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World Premieres and possible Oscar Contenders at the 22nd Zurich Film Festival 

Zurich, August 31, 2026 

World premieres, potential Oscar contenders, and new works by acclaimed directors: The Zurich Film Festival presents twelve additional Gala Premieres, including BUNKER starring Javier Bardem and Penélope Cruz, the European premiere of BABIES by Lauren Miller Rogen, and Cannes audience favorite CLUB KID. Together with the world premieres of EUROTRASH by Frauke Finsterwalder and BLOOD MONEY starring rapper Noizy and Moritz Bleibtreu, the program brings together some of the most eagerly awaited productions of the international film year.

In the Gala Premieres section, the Zurich Film Festival presents the year's most anticipated films from September 24 to October 4 – including numerous titles ZFF believes to have a strong chance during awards season. 

«With these twelve additional Gala Premieres, we are bringing outstanding voices and stories from different parts of the world to Zurich. The program ranges from the promising CLUB KID by Jordan Firstman to new works by acclaimed filmmakers such as Ali Asgari, whose latest film will premiere in competition in Venice. The films also feature major names in front of the camera, including Penélope Cruz, Javier Bardem, and John Turturro. With ADULT SUPERVISION, we are also presenting a film that is already being tipped as a potential Swedish Oscar contender. We are very much looking forward to celebrating these films with our audience at ZFF,» says Reta Guetg, Festival Director of the Zurich Film Festival.

The full program of the 22nd ZFF will be published on the website starting at 12:00 PM on Wednesday, September 9. Ticket sales begin on Monday, September 14, 2026.

© Pathé

BUNKER

Thriller
France / Spain, 2026
Director: Florian Zeller
Cast: Penélope Cruz, Javier Bardem, Stephen Graham, Paul Dano, Patrick Schwarzenegger

A renowned architect is offered the chance to secretly design a survival bunker for a billionaire who is convinced that the end of the world is near. As he lets himself be seduced by this morally ambiguous project, his wife begins to question their marriage. After 17 years together, do they still share the same values? The same ambitions? The same dreams?

© 2026 BABIES FILM, LLC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

BABIES

European Premiere
Comedy
USA, 2026
Director: Lauren Miller Rogen
Cast: Anna Kendrick, Seth Rogen, Issa Rae, Dan Stevens, Kate Berlant, Zach Cherry, Ed Helms, Ashley Park, Sharon Stone, David Strathairn

A happily married couple surrounded by friends with kids are forced to confront their indecision about becoming parents when their divorced friend and her daughter move in with them. 

© A24
CLUB KID

Comedy, Drama, LGBTQIA+
USA, 2026
Director: Jordan Firstman
Cast: Jordan Firstman, Cara Delevigne, Diego Calva

The life of a washed-up New York underground party promoter is thrown off balance when he unexpectedly finds himself responsible for a son whose existence he never knew about. Faced with this new situation, he's forced to reconsider his lifestyle and rise to the demands of a role that's completely foreign to him – all while trying to salvage his career along the way. 

© Studiocanal

INK

Drama
United Kingdom, France, USA, 2026
Director: Danny Boyle
Cast: Jack O’Connell, Guy Pearce, Claire Foy

An explosive cinematic rollercoaster about a group of visionaries and misfits who had an idea for a new kind of news – one that would give the people what they wanted and would change the face of the world we live in today.

© Seven Springs Pictures 2026
A BIT OF LIGHT

Drama
Iran / Switzerland / Italy / Canada / Turkey, 2026
Director: Ali Asgari
Cast: Misagh Zareh, Sadaf Asgari, Forouzan Jamshidnejad, Ramtin Daghigh, Mina Rahimzadeh

After being arrested and having his medical practice shut down, a disillusioned Iranian doctor (played by Misagh Zareh, THE SEED OF THE SACRED FIG) loses faith in the future. Determined to end his life, he spends one final day visiting his siblings and mother to prepare them for his departure.Their compassion, care and companionship slowly reconcile him with reality. 

© MRC II Distribution Company L.P.

THE ONLY LIVING PICKPOCKET IN NEW YORK

Crime, Thriller
USA, 2026
Director: Noah Segan
Cast: John Turturro, Steve Buscemi, Giancarlo Esposito, Will Price, Tatiana Maslany

Harry Lehman (John Turturro) is an aging pickpocket who plies his trade with ever-diminishing returns in a drastically changed New York. Wallets stuffed with cash have been replaced by easily canceled credit cards, and Harry struggles to make ends meet as he cares for his disabled wife, Rosie. When he unwittingly purloins and fences a valuable USB stick, Harry finds himself in a race against time to return the loot or face the rage of a vengeful crime family.  

© 2026 Eskwad Curiosa Films Studiocanal TF1 Films production - Photo de Christophe Brachet

LES MISÉRABLES

Drama, History, Thriller
France, 2026
Director: Fred Cavayé
Cast: Vincent Lindon, Tahar Rahim, Camille Cottin, Benjamin Lavernhe, Noémie Merlant, Vassili Schneider, Megan Northam, Marie Colomb

After spending 19 years in prison for stealing a loaf of bread, Jean Valjean is being released a hardened man. Seeking redemption, he reinvents himself under a new identity as a reputable dignitary. He promises Fantine, a dying factory worker, that he will rescue and protect her daughter Cosette, who is being exploited and mistreated by the treacherous Thénardier family. While Valjean is raising Cosette as his own, he continues to be relentlessly hunted by inspector Javert. Amid the social unrest gripping France, the fates of Valjean, Cosette, her lover Marius, and Javert become entangled in the turbulent, revolutionary streets of Paris. Through struggle, sacrifice, and an unwavering yearning for justice, Valjean strives to complete his path to redemption and give Cosette a future filled with love and freedom. 

© On Film Production

BLOOD MONEY

World Premiere
Urban Boxing Drama
Albania, 2026
Director: Enkelejd Lluca
Cast: Blerim Destani, Noizy (Rigels Rajku), Moritz Bleibtreu, Kida Khodr Ramadan, Kaona Sulejmani, Veysel Gelin, Islam Dulatov, Sunaj Raca, Xheni Fama, Ndriçim Xhepa, Kastriot Çaushi

In Durrës, ex-convict Arion is drawn into The Circle, a brutal underground fighting arena, by Ilir, a charming gambler desperate for one last big score. As Arion’s victories turn him into a local legend, money, fame and betrayal threaten to destroy them both. When he is offered a fortune to lose the final fight, Arion must choose between escape and the one thing he has been fighting for all along: his dignity. 

© Salvatore Vinci, Walker + Worm Film

EUROTRASH

World Premiere
Drama
Germany / Switzerland, 2026
Director: Frauke Finsterwalder
Cast: Barbara Sukowa, Alexander Fehling, Luna Wedler, Stefan Kurt

When writer Philipp is forced to realize that he and his wealthy family are the worst kind of people, he sets off with his terminally ill and hopelessly drunk mother Helene on a breathtaking road trip through Switzerland. In their attempt to give away her accumulated fortune, the two encounter eccentric characters, magic comes into play, and in the end they find their way to each other. EUROTRASH is a dizzying journey into psychosis, a hall of mirrors of personal and universal reckoning, and a film about the tenderness and cruelty of a dying mother and her son. Based on the novel of the same name by Christian Kracht.

With her new directorial work EUROTRASH, Frauke Finsterwalder once again ventures into the depths of our existence, illuminating a mother-son relationship – representative of the complexity of human relationships – with her characteristic humor in an extremely entertaining way.

© Johan Paulin

ADULT SUPERVISION

Drama
Sweden, 2026
Writer and Director: Alex Schulmann
Cast: Gustaf Skarsgård, Fares Fare, Linus Wahlgren

When three middle-aged fathers chaperone their teenage daughters on a rowdy school trip to a remote archipelago island, tensions quickly escalate into something sinister and their grip on the situation begins to slip. As they are pulled into conflicts that stir dark memories from their own pasts, the boundaries between play and dangerous power struggles dissolve – and victims and perpetrators become impossible to tell apart.  

 

© Liaison Cinématographique – Pan Cinema - Artémis Productions – Les Productions du Ch’timi
THINK GOOD (SI TU PENSES BIEN)

International Premiere
Drama
France / Belgium, 2026
Director: Géraldine Nakache
Cast: Monia Chokri, Niels Schneider, Clémentine Célarié, Christian Benedetti, Thaïs Garfinkel, Oussama Kheddam, Mina Kavani

When Gil meets Jacques, their love is self-evident. But the intensity of those early days gives way to a relationship in which she feels increasingly trapped,until she loses her bearings.Jacques reassures her: if she thinks good, only good will come to her.Little by little, Gil comes to understand the control he exerts over her life.

© Fandango

BACK TO BUENOS AIRES (RITORNO A BUENOS AIRES)

International Premiere
Drama
Italien / Brasilien, 2026
Regie: Mario Bechis
Cast: Adriano Giannini, Ana Celentano, Veronica Gerez, Olivia Nuss, Adrian Fondari, Marcelo Chaparro, Paula Cohen, Vijaya Bechis Boll, Marcela Serli, Maria Layla Fernandez, Eduardo Hoy

Buenos Aires, 2008. After 33 years spent in Italy, Mariano Guerra, an Italian doctor, returns to Argentina to testify at the trial against the former military officers who abducted, tortured, and enslaved him during the military dictatorship. Together with other survivors, he is housed in accommodations provided by the Ministry of Justice, where he reunites with people who shared his captivity, and awaits the day of his deposition. The days spent with the other witnesses as well as the encounters and testimonies shed light on events that had remained unresolved for decades. Mariano is one of the few survivors of that tragedy, and he carries a burden that no verdict can ease. His return to Buenos Aires forces him to confront what it means to have remained alive.

Zurich Film Festival

The Zurich Film Festival (ZFF) is the second-largest film festival in the German-speaking world, presenting the year's finest discoveries and most anticipated films over a span of eleven days each fall. It fosters communication between emerging directors, established filmmakers, the film industry, and audiences. 

The 22nd edition will take place from September 24 to October 4, 2026.

Further information: Zurich Film Festival | ZFF Industry

Media contact:

Zurich Film Festival
Susanne Lüscher, PR Manager
[email protected], + 41 78 745 13 71


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