It's half-time at the ZFF, and the festival continues in full swing.

© Joshua Sammer

Following an eventful first half of the festival, which included numerous award ceremonies and guests such as Russell Crowe, Dakota Johnson and Colin Farrell, the second half of the 21st Zurich Film Festival began yesterday with two world premieres.

At the 21st ZFF, director Fabien Georgart and French actor Vincent Macaigne celebrated the world premiere of their new family comedy, C’EST QUOI L’AMOUR?. The two were welcomed by Festival Director Christian Jungen and Vice Director Reta Guetg.

Zwei Männer in dunklen Jacken stehen nebeneinander, jeder hält ein Mikrofon und lächelt, während sie auf der Bühne vor einem weißen und schwarzen Hintergrund sprechen.

On the Green Carpet, Gorgeart explained how he came to make the film: «When my producer heard about the procedure of annulling a marriage in the Catholic Church, he said: 'I think you can have fun with this story ' – to be able to tell, in a different way, about family ties, the ties of separation, what makes a family, how love circulates in all of this. These are subjects I addressed in my other films, but in a more serious way. Here, I wanted to address it in a light way.»

Zurich success story: VOICE OF MY PEOPLE

Fünf Männer posieren gemeinsam auf dem roten Teppich des Zurich Film Festival; einer sitzt in einem Rollstuhl und trägt einen Smoking, während die anderen hinter ihm stehen und vor einer Markenkulisse lächeln.

Yesterday, Lorenzo Oschwald, Ansgar Wörner, and Nico Gerspacher presented a Zurich highlight with VOICE OF MY PEOPLE. The documentary film's world premiere follows the success story of SP politician Islam Alijaj. In 2023, Alijaj became the first politician with cerebral palsy to be elected to the National Council. «It's unique and truly an honor. The most important thing I want to convey is that you must never give up; you must always fight for your dreams, » Alijaj said.

You can find more impressions of the day here.