'Flesh and Fuel' Wins Golden Eye at 22nd Zurich Film Festival

Pierre Le Gall's debut feature "Flesh and Fuel" won the Golden Eye for best film at the 22nd Zurich Film Festival on Saturday. The French director's love story world premiered in Cannes' Critics' Week before taking Zurich's top honor.

The Golden Eye for best documentary went to Pete Muller's "Bucks Harbor," which premiered in the Berlin Film Festival's Panorama section, where it won the Prize of the Ecumenical Jury.

Both competition categories are restricted to first, second or third directorial works.

What is 'Flesh and Fuel' about?

The film follows Étienne, a French long-distance truck driver whose lonely daily routine is upended when he meets Bartosz, a fun-loving Polish truck driver. A brief encounter grows into a romance that transcends national borders.

Alexis Manenti stars. He won a César for Most Promising Actor for "Les Misérables."

The narrative film jury — directors Cary Joji Fukunaga and Fernando Eimbcke, actress Ella Rumpf, producer Julie Billy, and director, film editor and screenwriter Walter Fasano — praised the film in its citation.

"At a time when isolation has become a means of protecting ourselves from the world and from one another, 'Flesh and Fuel' offers a compelling and deeply cinematic reflection on the fundamental human need for connection," the jury stated. "With exquisite sensitivity, the film explores how the desire to love and be loved demands that we confront and ultimately break through the physical and emotional boundaries we construct around ourselves."

Special mentions in the narrative section went to Mads Mengel's "The Guest" and Zou Jing's "A Girl Unknown."

Why did 'Bucks Harbor' win the documentary prize?

"Bucks Harbor" centers on Downeast Maine, a U.S. fishing village where boys "are shaped by harsh winters and strict parental rules," according to the festival. The film offers a "glimpse into the inner lives of the villagers."

The documentary jury — director and anthropologist Sine Plambech, cinematographer Alfredo de Juan, producer Anne Köhncke, director Jela Hasler, and director, cinematographer and producer Nikolas Geyrhalter — delivered a pointed citation.

"Merging the world of humans and extreme nature 'Bucks Harbor' is a raw indepth portrait of fragile masculinity in an underprivileged community in rural North America facing climate change and the loss of livelihood," the jury said. "While in times of polarization people are often presented stereotypically, this film provides a much-needed counter narrative in an empathetic way. It provides a deeply human story at eye level with its protagonists, in an impressively convincing visual style."

Special mentions in the documentary section went to "One in a Million" by Itab Azzam and Jack Macinnes, and "My Home of Wind and Sand" by Patrick Wally.

Who won the festival's other awards?

Additional prizes at the 22nd edition:

• Audience Award: Andrina Mračnikar's "Mila/Marija"
• Critics Jury Award: Heinz Bütler's "Ebjä! Adolf Wölfli"
• Science Award: "We Are Stardust" by Elisabeth Rasmussen

Honorary awards were presented during the festival to Julianne Moore, Tom Hiddleston, Naomi Watts, John Turturro and other luminaries.

Festival director Reta Guetg said the winners "show just how much courage and originality there is in filmmakers presenting one of their first works." She also noted the presence of international directing heavyweights at the festival, including Danny Boyle, Richard Linklater, Martin McDonagh, Jean-Pierre Jeunet, Jesse Eisenberg and Anton Corbijn.

"It is precisely these encounters between generations that define our festival," Guetg said.

The sweep of prizes for debut and early-career filmmakers, alongside tributes to Moore and Hiddleston, underscores Zurich's positioning as a festival where emerging directors meet the industry's established names — a formula Guetg clearly intends to keep at the core of the event.