One year after CEO Christian Jungen bought out the Zurich Film Festival's former owner, the Swiss newspaper NZZ, and secured private investment to guarantee the event's independence, the festival opens Sept. 24 with a star-studded lineup and a new financial agenda: turning Zurich into a gateway for private equity in film.

The 21st edition runs Sept. 24-Oct. 4 under the motto "Dream Big," with Peter Farrelly's "I Play Rocky" — a drama about the making of the Sylvester Stallone classic — playing as one of its galas. Jungen, speaking to Variety from an office decorated with "Rocky" collector items including golden gloves and vintage posters, said the film inspired this year's program.

"It's a film about a big dream," Jungen said. "In these rough times, when it's very tough to finance films, that's something that is going to speak to everybody in the industry. I am sure it will be embraced broadly in our industry and with audiences. It's a crowdpleaser."

Jungen says the buyout has paid off. "It's easier because we are independent," he said, referring to the festival's operations. "In these polarized times, we got caught up in political discussions. Now it's all about cinema again. Not that it wasn't before, of course, but when you belong to a newspaper, and they have strong opinions, you risk becoming collateral damage." NZZ, he noted, has a right-wing-leaning editorial line.

The festival has also found fresh commercial backing. "We found new partners for the first time in five years, which is good because it's very challenging to finance cultural events," Jungen said. "Most partners want to be part of emotional stories. It's more about telling stories together than about visibility. Ten years ago, they paid money, and you put their logo on the photo wall. Today, they want to offer their employees or clients an emotional evening, and are very interested in having talent on stage."

The guest list backs him up. Martin McDonagh, Anna Kendrick, Jesse Eisenberg, Tom Hiddleston and Naomi Watts are all expected in Zurich. The festival opens with the European premiere of Hiddleston-starring "Tenzing" and will host European premieres of Chris Rock's "Misty Green," Farrelly's "I Play Rocky" and Lauren Miller Rogen's "Babies," starring Kendrick and Seth Rogen. "Bunker," "Ink," "Club Kid," "The Debut" and "Wild Horse Nine" will also screen.

Jungen positions Zurich as an awards launchpad at the end of the fall festival circuit. "After the first premiere, films need a second turf to display their stars and start a conversation," he said. "The good thing about Zurich is you have a film-friendly audience and, at the same time, we are the door to the German-speaking world, which is a $100 million market. We are a real test with audiences, and our positioning is glamorous."

He pointed to precedent. "It just so happened that, over the last years, films that had their European premiere in Zurich, whether it was 'Green Book' or 'All Quiet on the Western Front,' were successful at the Oscars. This could be the case for 'I Play Rocky' or 'Tenzing.'"

The city itself helps. Zurich has 63 movie theaters for a population of 440,000, making it one of the strongest exhibition capitals in the world — and the festival has a young audience filling those seats.

"Gen Z is reawakening cinema," said festival director and co-owner Reta Guetg. "That is really cool, and I think only the start of a wave that will keep growing. Our young programming team was raving about Rhys Marc Jones's 'Black Church Bay,' a thriller starring Joe Locke, who is also one of our guests. The film is a world premiere; it has amazing direction, really interesting cast. These kinds of films help shape the program. We try to be at the forefront of discovering new talent."

That appetite extends to the industry sidebar, the Zurich Summit. "They are always asking me: who are the creatives this year? Who is the up-and-coming talent? What should we see? They are actually more interested than you would think in new talent," Guetg said.

One Summit panel pairs Academy CEO Bill Kramer with Kane Parsons, the 20-year-old director of "Obsession" who still lives with his parents in San Francisco and whose film cracked 4 million admissions. "And they are both eager to hear from each other," Guetg said. "It's a great space to make these connections happen because we have a lot of openness from both sides."

A year ago, the Summit introduced AI-generated actress Tilly Norwood, launched by AI talent studio Xicoia. Asked about the controversies since, Jungen was unapologetic. "Zurich is the place where you address the real hot questions," he said. "AI is the big game changer of our times. In my mind, it's bigger than the introduction of the internet in the late 90s. We didn't expect the reactions to Tilly Norwood last year, but it proves there is a lot of energy in those questions."

The festival will also revive the Film Finance Forum, an even more exclusive event than the Summit, held a day before the conference, bringing together bankers, investors and major producers for closed-door discussions on film financing.

"We want to turn Zurich into a platform where you get access to private equity because this is the way to go, as the pre-sale business is truly challenging," Jungen said. "With private equity, we can move faster, produce faster, and since Zurich is literally the world capital of wealth management boutiques, I think we have a lot of stakeholders who might be interested in hearing from the lion's mouth, from people from Los Angeles or New York who can say that investing in film can mean a return. Investing in film — it's not just about supporting the arts; it's business."

With awards contenders, a young audience and a direct line to Swiss wealth managers, Zurich is staking its claim as the place where Hollywood's financing problems meet their potential solutions.