The Slovak film Father, directed by Tereza Nvotová, won the top prize at the Zurich Film Festival — the Golden Eye — along with a cash award of 25,000 Swiss francs (around €26,800). During a vibrant closing ceremony held on Saturday night at the Zurich Opera House, the winners were announced before the screening of California Schemin’, actor James McAvoy’s directorial debut.

The jury of the International Feature Film Competition, chaired by American filmmaker Reinaldo Marcus Green and composed of German actress Leonie Benesch, Italian producer Carlo Cresto-Dina, Iranian director Ali Asgari, and Swiss curator Nicole Reinhardt, selected Father from among 14 competing films, praising its “humanity and craftsmanship.” The film had its world premiere at the Venice Film Festival and was chosen as Slovakia’s submission for the Academy Awards.

Special Mentions were awarded to Des preuves d’amour (Love Letters), by Alice Douard, for its “brilliantly written script” and “intuitive and precise direction,” and to Left-Handed Girl, by Shih-Ching Tsou, a generational drama set in Taipei described as a “luminous gem.” Both films premiered earlier this year at Cannes Critics’ Week.

In the Documentary Competition, I Love You, I Leave You, by Swiss director Moris Freiburghaus, made history as the first Swiss film to win the Golden Eye and its accompanying 25,000-franc prize. The jury, chaired by American filmmaker Matthew Heineman and including Odessa Rae, David Osit, Helle Faber, and Katharina Bhend, praised the work, saying they had “never seen anything like it before.” The documentary also received the ZFF Critics’ Jury Special Mention — which honors emerging Swiss talent — and the Audience Award, completing a remarkable hat-trick.

Special Mentions in the documentary category went to The Ground Beneath Our Feet, by Yrsa Roca Fannberg, set in an Icelandic nursing home, and Life After Siham, by Namir Abdel Messeeh, which deals with the loss of a parent. The latter also received the Zurich Churches Film Prize.

In the ZFF for Kids section, the German comedy The Prank, by Benjamin Heisenberg, took home both the Jury Award and the Audience Award. The top prize from the ZFF Critics’ Jury went to Memory of Princess Mumbi, by Damien Hauser, accompanied by 10,000 Swiss francs (about €10,730).

Composer Mikal Grigorowitsch won the Golden Eye for Best International Film Music and 10,000 Swiss francs in the 13th International Film Music Competition (IFMC), for his score for a seven-minute short film performed live by the Tonhalle Orchestra Zurich.

In addition to the awards, the festival hosted masterclasses and bestowed honorary recognitions upon prominent figures of world cinema, concluding an edition marked by emotion, discovery, and emerging talent.