During a rousing closing ceremony at the Zurich Opera House on Saturday evening, the winners of this year’s Zurich Film Festival were crowned before a screening of James McAvoy’s feature film debut as a director, California Schemin’ [+lire aussi :
interview : James McAvoy
fiche film]. Tereza Nvotová's Father [+lire aussi :
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interview : Tereza Nvotová
fiche film] came out on top in the Feature Film Competition – for first, second and third fiction features – claiming the Golden Eye for the section and CHF 25,000 (€26,800). Alice Douard’s touching sapphic story Love Letters [+lire aussi :
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The Feature Film Competition jury, chaired by US director and producer Reinaldo Marcus Green, also consisted of German thesp Leonie Benesch, Italian producer Carlo Cresto-Dina, Iranian director Ali Asgari and Swiss film curator Nicole Reinhardt. The jury selected Father from among 14 films competing for the Golden Eye, with the jury statement mentioning how they were “deeply moved by the craft and humanity” of Nvotová’s work. Father enjoyed its world premiere at Venice and was selected as the Oscars entry for Slovakia.

I Love You, I Leave You by Moris Freiburghaus became the first Swiss film to win the Golden Eye and CHF 25,000 in the Documentary Film Competition, the jury for which was chaired by US filmmaker Matthew Heineman, and included US producer Odessa Rae, US documentarian David Osit, Danish producer Helle Faber and Swiss editor Katharina Bhend. Pulling at heartstrings, with the jury saying they “had never seen anything like it before”, the documentary also collected the ZFF Critics’ Jury Special Mention – for emerging Swiss talent across the entire programme – and the overall festival’s Audience Award. The Special Mentions in this competition went to The Ground Beneath Our Feet [+lire aussi :
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Benjamin Heisenberg’s German comedy The Prank picked up both prizes in the ZFF for Kids section, the Jury Award and the Audience Award. The ZFF Critics’ Jury presented its top prize to Memory of Princess Mumbi [+lire aussi :
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Here is the full list of award winners:

Golden Eye for Best Feature Film
Father [+lire aussi :
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interview : Tereza Nvotová
fiche film] – Tereza Nvotová (Slovakia/Czech Republic/Poland)

Feature Film Competition Special Mentions
Love Letters [+lire aussi :
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Left-Handed Girl [+lire aussi :
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Golden Eye for Best Documentary Film
I Love You, I Leave You – Moris Freiburghaus (Switzerland)

Documentary Film Competition Special Mentions
The Ground Beneath Our Feet [+lire aussi :
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Life After Siham – Namir Abdel Messeeh (France/Egypt)

ZFF Critics’ Jury Award for Emerging Swiss Talent – Winner
Memory of Princess Mumbi [+lire aussi :
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interview : Damien Hauser
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ZFF Critics’ Jury Award for Emerging Swiss Talent – Special Mention
I Love You, I Leave You – Moris Freiburghaus

ZFF for Kids Jury Award
The Prank – Benjamin Heisenberg (Germany/Switzerland)

ZFF for Kids Audience Award
The Prank – Benjamin Heisenberg

Audience Award
I Love You, I Leave You – Moris Freiburghaus

Film Prize of the Churches of Zurich
Life After Siham – Namir Abdel Messeeh

Golden Eye for Best International Film Music
Mikal Grigorowitsch