Hugh Jackman: Darkness Visible

Hugh Jackman goes over to the dark side in the harrowing thriller, Prisoners

Hugh Jackman knows how to please an audience. While facing journalists at a press conference for his new thriller, Prisoners, at the Zurich Film Festival recently, he declared that without Switzerland, "I literally wouldn't be here. My parents met at Interlaken. My father was a ski and dance instructor, and completely swept my mother off her 19-year-old feet."

He wasn't actually conceived there - that happened after his English parents emigrated to Australia as "£10 Poms" - but he still thanked the country for his existence. The next night, the love-in continued when the festival presented him with a lifetime achievement award.

Read the full story at:  http://www.scmp.com/magazines/48hrs/article/1339798/hugh-jackman-explores-dark-side-prisoners

Oliver Hirschbiegel on Diana: No Regrets

Oliver Hirschbiegel scored a hit with a film about the last days of Hitler, but his portrayal of  Princess Diana's affair with the Pakistani heart surgeon Hasnat Khan, has been attacked by critics and her former lover. Stephen Applebaum met the director at the Zurich Film Festival to find out why.

British film critics lambasted Diana. Do you regret making it?

 

"No. I had the same reactions with Downfall in Germany. It is a very un-British film, because I am a very German director. But the story is true and it raises questions, I think, about what made her so loved and rejected at the same time. I don’t know any person in the past 200 years that was treated like that or reacted to like Diana was. The story is not over, if you know what I mean."

 

Were you disappointed by the Pakistani surgeon Hasnat Khan’s refusal to talk to you?

"I never wanted to speak to him, because the minute you meet the real people you become emotionally involved on a personal level, which alters your vision. I wouldn’t trust myself anymore – and that is a bad thing for a storyteller."


Read more: http://www.thenational.ae/arts-culture/film/director-of-princess-diana-film-accepts-controversy#ixzz2hGDt2wig

9th Zurich Film Festival, Day 3

Scenes from the 9th Zurich Film Festival

 

 

 

 Brazilian Party

 

 

 Dior Party

 

 The Corso Cinema

Zurich Film Festival

Zurich Bound

Launched in 2005, the Zurich Film Festival (ZFF) is a mere infant compared to Venice, the oldest film festival in the world, and Cannes, the glitziest.

Yet, in the short time that it has been operating in Switzerland’s largest metropolis, the ZFF has grown rapidly in size and reputation and now attracts some of the world’s most exciting new and established filmmaking talent.

Possibly because Switzerland has fared better than most European countries during the economic downturn (it has remained outside the eurozone), the budget for this year’s event has been increased, said ZFF’s co-director Nadja Schildknecht, allowing the organiser to scale up the cinematic programme, develop the content, invite a larger number of guests and schedule more industry events.

For the complete story, visit http://www.thenational.ae/arts-culture/film/zurich-film-festival-is-on-the-up-and-up#ixzz2fcyk4uoT