As part of the glamorous Award Night, the Golden Eyes, each endowed with a 25,000 CHF cash prize, were presented to the winners of the three competition categories on the 2nd of October 2021 in the evening at the Zurich Opera House.
The Golden Eye in the Focus Competition went to the Swiss film LA MIF by Fred Baillif. For his authentic social drama set in a home for girls, the director worked with actual residents who co-wrote the script, improvised and delivered impressively uninhibited performances.
The Golden Eye in the Feature Film Competition went to A CHIARA by the Italian-American director Jonas Carpignano. In this neorealist mafia and family drama, 15-year-old Chiara discovers her father’s criminal involvement and delves deep into the milieu of the Calabrian ‘Ndrangheta in search of answers.
The jury, presided over by actor Daniel Brühl, gave Special Mentions to the American drama JOCKEY by Clint Bentley and the Iranian-French production BALLAD OF A WHITE COW / GHASIDEYEH GAVE SEFID by Behtash Sanaeeha and Maryam Moghaddam.
LIFE OF IVANNA / ZHIZN IVANNY by the Russian-based director Renato Borrayo Serrano won the Golden Eye in the Documentary Film Competition. The doc follows a tough 26-year-old tundra nomad over the course of four years to show her fascinating yet equally harsh reality, and highlights her struggle for the survival of her family. A Special Mention went to the French-Belgian documentary SOY LIBRE by Laure Portier and the Swedish-produced film SABAYA by Hogir Hirori about female IS slaves.
We were happy to attend the wonderful annual event with Zurich Film Festival’s partner – premium department store Jelmoli.
Michael Steiner 
Focus Film award winner for ‘La Mif’, Fred Bailif 
Documentary award jury members Asif Kapadia presents the Best Documentary Film award to Renato Borrayo Serrano for ‘Life of Ivanna’ 
Paolo Carpignano accepts the Best Feature Film award for ‘A Chiara’ on behalf of his son
