The Zurich Film Festival (ZFF) announced today that Harrison Ford will be the recipient of the Festival’s prestigious ‘Golden Eye’ award for lifetime achievements in cinema. The announcement was made by ZFF Directors Karl Spoerri and Nadja Schildknecht.
The Golden Eye tribute will take place on October 4th at the Corso Cinema with Ford in attendance, as he tours Europe ahead of the release of his next film, the sci-fi action adventure “Ender’s Game,” directed by Gavin Hood.
Said Spoerri and Schildknecht, “Harrison Ford has had one of the most remarkable careers of any actor in cinema, helping to propel two of the greatest movie franchises by bringing to life iconic roles that have become just as famous as the films themselves. Few actors have commanded the leading man role that Harrison Ford has embodied throughout his career, and continues to showcase in every new project. We are honored to present him with our Golden Eye award at this year’s Festival.”
The Festival will present a special screening of “Raiders of the Lost Ark” prior to Ford’s award tribute.
Harrison Ford has starred in some of the most successful and acclaimed films in cinema history, including the landmark “Star Wars” and “Indiana Jones” franchises and a total of eight Best Picture Oscar®-nominated movies. Ford earned an Academy Award® nomination for his compelling portrayal of Detective John Book in Peter Weir’s 1985 Oscar®-nominated hit “Witness,” for which he also received Golden Globe and BAFTA Award nominations, all for Best Actor. Ford subsequently garnered three more Best Actor Golden Globe nominations: for his performances in Weir’s 1986 drama “The Mosquito Coast”; the 1994 Oscar®-nominated blockbuster “The Fugitive,” for director Andrew Davis; and Sydney Pollack’s 1996 remake of “Sabrina.”
Over the course of his illustrious career, Ford has also been repeatedly honored for his contributions to the film industry, including the Hollywood Foreign Press Association’s Cecil B. DeMille Award, in 2002, and the American Film Institute’s Lifetime Achievement Award, in 2000. In 1994, the National Association of Theater Owners named him the Box Office Star of the Century.
Ford most recently starred in Brian Helgeland’s acclaimed drama “42,” the true story of legendary baseball player Jackie Robinson, who broke baseball’s color line. Ford has received widespread praise for his portrayal of Branch Rickey, the General Manager of the Brooklyn Dodgers who changed history when he signed Robinson to the team. Ford will next be seen in Gavin Hood’s “Ender’s Game.”
A native of Chicago, Ford launched his film career in 1973 with the breakthrough role of hot-rodder Bob Falfa in George Lucas’s seminal hit, “American Graffiti.” Four years later, he reunited with Lucas to play the iconic role of Han Solo in “Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope.” The sci-fi epic earned 12 Oscar® nominations, including Best Picture, and went on to become the top-grossing film in history, a record it held for 20 years. Ford reprised the role of Han Solo in the sequels “The Empire Strikes Back” and “The Return of the Jedi.”
In 1981, Ford created another legendary screen character, Indiana Jones, in Steven Spielberg’s Oscar®-nominated mega-hit “Raiders of the Lost Ark.” During the 1980s, he starred in the blockbuster sequels “Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom” and “Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade.” In 2008, he returned to the title role in the hugely successful “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.”
Ford’s many other film credits include Francis Ford Coppola’s Oscar®-nominated features “The Conversation” and “Apocalypse Now”; Ridley Scott’s 1982 science fiction classic “Blade Runner”; Mike Nichols’ Oscar®-nominated romantic comedy “Working Girl”; the title role in the Nichols-directed drama “Regarding Henry”; Alan J. Pakula’s “Presumed Innocent”; Philip Noyce’s “Patriot Games” and “Clear and Present Danger,” both based on the Tom Clancy bestsellers; Wolfgang Petersen’s “Air Force One”; Robert Zemeckis’s “What Lies Beneath”; Kathryn Bigelow’s “K-19: The Widowmaker,” which he also executive produced; Roger Michell’s “Morning Glory”; Jon Favreau’s “Cowboys & Aliens,” and Robert Luketic’s “Paranoia.”
A strong Hollywood power presence is evident once again at the Zurich Film Festival, which runs September 26th – October 6th. In addition to Harrison Ford, an esteemed group of notable heavyweights will be attending the Festival including Hugh Jackman (Golden Icon recipient), Marc Forster (Jury President), producer Tim Bevan (Career Achievement recipient), filmmaker Michael Haneke (‘Tribute To…’) as well as some of the industry’s hottest directors including Alfonso Cuarón (“Gravity”), Atom Egoyan (“Devil’s Knot”), Oliver Hirschbiegel (“Diana”), James Gray (“The Immigrant”), Denis Villeneuve (“Prisoners”) and Andrew Dominik (“Killing Them Softly”) to name a few.
More information about the 9th Zurich Film Festival can be found at: www.zff.com