Olivier Assayas honored at the Zurich Film Festival

The 12th edition of this Swiss festival, which will be held from September 22 through October 2, will celebrate the work of Olivier Assayas with a retrospective of his films and will present the filmmaker with the "A Tribute to..." Award on October 1.

Despite a career spanning thirty years and around twenty feature films to his credit (including dramas and documentaries), Olivier Assayas is still seen as the leading light of new-generation French cinema, a direct descendent of the French New Wave, a driving force in cinematic modernity partial to all film genres, and longtime mentor to a whole generation of filmmakers, in France and abroad.

To coincide with the presentation of Assayas' latest film, Personal Shopper, which will be screened on the festival's closing night, the Zurich Film Festival is holding a large-scale retrospective of the director's work this year featuring 12 films, and has invited him to attend the event to receive its "A Tribute to..." Award.

Films by Olivier Assayas to be presented:

Clouds of Sils Maria (2015)
Something in the Air (2012)
Carlos (2010)
Summer Hours (2006)
Clean (2003)
Demonlover (2001)
Les Destinées (2000)
Late August, Early September (1999)
Irma Vep (1996)
Cold Water (1994)
Paris Awakens (1991)
Disorder (1986)

In addition to Olivier Assayas, a French delegation will also be in attendance at the event. French guests are expected to include the crew from L'Odyssée (Jérôme Salle, Pierre Niney, Lambert Wilson), Bertrand Bonello (to be confirmed), as well as Michel Boujenah, Morgan Simon, Asghar Farhadi, and Jero Yun, who will represent majority-French productions.

A sidebar event: the Zurich Summit

The festival will also be accompanied by the 3rd Zurich Summit, to be held September 23-25, which will bring together business leaders and creative personalities from the worlds of cinema, art, and technology, with the aim of promoting an exchange of innovative ideas and the discovery of new commercial models. In addition to panel discussions and round tables, this event also offers individual interviews with its speakers. It is the largest industry event organized as part of the Zurich International Film Festival.

Around twenty French films to be showcased

Among the 172 titles included in the various festival sections, around twenty are French productions or majority-French co-productions, with the notable presence of A Taste of Ink, the debut feature by Morgan Simon in the Official Selection.