Zurich Film Festival, October, 2008

Starting wednesday this week and throughout the first week in October the Zurich Film Festival centres its activities around the city's historic area - Bellevue Square. This is in the old part of Zurich, near the shopping area and down by the lakeside and river Limmat. There’s the opera house, theatre and the best Zuri restaurants and bars.

A limited number of tickets for the Stallone Gala Night were made available online from mid September (from 12 pm). More tickets are sold at the "Trambar am Bellevue" and at the ticket booth at Paradeplatz.

Peter Fonda - Festival Director

Peter Fonda was born the son of Henry Fonda in 1940. His acting career began on Broadway. He wore his hair long early on, loved rock music and preferred to spend his time with his musical role models The Byrds rather than the established Hollywood crowd. Together with Dennis Hopper, Fonda wrote and produced Easy Rider in 1968, a film that shaped a whole generation and still enjoys cult status today. Fonder and Hopper received an Oscar® Nomination for Best Screenplay. Fonda has played numerous controversial roles and directed several projects. Fonda was nominated for an Oscar® for Best Actor for his role in Ulee’s Gold in 1997.

Opening Film

Baader Meinhof Komplex On September 25, 2008, the opening of the 4th Zurich Film Festival will be celebrated at the cinema corso with the Swiss premiere of Der Baader Meinhof Komplex and in presence of director Uli Edel (Christiane F. – Wir Kinder vom Bahnhof Zoo, Letzte Ausfahrt Brooklyn), screenplay writer and producer Bernd Eichinger (Das Parfum – die Geschichte eines Mörders,  Der Untergang), journalist and author Stefan Aust, on whose novel the film is based, and leading actor Moritz Bleibtreu (Lola rennt, Das Experiment, Chiko).

Germany in the Seventies. The Nazi generation’s radicalised children, lead by Andreas Baader (Moritz Bleibtreu), the former star columnist Ulrike Meinhof (Martina Gedeck) and Gudrun Eisslin (Johanna Wokalek), fight against what they see as the new face of fascism: the US politics in Vietnam, in the Middle East and in the third world, which is also supported by leading heads of the German politics, judiciary and industry. The Red Army Faction, founded by Baader, Meinhof and Ensslin, declared war to the Federal Republic of Germany. There are dead and wounded people, the situation escalates, and the still young democracy is shaken to its core. The man who tries to understand the terrorists’ motives (although he doesn’t approve of them) also turns into their chaser: Horst Herald (Bruno Ganz), head of the Federal Criminal Police Office. Although his tracing is very successful, he knows that the Police cannot stop the spiral of violence on their own. Producer and screenplay writer Bernd Eichinger (“Das Parfum – die Geschichte eines Mörders”, “Der Untergang”) adapts Stefan Aust’s bestselling novel “Der Baader Meinhof Komplex” for the screen. Director Uli Edel (“Christiane F. – Wir Kinder vom Bahnhof Zoo”, “Letzte Ausfahrt Brooklyn”) stages the dramatic events which unhinged the democratic foundation pillars of the Federal Republic of Germany.

Tribute to Costa-Gavras

 Costa-Gavras was born to a poor family in the village of Loutra Iraias (Λουτρά Ηραίας), Arcadia. His family spent the Second World War in a village in the Peloponnese, and moved to Athens after the war. His father had been a member of the left-wing EAM branch of the Greek Resistance, and was imprisoned after the war as a suspected communist. His father's record made it impossible for him to attend university or emigrate to the United States, so after high school Costa-Gavras went to France, where he began his studies of law in 1951. In 1956, he left his university studies to study film at the French national film school, IDHEC. After film school, he apprenticed under Yves Allégret, and became an assistant director for Jean Giono and René Clair. After several further positions as first assistant director, he directed his first feature film, Compartiment Tueurs, in 1965.[3] Costa-Gavras was president of the Cinémathèque française from 1982 to 1987.

Z Costa-Gavras , Frankreich, 1969 Fiction // Political Thriller Yves Montand, Jean-Louis Trintignant -

A young magistrate and an ambitious journalist become suspicious when the police speak of a car accident as the charismatic leader of a leftwing opposition group is struck dead in broad daylight during a peace demonstration in a pseudo-democracy. They hit the trail of a conspiracy whose path leads them to the highest-ranking governors of the Junta. But the power-holders have the better position. A genre-shaping classic of politically engaged cinema, which won two Oscars® in 1970.

Missing

Costa-Gavras , USA, 1982

| Fiction // Political Melodrama Actors_Melanie Mayron, John Shea, Sissy Spacek - At the centre of the political drama Missing, based on an actual event, stands the conservative American businessman Ed Horman, a fervent patriot. He travels to South America in search of his son who disappeared without trace during a military putsch. He unites with his daughter-in-law in baking Chile and together they discover that the American government is involved in the overthrow. It’s already too late for his son. Ed’s later case against foreign minister Henry Kissinger was rejected.

The Confession

Costa-Gavras , France, Italy, 1970

Fiction // Political Thriller Actors_Yves Montand, Simone Signoret, Michelle Vitold  - Using the memoirs of the Czechoslovakian communist Artur London, Costa-Gavras depicts the fate of Anton Ludviks, the 1951 vice foreign minister of a Communist dictatorship. Ludvik was arrested and tortured as he became caught up in denunciating the Stalinist cleansings. He was accused of conspiracies against the regime. A vivid study of the effects of state political terror influenced by Stalinist power structures.

Music Box

Costa-Gavras , USA, 1989 | Fiction // Drama Screenplay_Joe Eszterhas | Producers_Irwin Winkler | Camera_Patrick Blossier | Actors_Jessica Lange, Armin Müller -Stahl, Frederic Forest - The Hungarian immigrant Michael Laszlo is a good American and fully integrated into his adopted country, the USA. After 37 years, however, documents suddenly appear that implicate him as a war criminal. His daughter, the successful lawyer Ann Talbot, is convinced that he is innocent and decides to act for him in court. This mix of political thriller and family drama won the Golden Bear at the 1990 Berlin International Film Festival.

Other Selections from the Film Festival

Boy of Pigs

William Sten Olsson, USA, 2008

Washington 1963: The unspectacular life of 13 year-old Adam Stafford changes as he becomes close to his neighbour Catherine Caswell. Fascinated by her unconventional lifestyle, he wants to know everything about her. An unusual friendship soon develops between the teenager and the woman and Adam discovers ever more about Catherine’s mysterious connections to the White House and the intrigue leading up to the assassination of John F. Kennedy. An enthralling and moving coming-of-age drama with great actors (Gretchen Mol and Cameron Bright) set before the backdrop of American 1960s political events.

Fuel

Josh Tickell, USA, 2008

International premiere | Documentary Screenplay_Johnny O'Hara | Producers_Rebecca Harrell, Greg Reitmann, Dale Rosenbloom, Daniel Assael, Darius Fisher, Stephen Nemeth, Janet Morrow, Robbie Little, John Goldsmith | Camera_James Mulryan Most Americans know what the greatest problem of their nation is: Its dependency on oil – it pollutes the environment, it’s expensive and it creates political instability. Yet few are sufficiently informed or have the power to do anything about it. The filmmaker Josh Tickell, an engaged young activist and expert for alternative energy, takes the viewer on an unsettling research journey into the heart of the oil industry. The result of ten years work is a revealing and emotionally charged documentary, which gives new hope to a future with sustainable energy sources.

Elegy

Isabel Coixet, USA, 2008 Age rating: 16 | 108 min | 35mm | Colored | E / d,f | Swiss premiere | Fiction // Drama Screenplay_Nicholas Meyer | Producers_Tom Rosenberg, Gary Lucchesi, Andre Lamal | Camera_Jean-Claude Larrieu | Actors_Penélope Cruz, Sir Ben Kingsley, Patricia Clarkson, Dennis Hopper Beautiful female students have surrounded the charismatic Professor Kepesh since time immemorial. He was never averse to having a fiery affair but kept his conquests at a distance. That is until Consuela Castillo appears on the scene, a woman on the same intellectual level as the aging professor. He visibly loses control and his affections increasingly develop into a true obsession. His raging jealousy destroys the relationship and turns Kepesh into an emotional wreck. Two years later, however, Consuela turns up again – with an urgent wish that will change everything. A brilliantly played, star-studded, tragic love story. // producer present.

Waltz With Bashir

Vals Im Bashir Ari Folman, Israel, 2008 Age rating: 16 | 90 min | 35mm | Hebräisch / d/f // Animation Screenplay_Ari Folman | Producers_Ari Folman, Yael Jahlieli, Serge Lalou, Gerhard Meixner, Roman Paul | Camera_David Polonski

The middle of the night in a bar: An old friend tells Ari of his reoccurring nightmare in which he is chased by a pack of bloodthirsty hounds. The men trace the phantasmagoria back to a mutual deployment during the 1st Lebanon War at the beginning of the 1980s. Irritatingly, Ari has to admit that this period of time seems to have been completely wiped from his memory and sets about recollecting this lost chapter. In discussions with his then comrades, the terrifying trauma begins to take form. A documentary animation film about a journey into the complexity and mystery surrounding the human psyche.