There will be a shortage of stars at this year’s Zurich Film Festival

Every festival has its own qualities. While in Locarno, Switzerland, the films themselves should be the stars, Solothurn places the national film production in a clear shop window that does not have its own VIP area. At the Zurich Film Festival, on the other hand, the stars are the stars.

Each fall, celebrities walk the green carpet, accompanied by a flurry of flashbulbs and euphoric cheering from the sidelines: Johnny Depp was there, as were Sharon Stone, Jake Gyllenhaal and Rebel Wilson. Festival director Christian Jungs calls the obligatory photo in front of the opera house the “one million dollar shot”.

In 2023, everything will be different: the strike of the two unions for screenwriting and acting in Hollywood is still going on. And the star announcements for the ZFF are still manageable. At the moment, it takes a lot of luck to attract a similar density of celebrities to Zurich as in years past. And even if the strike ends before the festival kicks off on September 28, the actors won’t exactly fly to Europe first, but return to their film sets as soon as possible.

After the self-proclaimed ‘Week from Hell’ – that was the last week in which the programming of the films shown was officially completed – now follow days of anxious, uncertain organisation, telephone calls, e-mails. All options will be explored. But time flies fast. In recent years, of course, films have been added to the program at the last minute.

But if the situation in Hollywood continues to be as dire as local observers describe it, then it will probably be a relatively starless ZFF. Then the hopeful slogans that Christian Jungs uttered in the run-up do not help either. Such optimism is probably due to the fact that usually busy Switzerland is somewhat alienated from the concept of a ‘strike’, which is brutally implemented in other countries.

After all, a number of names are already known: the German Diane Kruger, who appeared alongside Liam Neeson for ‘Marlowe’ last year, has confirmed. Also confirmed was indie rock musician Peter Doherty, who would have been the prime candidate for cancellation in his chaotic, rowdy mid-1990s heyday. Today, at 44 and a long time clean, his musical performances could cause nostalgia-driven furore.

A possible candidate in Zurich could be Bradley Cooper. In «Maestro», a biopic about Leonard Bernstein, he acts as both a protagonist and a director, which gives him more latitude.

As it is tradition at the ZFF that the presence of the stars requires a new production with their participation, some directors leave the old guard: they are enjoying their retirement or currently have nothing in store.

Without a doubt, if the stars are missing, the ZFF is missing something essential. But it wouldn’t be so bad. Even at the current Venice Film Festival, less prominent names float through the canals than usual. When Zurich brings an equally strong selection of films to the Lido, everything else is easier to get over, at least for the public. We will know more on September 14: then the ZFF will present its program.