Russell Crowe Receives Lifetime Achievement Award

The Zurich Film Festival honors actor, producer, director, and Academy Award winner Russell Crowe for his life’s work and his outstanding performance in his new film NUREMBERG. Crowe will personally receive the Golden Eye on September 27 together with director James Vanderbilt, In addition, he will give insights into his work as part of an exclusive ZFF Masters.

From gladiator to cinema legend: Russell Crowe has written film history in leading roles of numerous classics. He gained worldwide recognition as Maximus Decimus Meridius in Ridley Scott’s GLADIATOR (2000), for which he won the Academy Award for Best Actor. His portrayal of young scientist John Nash in A BEAUTIFUL MIND (2001) was also highly acclaimed and earned him, among others, a Golden Globe and a SAG Award. In the following years, he continued his career with films such as ROBIN HOOD (2010), NOAH (2014), as well as more recent productions like THOR: LOVE AND THUNDER (2022) and LAND OF BAD (2024).

«Russell Crowe has been in the film business for over 40 years and has written film history with classics such as GLADIATOR, A BEAUTIFUL MIND, and ROBIN HOOD. He is a hell of a character actor who captivates with his charisma and leaves no one untouched», explains ZFF-Festival Direcor Christian Jungen, «The New Zealander is extremely versatile and distinguished by courageous role choices. In NUREMBERG, he plays Nazi Hermann Göring in a way that makes your blood freeze. It is one of the best performances of his career, and it would not surprise me if he received another Oscar nomination for it. We are very pleased to honor Russell Crowe for his career and his contribution to film history with our Lifetime Achievement Award.»

Ein Mann in einer deutschen Militäruniform aus der Zeit des Zweiten Weltkriegs steht neben einem schwarzen Oldtimer mit Nazi-Fahnen, während im Hintergrund Soldaten und beschädigte Fahrzeuge in einer verrauchten, vom Krieg zerstörten Landschaft zu sehen sind.

NUREMBERG

After World War II, in the Nuremberg Trials held to bring war criminals to justice, young American psychiatrist Douglas Kelly (Rami Malek) is tasked with determining if the Nazi prisoners are of sound mind and fit to stand trial. In the process, he finds himself in a complex battle of wits with Hermann Göring (Russell Crowe), considered Hitler's right-hand man. Drawing inspiration from the novel «The Nazi and the Psychiatrist», director James Vanderbilt crafts a gripping thriller, pitting Oscar winners Rami Malek and Russell Crowe against each other in an intense duel between morality and manipulation.