Zurich well received (inter)nationally

After premiering at the Berlinale and winning the CICAE Art Cinema Award, Zurich has been the talk of the arthouse town. Wende Snijders has been praised for her convincing take on the lead role of Nina, surprising people with her acting debut. Filmtotaal calls Snijders “incisively” and “a perfect fit for the part’”, which has a great truth to it, since she was involved in the developing process with director Sasha Polak from the very beginning. Other actors that made the success of Zurich possible include Sascha Alexander Gersak, Barry Atsma, Martijn Lakemeier, Rick Nicolet, Tom Jansen and Medi Broekman.

Zurich tells the story of Nina, who’s roaming around the European highways, riding along with truckers, looking for purpose, looking for an escape. This is not your everyday road movie but a raw portrait of a betrayed woman, trapped in the prison world that is her own mind.

“Strikingly styled and structured, Dutch helmer Sacha Polak’s flawed sophomore feature confirms the promise of her debut”, screams the headline of Variety’s review. Throughout the entire article, film critic Guy Lodge refers to Polak’s award winning debut ‘Hemel’ from 2012, also written by Helena van der Meulen. He compares both films appraisingly for the quality of performance and the exquisiteness of the cinematography. The recurring collaboration between Polak and Van der Meulen hasn’t gone unnoticed by The Hollywood Reporter as well. “Polak and van der Meulen clearly have bright futures in film-making.”

We are so proud reading these reviews! Be sure to check it out!