ABOUT LUIS by Lucia Chiarla (ostlicht filmproduktion, East End Film) is competing in the Feature Film Competition for the Golden Eye. The drama, which will also be celebrating its world premiere in Zurich, revolves around Constanze and Jens both in their late 30s and their stressful everyday lives. And then there's Luis. The parents' lives come to a head when their 10-year-old son Luis starts having problems at school. Constanze and Jens are now caught between fulfilling social conventions and trying to protect their son.

Three majority German productions are screening in the Gala Premieres sidebar. DER SPITZNAME (Constantin Film) is the sequel to HOW ABOUT ADOLF? and FAMILY AFFAIRS,  thus concluding  the trilogy about a dysfunctional family from a middle-class background. This year will see director Sönke Wortmann now coming to the festival with the third comedy in the trilogy after presenting the previous two films here in 2018 and 2022. The film will have its world premiere in Zurich.

The second film in this section is Tim Fehlbaum’s SEPTEMBER 5 (BerghausWöbke Filmproduktion, Constantin Film, Edgar Reitz Filmproduktion) which already attracted quite a deal of attention in Venice at the beginning of September. The drama revolves around the sports team of the US broadcaster ABC, who suddenly have to switch in the middle of the night from sports reporting to live coverage of the Israeli athletes being taken hostage during the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich.

HAGEN (Constantin Film) by Cyrill Boss and Philipp Stennert will also have its world premiere in Zurich. The fantasy film is based on the 1986 novel ‘Hagen von Tronje’ by Wolfgang Hohlbein, combining the Nibelungen saga with elements from other sagas and his free interpretation of the material. The German actor Jannis Niewöhner can be seen in the role of Siegfried.

Asli Özge's FARUK (EEE Films) will have its Swiss premiere in the Hashtag #BigCityLife sidebar. The film follows the filmmaker as she documents the impending demolition of the block of flats where  her 90-year-old father Faruk lives. Faruk and his relationship with his daughter increasingly become the focus of the narrative.

Outstanding children's and family films from all over the world are being screened in the ZFF for Kids section. Germany will be represented this year by three productions:  WOODWALKERS (blue eyes Fiction, Studio Canal DE, DOR FILM, Filmvergnuegen) by Damian John Harper will be shown as an international premiere, THE SUPER ELFKINS (Seru Animation) by Ute von Münchow-Pohl as a world premiere, and GREETINGS FROM  MARS (Leitwolf Filmproduktion) by Sarah Winkenstette as a Swiss premiere.