10/10/2023 - The festival honoured Turkish director Selman Nacar’s movie, alongside Hollywoodgate by Egypt’s Ibrahim Nash’at and In the Rearview by Poland’s Maciek Hamela

Director Selman Nacar with his Golden Eye for Hesitation Wound (© Tim Hughes/ZFF)

As enthused by the artistic director of the Zurich Film Festival, Christian Jungen: “Our selection committee is incredibly happy with the winners’ list. We’re talking about films exploring highly topical themes, films which confront us with the harsh reality of life in Afghanistan, Turkey and Ukraine. We’re convinced they will go on to enjoy a healthy, international career”.

The grand winner of the International Fiction Competition, Hesitation Wound [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Selman Nacar
film profile] by Turkish director Selman Nacar, which walked away with the Golden Eye, is a powerful film about a lawyer wrestling with porous and complex concepts, such as justice and morality. The jury, led by Anton Cobijn, were particularly impressed by lead actress Tülin Özen: “we love the strength of character she shows while tackling family affairs and professional ethics within patriarchal society”. In terms of the film’s political potency: “we applaud its criticism of Turkey’s religious society which, in our opinion, is very well conveyed and presented with a healthy dose of humour”. A Jury Special Mention, meanwhile, was won by Iris Kaltenbäck’s French movie The Rapture [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Iris Kaltenbäck
film profile] and Karan Tejpal’s Indian title Stolen.

For its part, Hollywoodgate [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Ibrahim Nash’at
film profile] by the Egyptian director based in Germany Ibrahim Nash’at, was awarded the Golden Eye within the competitive Focus section. The film follows the head of the Afghan air force during the present Taliban regime and a Taliban lieutenant. Putting his own life at risk, the director decides to return to his birth country, Afghanistan, two days after the evacuation of the US and its allies. With great tact and determination, the director earns the trust of these two complex characters whom he follows over the course of a year. The jury stressed the important of this titanic undertaking which “reveals a shocking universe which we would never otherwise have had access to”, adding that, through his film, Ibrahim Nash’at turns viewers into “witnesses of the process by which the Taliban seized power” and highlights the terrible consequences this entailed, especially for women. Laissez-moi [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] by Swiss director Maxime Rappaz, which depicts the torments of a woman wrestling with long-repressed desires, won itself a Special Mention in the same category.

As for the Documentary competition, it was In the Rearview [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] by Maciek Hamela which bagged the Golden Eye. The film follows the meanders of a Polish truck, driven by the director himself, which navigates the streets of Ukraine greeting and evacuating locals who are fleeing their country after the Russian invasion. In this sense, the truck becomes an ephemeral refuge, a place where they can dream of a better future for themselves and their families. The jury explained that it had “chosen a film which avails itself of a minimalist but hard-hitting style to testify to the unbridled ill effects of war. This prosaic world damaged by catastrophes is conveyed with great emotion, without ever sliding into pathos”. A Jury Special Mention and the Audience Award was won by Queendom [+see also:
film review
film profile], meanwhile, a co-production between the USA and France by Agniia Galdanova, which paints a courageous and poetic portrait of Gena, a queer artist from a small Russian city, as she protests against the government in Moscow.

Other prize-winners include Jackie Brutsche, who nabbed the Emerging Swiss Talent Award with Las toreras [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile]. The jury declared itself particularly impressed by how she uses art as a vector for understanding and healing, and film as an “existential act”. They were also struck by the director’s capacity to question film conventions, treating us to a “touching and original film about memory and the power of storytelling”.

The award-winners are as follows:

International Fiction Competition

Golden Eye
Hesitation Wound [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Selman Nacar
film profile] – Selman Nacar (Turkey/Spain/Romania/France)

Special Mention
The Rapture [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Iris Kaltenbäck
film profile] - Iris Kaltenbäck (France)
Stolen - Karan Tejpal (India)

Focus Competition

Golden Eye
Hollywoodgate [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Ibrahim Nash’at
film profile] – Ibrahim Nash’at (Germany/USA)

Special Mention
Laissez-moi [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] – Maxime Rappaz (Switzerland/France/Belgium)

Documentary Competition

Golden Eye
In the Rearview [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] - Maciek Hamela (Poland/France/Ukraine)

Special Mention
Queendom [+see also:
film review
film profile] - Agniia Galdanova (USA/France)

ZFF for Kids

Jury Prize
Dancing Queen [+see also:
trailer
film profile] - Aurora Gossé (Norway)

Other awards

Audience Award
Queendom - Agniia Galdanova

Emerging Swiss Talent Award
Las toreras [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] - Jackie Brutsche (Switzerland)

Zurich Churches Award
Las toreras - Jackie Brutsche

Best International Soundtrack
Elliot Murphy

(Translated from Italian)