third-party channels, the festival generated an earned reach of 1.7 billion potential contacts (Source: Argus).

«It was a spectacular edition featuring many stars, such as Julianne Moore and John Turturro, who are considered Oscar contenders and were celebrated by the audience with standing ovations,» explains Christian Jungen, CEO of the ZFF. «The fact that we were able to present prestigious Hollywood productions like TENZING, I PLAY ROCKY, and WICKER as European premieres led to us achieving a greater reach on social media than ever before.» The festival was also able to provide a big stage for Swiss cinema, true to the motto «Dream Big.».

International Stars and Awards

Among those who traveled to Zurich were Julianne Moore, Naomi Watts, John Turturro, and Tom Hiddleston. Moore, recipient of the Golden Icon Award, presented her new film, *THE DEBUT*, directed by Jesse Eisenberg. “This is our second film together,” she said. “His intelligence, his humor, his humanity, and his great originality have amazed me time and time again.”.

John Turturro received a Golden Eye Award. He sees the award «as encouragement to keep going.» Naomi Watts was also honored with a Golden Eye Award. She introduced the film *THE HOUSEWIFE*, which is based on true events. Willem Dafoe spoke about his work on the opening film *TENZING* and praised director Jennifer Peedom, who is knowledgeable about the culture and mountaineering.

Golden Eye Award for Feature Films and Documentaries

In each of the two competition sections, filmmakers from around the world competed with 14 films each for the Golden Eye, which comes with a prize of 25,000 Swiss francs. In the feature film competition, FLESH AND FUEL by Pierre le Gall won, while BUCKS HARBOR by Pete Muller took first place in the documentary competition.

The 23rd edition of the Zurich Film Festival will take place from September 23 to October 3, 2027. According to the festival, the ZFF is the second-largest film festival in the German-speaking world.