… And another film festival is in the books!

After having covered Cannes, Toronto, Venice, Berlin, and a handful of smaller film festivals in my short career (fingers crossed for Sundance next year), it was time to officially turn my attention to Zurich. Sure, I had attended twice before, but never with the pleasure and benefit of a press badge. Thankfully, it did not disappoint. Zurich was already the frontrunner for my personal favorite, if not the best overall film festival; this year surely cemented it. Why, you ask?

First of all, the movies! After perusing the lineups of this year’s major festivals, there were only a few major players from the festival circuit that didn’t make it to Zurich this year. Among them were Chloé Zhao’s Hamnet, Joachim Trier’s Sentimental Value, Bradley Cooper’s Is This Thing On?, Rian Johnson’s Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery, and the Bruce Springsteen biopic Deliver Me from Nowhere. Frankly, I’m not all that interested in the first two despite the acclaim they are receiving, and the other three will be released soon enough. No harm, no foul, as far as I am concerned because Zurich more than delivered with what they brought to the table. In fact, top to bottom, this probably was the best film slate I’ve experienced at a film festival so far. But more on that in a few…

Second to the movies is the access. Zurich may not feature as many world premieres and red carpets as the other festivals, but they provide the easiest press access I’ve had the privilege of enjoying. I was hobnobbing with all sorts of stars: Russell Crowe, Colin Farrell, Dakota Johnson, James McAvoy, Amanda Seyfried, Benedict Cumberbatch, and many more (check out some photos on our X feed). On top of that, there were afterparties, ZFF Masters, Das Festivalzentrum, and much more. I even got to pose for the Glambot! Also, I must give a shoutout to the helpful staff and volunteer crew, all of whom proved to be very cheerful and delightful, even as they battled some seeming disorganization that worked out both in my favor and not. Again, easily my favorite festival, and it’s not even particularly close.

…but back to the movies! Although I missed a few titles for a variety of reasons, including Park Chan-wook’s No Other Choice (scheduling conflict) and Cannes’ most awarded film The Secret Agent (no English subtitles), I scheduled myself one hell of a lineup. I ultimately saw 35 movies, and none of them were FOMO picks — meaning I didn’t see them just to see them because I was there (a real affliction I “suffered” through at Cannes). Were all 35 movies good? Should you spend your hard-earned money to seek them out? I’m so glad you asked…