The Golden Eye Award - the award of the Zurich Film Festival

What the golden statuette is to the Oscars, the Golden Eye is to the Zurich Film Festival. This special ZFF award is given in recognition of outstanding talent. Produced with great passion by Gerald Koller in Dübendorf, Switzerland, the Golden Eye has found its way into the living rooms of numerous esteemed personalities within the film industry.

The ZFF Golden Eye has been awarded to the following recipients in the festival's 19-year history:

Golden Icon Award

Jessica Chastain (2023) / Sir Ben Kingsley (2022) / Sharon Stone (2021) / Juliette Binoche (2020) / Cate Blanchett (2019) / Judi Dench (2018) / Glenn Close (2017) / Hugh Grant (2016) / Arnold Schwarzenegger (2015) / Diane Keaton (2014) / Hugh Jackman (2013) / Richard Gere (2012) / Sean Penn (2011) / Michael Douglas (2010) / Morgan Freeman (2009) / Sylvester Stallone (2008)

A Tribute to ... Award

Todd Haynes (2023) / Luca Guadagnino (2022) / Paolo Sorrentino (2021) / Maïwenn (2020) / Roland Emmerich (2019) / Wim Wenders (2018) / Rob Reiner (2017) / Olivier Assayas (2016) / Mike Leigh (2015) / Claire Denis (2014) / Michael Haneke (2013) / Tom Tykwer (2012) / Paul Haggis (2011) / Miloš Forman (2010) / Roman Polański (2009) / Costa-Gavras (2008) / Oliver Stone (2007) / Stephen Frears (2006) / Rainer Werner Fassbinder (2005)

Career & Lifetime Achievement Award / Golden Eye Award

Mads Mikkelsen (2023) / Diane Kruger (2023) / Volker Bertelmann (2023) / Michel Merkt (2023) / Eddie Redmayne (2022) / Charlotte Gainsbourg (2022) / Rachel Portman (2022) / Mychael Danna (2021) / Paul Schrader (2021) / Andrey Mordovsky (2021) / Iris Berben (2020) / Til Schweiger (2020) / Rolf Lyssy (2020) / Kristen Stewart (2019) / Donald Sutherland (2018) / Aaron Sorkin (2017) / Andrew Garfield (2017) / Jake Gyllenhaal (2017) / Marcel Hoehn (2016) / Lorenzo di Bonaventura (2016) / Armin Mueller-Stahl (2015) / Steve Golin (2015) / Liam Hemsworth (2015) / Michael Shamberg (2014) / Hans Zimmer (2014) / John Malkovich (2014) / Tim Bevan (2013) / Eric Fellner (2013) / Harrison Ford (2013) / Jerry Weintraub (2012) / John Travolta (2012) / Helen Hunt (2012) / Alejandro González Iñárritu (2011) / Michael Keaton (2010)

A Golden Eye is also awarded to the winning films of each of the competition sections of the festival. Furthermore, a mini version of the award is presented to the winner of the Kids’ film section.

Visiting the ZFF office in Zurich's Seefeld or catching a film at the Frame cinema? Don't miss the chance to see the Golden Eye award up close! It's on display in both locations: at the office on Kreuzstrasse and at the cinema on Europaallee.