‘Kajillionaire,’ ‘The Big Hit,’ ‘The Truffle Hunters’ Among Zurich Galas

By Naman Ramachandran

Miranda July’s Sundance title “Kajillionaire,” featuring Evan Rachel Wood and Debra Winger, and Josephine Decker’s Sundance winner “Shirley,” starring Elisabeth Moss, are amongst the first 10 galas announced by the Zurich Film Festival on Friday.

The galas also include Emmanuel Courcol’s Cannes official selection “The Big Hit,” starring Kad Merad (“Baron Noir”); Michael Dweck, Gregory Kershaw’s Sundance title “The Truffle Hunters”; and Uberto Pasolini’s “Nowhere Special,” that is up for a Horizons award at Venice.

There are a pair of homegrown world premieres – “Zurcher Tagebuch,” where Zurich director Stefan Haupt takes the audience through the changes in his hometown since 1961; and Rolf Lyssy’s “Eden für jeden,” a feel-good comedy that shows the allotment garden as a mirror of multicultural Switzerland.

Further titles include Ryan White’s docu-thriller “Assassins”; Ariel Winograd’s “The Heist of the Century”; and Michel Franco’s “New Order.”

The festival states that “despite the pandemic, many films will again be presented personally by the filmmakers this year.”

“The selection this year is more diverse than ever,” said artistic director Christian Jungen. “It ranges from Stefan Haupt’s wonderful declaration of love for Zurich ‘Zurcher Tagebuch’ to the Argentine crowd pleaser ‘The Heist of the Century’ and the U.S. dramatic thriller ‘Shirley,’ starring Elisabeth Moss.”

The complete program of the 16th Zurich film festival will be revealed Sept. 10 and ticket sales will commence Sept 14.

The festival’s first Zurich Market, an on-site event organized in collaboration with Spain’s San Sebastian film festival will see the Swiss event hosting screenings in local cinema theaters for about 20 new independent titles.