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Zurich Film Festival: ‘I Play Rocky’ & ‘Josephine’ Set For Gala Titles

Published

26 minutes ago

August 13, 2026

The Zurich Film Festival has announced its first selection of gala titles for this year’s edition, which runs September 9 to October 10.

Films include the European premiere of Peter Farrelly’s I Play Rocky, starring Anthony Ippolito as Sylvester Stallone, Matt Dillon, Stephan James and more as well as Channing Tatum and Gemma Chan starrer Josephine from director Beth de Araújo.

I Play Rocky follows unknown actor Stallone, who is writing a screenplay title Rocky that a studio is desperate to acquire. But Stallone refuses to sell the rights – unless he gets to play the lead himself. Despite numerous setbacks and rejections he remains determined to make his dream a reality: playing Rocky Balboa.

Josephine follows 8-year old Josephine who witnesses a violent crime and her world is out of joint as she tries to find a way to regain a sense of security. Her emphatic mother (Chan) wants to help her process what happened while her father (Tatum) believes in preparing her for the harsher realities of life, but increasingly finds himself overwhelmed with by the situation.

Further titles include German productions Love, After All by Andreas Dresen and How Can I Help from Doris Dörrie, both of which will world premiere in Zurich.

Here’s the full list:

I PLAY ROCKY

European Premiere

Biography
USA, 2026
Director: Peter Farrelly
Cast: Anthony Ippolito, Matt Dillon, Stephan James, AnnaSophia Robb, PJ Byrne, Toby Kebbell, Tracy Letts, Jay Duplass

JOSEPHINE

Drama
USA, 2026
Director: Beth de Araújo
Cast: Channing Tatum, Gemma Chan, Mason Lily Reeves

111 – ECHOES FROM HALIFAX

European Premiere
Drama
Switzerland, Canada, 2026
Director: Mauro Mueller
Cast: Ursina Lardi, Kris Holden-Ried, Djebril Zonga, Fathia Youssouf, Natalie Brown

On September 2, 1998, the crash of Swissair Flight 111 off Halifax changes the lives of many people forever: relatives struggle for certainty about their loved ones, helpers try to offer comfort, and the residents of the Canadian coast are confronted with the traces of tragedy. As time passes and questions remain unanswered, the film shows how grief connects, relationships change, and new perspectives emerge.

COMPANY

Mystery
Canada, USA, UAE, 2026
Director: Casey Affleck
Cast: Nick Nolte, Ben Mendelsohn, Adelaide Clemens, Scoot McNairy, Emily Alyn Lind, Caylee Cowan

On a winter night in 1975, a mysterious woman named Evelyn arrives uninvited at a holiday gathering and tells the story of Tom, an aging hermit who rescues a stranded actress during a Colorado blizzard in 1953. To pass the night, the actress recounts an older tale of a farming couple who take in a troubled young drifter as a series of grisly murders spreads fear across the frontier. As the stories intertwine across generations, COMPANY becomes a meditation on grief, vengeance, forgiveness, and the quiet acts of compassion that can heal even the deepest wounds.

POSSIBLE LOVE

Drama
South Korea, 2026
Director: Lee Chang-dong
Cast: Jeon Do-yeon, Sul Kyung-gu, Zo In-sung, Cho Yeo-jeong

Possible Love follows the intertwined relationship of two married couples facing different paths and hidden desires. Mi-ok (Jeon Do-yeon) lives quietly with her laid-off husband Ho-seok (Sul Kyung-gu) and their young son Cheol until a
funeral brings them into the orbit of Ye-ji (Cho Yeo-jeong), a documentary filmmaker chronicling laid-off workers, and her husband Sang-woo (Zo In-sung) – a couple whose affluent lifestyle stands in sharp contrast to their own. When Mi-ok agrees to be filmed, she grows close to Ye-ji, and finds herself uneasily drawn to the unreadable Sang-woo. As their worlds collide, fractures begin to appear in their daily existence.

LOVE, AFTER ALL

World Premiere
Tragicomedy
Germany, 2026
Director: Andreas Dresen
Cast: Dagmar Manzel, Joachim Król

Lore (Dagmar Manzel) and Harry (Joachim Król) have been married for nearly 40 years and there is rarely a moment of silence between them. Old stories, missed chances and the uncertainties of retirement fuel heated discussions. Lore is afraid of growing old and bitter in the garden alongside Harry while he longs for stability and peace. There is only one thing they agree on: Their daughter Gloria has little luck in love. Now, she wants to get married for the third time – this time to a wealthy man who is almost the same age as Harry.

IT WILL HAPPEN TONIGHT
Romance

Italy, France, Spain, 2026
Director: Nanni Moretti
Cast: Louis Garrel, Jasmine Trinca, Hippolyte Girardot, Angela Finocchiaro, Melina Åkerman Kvie, Elena Lietti, Andrea Lattanzi, Antonio De Matteo, Nanni Moretti

I’ll wait for you, for as long as you want me to. But will it ever happen?

BURGUNDY

Documentary
France, 2026
Director: Michael Dweck, Gregory Kershaw
Cast: Enzo Ferraroli, Céleste Kalis, Eric Goettelmann, Patrick Maniere, Guillaume Baroin, Bertrand Devillard

Burgundy is one of the world’s most famous wine regions. Through the eyes of novices in hospitality and viticulture, BURGUNDY offers a fascinating glimpse into its unique wine culture, where time-honored traditions live on in rituals centered on luxury and indulgence. Blending documentary and fictional elements, directors Michael Dweck and Gregory Kershaw pay homage to the remarkable and charming people whose zest for life shapes and preserves this unique region and its centuries-old culture.

HOW CAN I HELP?

World Premiere
Drama/Comedy
Germany, 2026
Director: Doris Dörrie
Cast: Angela Winkler, Laura Tonke, Josef Ellers, Via Jikeli, Eugene Boateng, Zoë Baier

Mrs. Winkler has a fall and becomes a nursing case. Her daughter, overwhelmed by her needs, hires a care robot. After some initial resistance, Mrs. Winkler grows quite fond of him. He takes perfect care of her and keeps her entertained – except that he is also supposed to kill her in case her condition deteriorates further.

THE HAMMER

World Premiere
Documentary
France, USA, 2026
Director: Simon Wallon
Cast: Simon de Pury, Jeff Koons, Marina Abramović, Chloe Wise, Lou Zhenggang

A documentary portrait of famed auctioneer Simon de Pury, whose career saw him leading auction houses such as Sotheby’s and Phillips, being the curator of major world collections, an artist, even a DJ, and always being an unavoidable personality “the Mick Jagger of auctions” takes us behind the curtain of the extravagant art market.

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‘Heated Rivalry’s Dylan Walsh In “Trouble” Over Season 2 Secrets

Published

34 minutes ago

August 13, 2026

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With Shane and Ilya hitting the ice for Season 2 of Heated Rivalry, some behind-the-scenes secrets have found their way to social media.

Dylan Walsh, who stars in the Crave Original series as Shane’s dad David Hollander, paused his cameo account after a video “got me in trouble,” seemingly referring to a clip of him giving an update on filming for the sophomore season.

“Getting ready to go back up to Canada and shoot some more episodes… I think we’re doing 12 this time,” said Walsh in a Cameo that his since been shared on X, leading fans to speculate that Seasons 2 and 3 will be filmed together, following the six-episode first season.

According to Entertainment Weekly, Walsh briefly wrote in his profile, “Stepping away because a video went viral that got me in trouble.”

Last Week, Deadline reported that Justice Smith and Charlie Gillespie have been cast as leads in Season 2 of the Crave Original, which is set to premiere in spring 2027. Production began on the sophomore season in Canada earlier this week.

Dylan Walsh as David Hollander and Christina Chang as Yuna Hollander in ‘Heated Rivalry’ (Sabrina Lantos)

In the Role Model book, the fifth in Rachel Reid’s bestselling Game Changer series, Troy Barrett (Gillespie) is a hockey player on Ilya’s team with a history of bullying, while Harris Drover (Smith) is the team’s cheerful social media manager.

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Zurich Film Fest 2026 Galas: I Play Rocky, Josephine, Possible Love

Published

41 minutes ago

August 13, 2026

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The Zurich International Film Festival unveiled highlights from its gala program Thursday, with a selection of “auteur cinema for a broader audience” in the words of festival boss Christian Jungen —that should further cement Zurich’s position as a key international stop for awards season.

The gala lineup includes several of this year’s buzziest titles, among them Peter Farrelly’s I Play Rocky, Beth de Araújo’s Josephine starring Channing Tatum and Gemma Chan and Possible Love, the new drama from acclaimed Korean director Lee Chang-dong (Burning).

I Play Rocky, starring Anthony Ippolito as a young Sylvester Stallone, will have its world premiere in Toronto. Netflix title Possible Love premieres in Venice. Josephine screened at Sundance and Berlin.

*Love, After All*

c_Andres_Dresen_Kordes_und-Kordes_Film_Pandora

Zurich also announced three world premieres. Films from two of Germany’s most acclaimed directors: Love, After All from Andreas Dresen (Cloud 9) and Doris Dörrie’s How Can I Help? will both launch at the Swiss fest — “their films are grounded in everyday life and, with a little wink, reflect on the state of our society,” says Jungen — as will Simon Wallon’s documentary The Hammer, a look a famed auctioneer Simon de Pury.

*How Can I Help?*

Zeitsprung_Pictures_Wild_Bunch_Germany_Mathias_Bothor

Other 2026 Zurich festival galas include 111 – Echoes from Halifax, a true-life drama from Mexican-Swiss director Mauro Mueller about the 1998 crash of Swissair Flight 111 off the coast of Halifax. The film will open this year’s Atlantic Film Festival in Halifax in its world premiere.

*111 – Echoes from Halifax*

Courtesy of the Zurich Film Festival

Three more Venice titles: Casey Affleck’s Company starring Nick Nolte and Ben Mendelsohn; Nanni Moretti’s It Will Happen Tonight with Louis Garrel and Jasmine Trinca; and the documentary Burgundy from The Truffle Hunters directors Michael Dweck and Gregory Kershaw will also screen as Zurich galas.

The 22nd edition of the Zurich Film Festival runs Sept. 24 – Oct. 4.

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Lilly Wachowski Says Hollywood Won’t Finance New Film With Trans Cast

Published

1 hour ago

August 13, 2026

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Lilly Wachowski, who co-directed The Matrix franchise, is opening up about the struggle to get financing for her new film that features a “wall-to-wall trans cast.”

During a recent interview on KCRW’s The Business podcast, the filmmaker acknowledged that it’s unfortunately “not the greatest time in the industry to be trying to make these kinds of things because all of these opportunities are dwindling for folks with those kinds of stories to tell,” specifically those with “underrepresented voices and marginalized points of view.”

Wachowski used her next project, The Hunted, as an example, saying it’s been a challenge because when she showed the script around Hollywood, nobody wanted to finance the dystopian political thriller that’s budgeted at roughly $10 million.

“People like it, but they really don’t want to make it because it’s [got a] wall-to-wall trans cast,” she said of the film. “I have to get creative and figure out different ways that I can get this in front of people.”

Wachowski added that the script, which she co-wrote with her partner, Mickey Ray Mahoney, “was extremely important for me to write.” She continued, “It was a response to what is happening in the world for trans people, and it gave me a hugely cathartic receptacle to dump all of my anger and rage and frustration into.”

Despite her funding obstacles, Wachowski said she’s pivoted to other ways to get this story in front of people “that maybe isn’t a $10 million movie,” such as holding a live table read at Los Angeles’ Dynasty Typewriter theater earlier this month.

“I’m just going to go out and I’m going to grab that trans joy with all of my friends. And we’re going to hopefully experience this together.” Wachowski said of The Hunted table read. “It’s not the thing that I had imagined it was going to be, but the end result is the same.”

In addition to Wachowski and Mahoney, The Hunted is being produced by Lawrence Mattis and Sarah Marie Flores at Anarchists United and Natasha Lyonne at Ariadne Collective.

Wachowski is best known for helming 1999’s The Matrix, 2003’s The Matrix Reloaded and 2003’s The Matrix Revolutions alongside her sister, Lana Wachowski. She’s also directed 1996’s Bound, 2005’s Speed Racer, 2012’s Cloud Atlas and 2015’s Jupiter Ascending, as well as co-created the TV series Sense8.