Petra Volpe, Director of Oscar-Shortlisted ‘Late Shift,’ to Receive Zurich’s Golden Eye Award

The Zurich Film Festival will honor Swiss director Petra Volpe on Monday with the Golden Eye Award for her film “Late Shift,” which is on the shortlist for the Academy Award for best international feature film.

The award will be presented alongside a screening of the film for members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences at Soho House in Los Angeles, hosted by ZFF in collaboration with U.S. distributor Music Box Films. Volpe will accept the award in person.

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The film, which stars “The Teachers’ Lounge” actress Leonie Benesch, portrays the demanding night shift of a nurse. (See Variety review here.) It had its world premiere at the Berlin Film Festival.

Christian Jungen, ZFF CEO, said: “Petra Volpe has once again succeeded with ‘Late Shift’ in creating a socially realist auteur film that is firmly rooted in the present, shedding light on the precarious working conditions in the nursing profession while paying tribute to the dedication of healthcare workers.

“In Switzerland, ‘Late Shift’ became the most successful domestic film of the year with more than 200,000 admissions and sparked a national debate about improving working conditions in the care sector.

“In recognition of the film’s cinematic quality and its powerful contribution to public discourse, we are honoring Petra Volpe with the Golden Eye Award and wish her every success in the Oscar race.”

Volpe said, “ ‘Late Shift’ continues to travel internationally and shows that Swiss cinema can have global impact. I have a special connection to Zurich Film Festival, as my first feature film celebrated its premiere there.

“It is wonderful to see how the festival has evolved, and I would like to sincerely thank Christian Jungen and the entire team for the award as well as for their support during the Oscar campaign.”

In 2013, Volpe’s feature film debut “Dreamland” celebrated its world premiere in the ZFF competition. In 2022, Volpe served as a member of the ZFF international feature film jury. That same year, she also presented the film “Golden Years,” directed by Barbara Kulcsar, at the festival as its screenwriter.

Volpe was at ZFF last year with “Late Shift,” when the festival organized a screening for participants of the ZFF Summit.

Volpe, who studied at the Film University Babelsberg Konrad Wolf in Potsdam, has established herself as both a director and screenwriter.

Her feature film “The Divine Order” (2017) became one of the most successful Swiss films of all time, screened at festivals worldwide, and was selected as Switzerland’s official submission for the Academy Awards.

Her latest film, “Frank & Louis,” her first English-language feature, will premiere at the Sundance Film Festival.