24. August 2023

A24’s dark comedy DREAM SCENARIO with Nicolas Cage opens the 19th ZFF

The European Premiere of A24’s DREAM SCENARIO set to open the 19th Zurich Film Festival. Kristoffer Borgli’s dark comedy highlighting the everyday madness of celebrity culture, which stars Hollywood cult actor Nicolas Cage marks the first time in the history of the ZFF that a film from the New York-based entertainment company A24 will kick things off. The film will be presented at the Zurich Convention Centre on September 28 in the presence of Federal Council President Alain Berset and Zurich City Mayor Corine Mauch.

A dream of an opening film: With DREAM SCENARIO by Kristoffer Borgli, the Zurich Film Festival showcases one of the hottest and most highly anticipated titles of the autumn. In it, acting legend Nicolas Cage delivers a stellar performance in one of the best roles of his career. And for the first time, the ZFF opening film comes from A24, the global studio behind this year's historic Academy Award-winning film EVERYTHING EVERYWHERE ALL AT ONCE. The distributor in Switzerland is Frenetic Films AG.

“We are absolutely delighted to be opening ZFF with this bang-up-to-date comedy about the everyday madness of celebrity culture, which, after all, is often followed by cancel culture,” explains Christian Jungen, Artistic Director. “The film is really on the pulse of the times and extremely funny. And Nicolas Cage delivers one of the best performances of his career in his role as the professor. It's a real pleasure to watch and root for him.”

A European premiere in the presence of the director, Alain Berset and Corine Mauch

The European Premiere of the film will take place at Zurich Convention Center in the presence of the Norwegian director Kristoffer Borgli, President of the Swiss Federal Council Alain Berset and Zurich City Mayor Corine Mauch.

DREAM SCENARIO follows a hapless family man Paul Matthews (Nicolas Cage) as he finds his life turned upside down when millions of strangers suddenly start seeing him in their dreams. But when his nighttime appearances take a nightmarish turn, Paul is forced to navigate his newfound stardom, in this wickedly entertaining comedy.

Kristoffer Borgli, who had his breakthrough last year with the drama SICK OF MYSELF, will attend the European premiere of his work in Zurich. DREAM SCENARIO is produced by Ari Aster and Lars Knudsen of Square Peg, and Jacob Jaffke, Tyler Campellone and A24. The title reps the fourth collaboration between Square Peg and A24 following HEREDITARY, MIDSOMMAR and BEAU IS AFRAID starring Joaquin Phoenix.

Hollywood cult star Nicolas Cage

Nicolas Cage is an actor, director, and producer whose remarkable versatility has led to great success across all genres for over four decades. Most recently, Cage appeared as Dracula in Universal’s RENFIELD. Additional recent work includes his crowd-pleasing performances in THE UNBEARABLE WEIGHT OF MASSIVE TALENT, and the heart-breaking and award-winning drama PIG. In addition, Cage starred in the ground-breaking horror thriller MANDY, the mind-bending COLOR OUT OF SPACE, and the animated comedy CROODS 2.

Upcoming this year, Cage will star as The Passenger in RLJE’s SYMPATHY FOR THE DEVIL, which will have its theatrical release later this month as well as Matt, a retired beach bum, with a secret past in THE RETIREMENT PLAN. During his early career, Cage starred in a variety of classic ﬁlms including VALLEY GIRL, RACING WITH THE MOON, BIRDY, PEGGY SUE GOT MARRIED, RAISING ARIZONA, MOONSTRUCK, VAMPIRE'S KISS, WILD AT HEART, HONEYMOON IN VEGAS, and RED ROCK WEST.

Cage received an Academy Award, a Golden Globe, and a Screen Actor’s Guild Award for his performance as a suicidal alcoholic in LEAVING LAS VEGAS before coming to the attention of worldwide audiences with mainstream blockbusters such as THE ROCK, FACE/OFF, CON AIR, CITY OF ANGELS, both installments of NATIONAL TREASURE, and LORD OF WAR. He earned his second Academy Award nomination for his performance as Charlie and Donald Kaufman in ADAPTATION. He also directed the ﬁlm SONNY, for which he was nominated for the Grand Special Prize at The Deauville Film Festival. Cage has also been proliﬁc as a producer, with ﬁlms such as SHADOW OF THE VAMPIRE and THE LIFE OF DAVID GALE, LORD OF WAR, PIG, and THE UNBEARABLE WEIGHT OF MASSIVE TALENT.

Other credits include BAD LIEUTENANT: PORT OF CALL NEW ORLEANS, KICK-ASS, DRIVE ANGRY, THE CROODS, JOE, DYING OF THE LIGHT, THE TRUST, DOG EAT DOG, and MOM & DAD.

The European premiere will take place on Thursday, September 28, 2023, at Zurich Convention Center with 1200 invited guests from the fields of culture, commerce, politics and society. The film will be shown with an additional public screening at the Corso cinema. The full programme of the 19th Zurich Film Festival will be published on our website on Thursday, September 14, from 12 noon local time. Tickets go on sale Monday, September 18, from 12 noon local time.

Generali Switzerland is Official partner of the Opening Night.