For this year's event, that were conducted in accordance with strict precautions due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the Zurich Film Festival chose to celebrate French cinema, which according to festival organizers, "reveals an incredibly multifaceted, ever-renewing cinema that grates creatively against its filmmaking heritage, and one that is able to challenge established narrative patterns with an enduring spirit of innovation." The New World View section was entirely dedicated to French productions, featuring 13 feature films and 4 shorts, a number of which will were accompanied by their directors (including Suzanne Lindon, Caroline Vignal, and David Dufresne).

In the Official Competition, two debut films carried the French banner: Slalom by Charlène Favier and Gagarine by Fanny Liatard and Jérémy Trouilh, all of them in attendance.

Danielle Arbid, Laetitia Dosch, Alex Lutz, Emmanuel Courcol, Bruno Podalydès, Quentin Reynaud, and Kad Merad also were at the event to present their films in the Gala Premieres section.

Furthermore, the Zurich Film Festival paid a double tribute to French talents, with Juliette Binoche who received the Golden Icon Award for lifetime achievement and Maïwenn wo received the "A Tribute To..." Award, with a retrospective of her films screened at the event.

French films at the 2020 Zurich Film Festival

Gala Premieres

• The Big Hit by Emmanuel Courcol
• Simple Passion by Danielle Arbid
• 5ème set by Quentin Reynaud
• DNA by Maïwenn
• How to be a Good Wife by Martin Provost
• French Tech by Bruno Podalydès
• The Father by Florian Zeller (minority-French coproduction)
• New Order by Michel Franco (minority French coproduction)

Feature Film Competition

• Slalom by Charlène Favier
• Gagarine by Fanny Liatard, Jérémy Trouilh

New World View: France

• An Easy Girl by Rebecca Zlotowski
• My Donkey, My Lover & I by Caroline Vignal
• Two of Us by Filippo Meneghetti
• La Permanence by Alice Diop
• La Pièce rapportée by Antonin Peretjatko
• The Wild Boys by Bertrand Mandico
• Proxima by Alice Winocour
• Heal the Living by Katell Quillévéré
• Spring Blossom by Suzanne Lindon
• Ulysses & Mona by Sébastien Betbeder
• Knife + Heart by Yann Gonzalez
• The Monopoly of Violence by David Dufresne
• À l'abordage by Guillaume Brac

Border Lines

• Little Girl by Sébastien Lifshitz
• Aswang by Alyx Arumpac (minority French coproduction)

Hashtag #GetUpStandUp

• Josep by Aurel

Maïwenn Retrospective

• Poliss by Maïwenn
• All about actresses by Maïwenn
• Mon roi by Maïwenn
• Pardonnez-moi by Maïwenn