Zurich Film Festival unveils lineup

'Dr. Parnassus,' 'Five Minutes' among titles

By ED MEZA

BERLIN -- Terry Gilliam's "The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus" and Liam Neeson starrer "Five Minutes of Heaven," by Oliver Hirschbiegel ("Downfall") are among the pics unspooling at this year's Zurich Film Festival, which runs Sept. 24-Oct. 4.

Festival directors Nadja Schildknecht and Karl Spoerri on Thursday announced the lineups for the fest's three competitions and the jury members who will award the Golden Eye to the best feature film and documentary.

Debra Winger will serve as president of the five-member international competition jury, which also includes writer-director-producers Randal Kleiser ("Summer Lovers") and Dale Launer ("Dirty Rotten Scoundrels").

Peter Fonda, last year's jury prexy, will return to Zurich for the 40th anniversary of his cult film "Easy Rider" and in his role as an ambassador for Medecins Sans Frontieres (Doctors Without Borders), which is being feted at this year's event.

Nikolaj Nikitin, curator of the international feature film competition, said family was a recurring theme among this year's entries. "Be it humorous or tragic, in Israel, the U.S., Russia, Romania, Korea, Denmark, Argentina or France, it is always with fondness, affection and precision that the young filmmakers portray that which influences their lives the most: their families."

Lynn Shelton's romance comedy "Humpday," Cary Joji Fukunaga's immigrant drama "Sin Nombre" (Without Name) and Tina Mabry's "Mississippi Damned," about a family struggling with poverty and the social ills it breeds, are among the North American pics unspooling in the fest's feature competition.

Also serving on the International Feature Film Competition jury is Argentine filmmaker Anahi Berneri ("A Year Without Love") and Polish-born British writer-director Pawel Pawlikowski ("My Summer of Love").

The fest's documentary competition, meanwhile, "is characterized by the passion and the courage of its young directors to tackle the problematic and uncomfortable themes of our times," said section curator Christine von Fragstein.

Docs vying for the top prize include Anita Blumer's "Buenos Dias, Seguimos En Guerra," which examines ongoing violence in Guatemala more than a decade after the end of the country's civil war; Christoph Heller's "My Father. My Uncle." about an adopted young man who meets his real Iraqi parents for the first time; and "The Sound After the Storm," Patrik Soergel and Ryan Fenson-Hood's look at New Orleans jazz musicians Lillian Boutte, Dr. Michael White and Armand "Sheik" Richardson and how they use their talent to fight the adversity brought on by Hurricane Gustav and three years of neglect since Hurricane Katrina.

INTERNATIONAL FEATURE FILM COMPETITION
“A Blind River,” An Sun-Kyong, South Korea
“Amreeka,” Cherien Dabis, U.S./Kuwait/Canada
“Applause,” Martin Pieter Zandvliet, Denmark
“Giant,” Adrian Biniez, Uruguay/Germany/Argentina/Netherlands
“Humpday,” Lynn Shelton, U.S.
“Katalin Varga,” Peter Strickland, Romania/Hungary/U.K.
“Lost Islands,” Reshef Levy, Israel
“Mississippi Damned,” Tina Mabry, U.S.
“The Father of My Children,” Mia Hansen-Love, France
“The Last Summer of La Boyita,” Julia Solomonoff, Argentina
“West of Pluto,” Henry Bernadet, Myriam Verreault, Canada
“Without Name,” Cary Joji Fukunaga, Mexico
“Wolfy,” Vasilij Sigarev, Russia

OUT OF COMPETITION PREMIERES/SPECIAL SCREENINGS
“Away We Go,” Sam Mendes, U.S./U.K.
“Coco Chanel & Igor Stravinsky,” Jan Kounen, France
“The Damned United,” Tom Hooper, U.K.
“Desert Flower,” Sherry Horman, Germany/Austria/France
“Easy Rider,” Dennis Hopper, U.S.
“Five Minutes of Heaven,” Oliver Hirschbiegel, U.K.
“Gangs,” Rainer Matsutani, Germany
“The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus,” Terry Gilliam, France/Canada/U.K.
“The Lightmaker, Director's Cut,” Dieter Meier, Switzerland/U.S.
“Lila, Lila,” Alain Gsponer, Germany, Switzerland
“The Merry Gentleman,” Michael Keaton, U.S.
“Samson and Delilah,” Warwick Thornton, Australia
“The September Issue,” R.J. Cutler, U.S.
“Space Tourists,” Christian Frei, Switzerland/Germany
“Rose et Noir,” Gerard Jugnot, France
“Whiskey with Vodka,” Andreas Dresen, Germany
“Triage: Dr. James Orbinski’s Humanitarian Dilemma,” Patrick Reed, Canada
“Pianomania,” Robert Cibis, Lilian Franck, Austria/Germany

INTERNATIONAL DOCUMENTARY FILM COMPETITION
"Bejart: The Show Must Go On,” Arantxa Aguirre, Spain
“Buenos Dias, Seguimos En Guerra,” Anita Blumer, Switzerland
“Defamation,” Yoav Shamir, Israel
“Diary of an Affiliate,” Davide Barletti, Edoardo Cicchetti, Lorenzo Conte, Italy
“My Father. My Uncle. Christoph Heller, Germany
“P-Star Rising,” Gabriel Noble, U.S.
“Queen of Brazil,” Fernanda Tornaghi, Ricardo Bruno, Brazil
“Sergio,” Greg Barker, U.K./U.S.
“The Sound After the Storm,” Patrik Soergel, Ryan Fenson-Hood, Switzerland/Germany

GERMAN-SPEAKING FEATURE FILM COMPETITION
“13 Semesters,” Frieder Wittich, Germany
“66/67 -- Fairplay Is Over,” Carsten Ludwig, Jan-Christoph Glaser, Germany
“Ceasefire,” Lancelot von Naso, Germany/Switzerland
“Der Fuersorger,” Lutz Konermann, Switzerland
“Gravity,” Maximilian Erlenwein, Germany
“Hangtime,” Wolfgang Groos, Germany
“Night Rush,” Markus Welter, Switzerland/Germany
“Small Fish,” Marco Antoniazzi, Austria