Zurich Film Festival Crowns Pierre Le Gall's Debut 'Flesh and Fuel' Best Film

The Zurich Film Festival has handed out its top prize. French director Pierre Le Gall's debut feature, the romantic drama "Flesh and Fuel," took home the Golden Eye award for best narrative film over the weekend, per Variety.

The film, which first premiered at Cannes Critics' Week, follows a lonely French long-distance truck driver named Étienne. His life is upended when he meets and falls for a fun-loving Polish truck driver named Bartosz, sparking a romance that crosses national borders. The film stars Alexis Manenti, a César winner for "Les Misérables."

The festival jury praised the film for its "exquisite sensitivity" in exploring the human need for connection, stating it offers a "compelling and deeply cinematic reflection" on breaking through emotional barriers. The narrative jury included directors Cary Joji Fukunaga and Fernando Eimbcke.

In the documentary category, the Golden Eye went to Pete Muller's "Bucks Harbor." The film, which premiered at the Berlin International Film Festival, focuses on a fishing village in Downeast Maine, examining fragile masculinity and community challenges. The documentary jury highlighted its "raw indepth portrait" and empathetic counter-narrative.

Special mentions in the narrative category went to Mads Mengel's "The Guest" and Zou Jing's "A Girl Unknown." For documentaries, special mentions were awarded to "One in a Million" and "My Home of Wind and Sand."

Other awards included the Audience Award for Andrina Mračnikar's "Mila/Marija" and the Critics Jury Award for Heinz Bütler's "Ebjä! Adolf Wölfli." Festival director Reta Guetg said the winners demonstrate "courage and originality" from emerging filmmakers.