The Zurich Film Festival tonight revealed that the surprise film of the Festival is the World Premiere of the documentary "Roman Polanski: A Film Memoir." It was announced by Festival Directors Karl Spoerri and Nadia Schildknecht.

“Roman Polanski: A Film Memoir” is the extraordinary story of both the man and the filmmaker. In an unprecedented encounter, Polanski talks to his friend, producer Andrew Braunsberg, about his childhood, his career in both Europe and America, the tragedy of Sharon Tate, the controversy surrounding his arrest in 1977, and his life to this day. The feature length documentary is directed by Laurent Bouzereau.

Roman Polanski arrived in Zurich this evening to accept the Zurich Film Festival’s lifetime achievement award that was intended for him two years ago, to honor his outstanding career achievements as a filmmaker. Following the award ceremony, the audience had the exclusive privilege to see the new documentary for the very first time.

“Roman Polanski: A Film Memoir” is an Anagram Film Ltd. production, produced by Andrew Braunsberg.

Born 1933 in Paris, Roman Polanski first attracted attention with his 1962 feature “Knife in the Water.” This was followed by works such as “Repulsion” (1965), “Cul-de-sac” (1966) and his Hollywood debut “Rosemary’s Baby” (1968), which brought him an Academy Award® nomination for best screenplay.

His box-office blockbusters include “The Fearless Vampire Killers” (1967), “Chinatown” (1974) and the Holocaust drama “The Pianist” (2002), which won him a Golden Palm in Cannes and the Academy Award® for best director. Following “The Ghost Writer” (2010), this year saw the release of his film adaptation of the theatre piece “Carnage,” which was well received by enthusiastic critics at its premiere screening in Venice.

Polanski’s cinematographic work has enjoyed years of worldwide acclaim. His occupation with such topics as social inability, angst and self-destructive violence is apparent throughout his whole body of films. He portrays his broken, lonely protagonists with often claustrophobic and surreal visuals.

Andrew Braunsberg's credits as a producer include Roman Polanski's “The Tenant,” “Macbeth,” “What?” and Hal Ashby's “Being There.”

Laurent Bouzereau is an award-winning filmmaker who has created documentaries on films by some of the world’s most acclaimed directors. He has also written several books on cinema.

About the Zurich Film Festival

The Zurich Film Festival was founded in October 2005 and became firmly established upon the national and international festival landscape within a very short period of time. This year’s seventh edition again sees Zurich transformed into an eleven-day film festival capital celebrating the art of film in all its facets!

The aim of the Zurich Film Festival is to offer audiences an insight into the work of young, upcoming filmmakers from around the globe and to promote the exchange of ideas between established film workers, young talent and the public.

The international competition will witness young filmmakers competing for the coveted Golden Eye – the festival’s main award. In addition to the competition, we will also present the latest films by renowned filmmakers as exclusive gala premieres. Furthermore, the New World View series will focus upon the current cinematic oeuvre of a developing film region. In the past years, we have been focusing on Israel (2008), Argentina (2009) and Australia (2010).

Numerous fringe events and parties give individuals from the field of film and movie-smitten visitors the opportunity to discuss happenings and bring the cinema day to an agreeable end in a pleasing and relaxed atmosphere

ZFF is organized by Spoundation Motion Picture GmbH, based in Zurich, in cooperation with local institutions and sponsors. The Zurich Film Festival cooperates with numerous distributors and producers from Switzerland and abroad. The idea to found a festival in Zurich came from Karl Spoerri. Today, the festival directors are Karl Spoerri (artistic director) and Nadja Schildknecht (public relations, marketing and sponsoring).

The Zurich Film Festival is generously supported by its main sponsors: Credit Suisse, Die Post, Kuoni and Audi.

For more information please visit www.zurichfilmfestival.org