Zurich Film Festival

The Zurich Film Festival (ZFF) announced today that Liam Hemsworth will be awarded a special Golden Eye Award recognizing “The New A-Lister” at this year’s Festival, taking place September 24^th – October 4^th. The announcement was made by ZFF Directors Karl Spoerri and Nadja Schildknecht.

ZFF’s Golden Eye Award stands to recognize achievement on the highest levels and in his case distinguishes young talent who have made their mark on a global scale and are on their way to become the new “A-Lister.” The award will be bestowed to Hemsworth on the evening of Saturday, September 26^th at the Corso Cinema.

In addition to receiving ZFF’s Golden Eye Award, Hemsworth will present his latest film, the drama The Dressmaker directed by Jocelyn Moorhouse and co-starring Kate Winslet, Hugo Weaving and Judy Davis, which has been selected to screen in the Gala Premieres section of the Festival.

“It is by no accident that Liam has taken Hollywood by storm over the last few years and carved out his place as a true global megastar who still has a long, very bright future ahead of him,” said Spoerri and Schildknecht. “He has shown remarkable diversity in his work and is a natural leading man who commands the screen. We know this Golden Eye award will only be the start of the many awards he is poised to earn in his career.”

Hemsworth is currently lensing on Roland Emmerich’s Independence Day: Resurgence, starring opposite Jeff Goldblum & Bill Pullman.  He’s completed production on the revenge western thriller By Way of Helena, starring opposite Woody Harrelson and The Dressmaker, starring opposite Kate Winslet. This November he will be seen on the big screen reprising his role as Gale Hawthorne in The Hunger Games: Mockingjay 2.

Born in Melbourne, Australia, Hemsworth grew up surfing on Phillip Island. The youngest of three boys, Hemsworth always loved movies. Though he never dreamed of becoming an actor as a young kid, he would sit down and watch movies all day long. At the age of 17, having observed his two older brothers Luke and Chris do television shows in Australia, Hemsworth decided he too wanted to pursue acting seriously. He enrolled in acting classes, got an agent and started auditioning.  Hemsworth quickly landed his first big acting job on Australia’s popular TV series Home and Away and from there went on to book a role on Australia’s most successful TV show Neighbors.

Hemsworth soon began to gain attention throughout Hollywood and, while living with his brother Chris in their manager Will Ward’s guest cottage, Liam beat out hundreds of actors for the part of ‘Will Blakelee’ in the film adaptation of Nicholas Spark’s The Last Song, co-starring Greg Kinnear and Miley Cyrus. Hemsworth then went onto star in two of 2012’s biggest box office hits—The Hunger Games, directed by Gary Ross, and Expendables 2, directed by Simon West. He’s since starred opposite Harrison Ford and Gary Oldman in the high stakes thriller Paranoia, directed by Robert Luketic and Empire State, directed by Dito Montiel and co-starring Dwayne Johnson and Emma Roberts. He also reprised his role as Gale Hawthorne in The Hunger Games: Catching Fire and The Hunger Games: Mockingjay 1, directed by Francis Lawrence. Most recently, he starred opposite Billy Bob Thornton, Bruce Dern & John Malkovich in the crime thriller Cut Bank.

About the Zurich Film Festival

Now in its 11^th edition, the Zurich Film Festival (ZFF) has established itself as one of the world’s top Films Festivals, discovering and promoting independent voices and talent from around the world, showcasing a diverse array of international films and serving as the setting for many World and European premieres.

ZFF 2015 Gala Premieres include KILL YOUR FRIENDS from Owen Harris, MISTRESS AMERICA from Noah Baumbach, MISS YOU ALREADY from Catherine Hardwicke, HIGH-RISE from Ben Wheatley, MON ROI from Maïwenn, THE PROGRAM from Stephen Frears, BLACK MASS from Scott Cooper, COLONIA from Florian Gallenberger, SICARIO from Denis Villeneuve, THE END OF THE TOUR from James Ponsoldt, LIFE from Anton Corbijn and WALK IN THE WOODS from Ken Kwapis.

In addition to the gala premieres, this year’s Zurich Film Festival A Tribute to... award will be presented to British film director Mike Leigh, one of the most significant exponents of New British Cinema. Mike Leigh will collect the Golden Eye in person during the Award Night ceremony at the Zurich Opera House on October 3. Screened during the ZFF, a comprehensive retrospective comprising a number of his productions will offer insight into his work. Mike Leigh will also head a ZFF Public Master Class.

The aim of the Zurich Film Festival is to offer audiences an insight into the work of young, upcoming filmmakers from around the globe and to promote the exchange of ideas between established film workers, young talent and the public.

ZFF is organized by Spoundation Motion Picture GmbH, based in Zurich, in cooperation with local institutions and sponsors. The Zurich Film Festival cooperates with numerous distributors and producers from Switzerland and abroad. The idea to found a festival in Zurich came from Karl Spoerri and Nadja Schildknecht, who serve as Directors of the Festival.

The Zurich Film Festival is generously supported by its main sponsors: Credit Suisse, upc cablecom, Etihad Airways and Audi.

For more information please visit www.zff.com