British actor Benedict Cumberbatch will collect the Zurich Film Festival’s honorary Golden Eye trophy on 29 September, organisers announced as they unveiled the 21st‑edition lineup. Festival director Christian Jungen praised the “charisma and intelligence” that have carried Cumberbatch from Sherlock to Doctor Strange, calling him “one of the most versatile character actors of his generation.”
The accolade recognises lifetime achievement and has previously gone to talents such as Kristen Stewart, Jake Gyllenhaal and Pamela Anderson. Cumberbatch will receive the statuette during an on‑stage conversation at the 1,200‑seat Corso Cinema and host a separate ZFF Masters session the following day.
The festival singled out the actor’s upcoming drama The Thing With Feathers, adapted from Max Porter’s acclaimed novella and produced through his SunnyMarch banner, noting the film’s Sundance premiere and planned U.K. release on 31 October. In the piece Cumberbatch plays a bereft illustrator haunted by a human‑sized crow, a role critics have hailed as one of his most emotionally raw since The Imitation Game.
Beyond acting accolades, the festival cited Cumberbatch’s efforts to embed green protocols on set—a stance he reiterated this week on the “Ruthie’s Table 4” podcast, where he labelled film production “a grossly wasteful industry” and pledged to push single‑use plastic bans in future contracts. Such comments align with Zurich’s growing sustainability emphasis; organisers confirmed that all official transport this year will be electric and that the awards gala will serve a fully plant‑forward menu.
The 2025 festival runs 25 September–5 October and will open with Daisy Ridley’s thriller Aurora Peak before closing with Bradley Cooper’s Bull Run. Programmers said the Golden Eye ceremony will be livestreamed worldwide, underscoring the event’s push for wider digital reach after last year’s audience topped 137,000 in‑person admissions.
