Boasting 114 films, and 21 world, four international and 16 European premieres, the 21st Zurich Film Festival (25 September-5 October) has just finished unveiling its full line-up, complete with a star-studded group of awardees. Russell Crowe will receive the Lifetime Achievement Award, Swiss producer Anne Walser will be crowned with the Career Achievement Award, and British thesp Claire Foy will receive a Golden Eye for her decades-long creative work.

The festival’s Feature Film Competition is notably restricted to first, second and third films by directors. This year’s 14-title competition pays special attention to childhood and youth, particularly stories “shaped by political, family or cultural constraints”, as elucidated by festival vice-president Reta Guetg. The selection includes several works from high-profile festivals, some of which have been selected as Oscar submissions. These acclaimed works include the Sean Baker-produced Cannes Critics’ Week pick Left-Handed Girl by Shih-Ching Tsou, Charlotte Devillers and Arnaud Dufeys’ Berlinale Perspective selection We Believe You [+lee también:
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entrevista: Arnaud Dufeys y Charlotte …
ficha de la película], Hasan Hadi’s Cannes Directors’ Fortnight Caméra d’Or winner The President’s Cake and Tereza Nvotová’s Venice Orizzonti competitor Father [+lee también:
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entrevista: Tereza Nvotová
ficha de la película]. The Feature Film Competition will also highlight two world premieres: Veronika Hafner’s Obhut and Jonas Ulrich’s Wolves.

The Documentary Competition will boast three world premieres: Konrad Wakolbinger’s In Search of Stolen Time, Dea Djinovci’s The Beauty of the Donkey and Vincent Munier’s Whispering in the Woods. Other competitors include Aboozar Amini’s portrait of two Afghan brothers Kabul, Between Prayers [+lee también:
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ficha de la película], which just premiered at Venice, out of competition, and Eleanor Mortimer’s fascinating and curious deep-sea documentary How Deep Is Your Love.

Special attention will be paid to the Gala Premieres section, where works by acclaimed filmmakers from around the world will be presented. Beyond the recent Golden Lion winner Father Mother Sister Brother [+lee también:
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ficha de la película] by Jim Jarmusch, the newest works by Luca Guadagnino (After the Hunt [+lee también:
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ficha de la película]), Edward Berger (Ballad of a Small Player), Yorgos Lanthimos (Bugonia [+lee también:
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ficha de la película]), Maryam Touzani (Calle Málaga [+lee también:
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entrevista: Maryam Touzani
ficha de la película]), Guillermo del Toro (Frankenstein), Noah Baumbach (Jay Kelly [+lee también:
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ficha de la película]), Olivier Assayas (The Wizard of the Kremlin [+lee también:
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ficha de la película]), Christian Petzold (Mirrors No. 3 [+lee también:
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entrevista: Christian Petzold
ficha de la película]), Kleber Mendonça Filho (The Secret Agent [+lee también:
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ficha de la película]) will all screen at Zurich. The Signatures strand devotes itself to “outstanding auteur films marked by a distinctive artistic voice”, including Kontinental ’25 [+lee también:
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ficha de la película] by Radu Jude, Orphan [+lee también:
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entrevista: László Nemes
ficha de la película] by László Nemes, Silent Friend [+lee también:
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entrevista: Ildikó Enyedi
ficha de la película] by Ildikó Enyedi, The Love That Remains [+lee también:
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entrevista: Hlynur Pálmason
ficha de la película] by Hlynur Pálmason and The Mastermind by Kelly Reichardt.

The Border Lines section will include both fiction and documentary features tackling human rights and sociopolitical conflict writ large – such as Kaouther Ben Hania’s unshakeable Venice Grand Jury Prize winner The Voice of Hind Rajab [+lee también:
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entrevista: Kaouther Ben Hania
ficha de la película] and Mstyslav Chernov’s war-in-Ukraine doc 2000 Meters to Andriivka [+lee también:
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ficha de la película] – while the Sounds section zooms in on movies with a strong musical or sonic element, among them California Schemin’ by James McAvoy and The Testament of Ann Lee [+lee también:
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ficha de la película] by Mona Fastvold. Zurich will also include sections dedicated to films for kids and this year’s “Hashtag” strand theme, #SaveDemocracy.