Kristoffer Borgli’s Dream Scenario, a surrealist comedy starring Nicolas Cage, will open this year’s Zurich Film Festival.
The feature, the English-language debut of the Norwegian director — who wowed Cannes last year with his feature debut Sick of Myself, sees Cage play Paul Matthews, a hapless family man whose life is turned upside down after millions of strangers suddenly start seeing him in their dreams. Dylan Baker, Kate Berlant, Michael Cera, Dylan Gelula, and Tim Meadows co-star.
Dream Scenario will have its world premiere at the Toronto Film Festival, where it will open TIFF’s Platform competition program. A24 is releasing the film domestically. This marks the first time the Everything Everywhere All at Once studio will have an opening night film in Zurich.
The ongoing dual writers and actors strike means the cast of Dream Scenario is not expected to attend the Zurich premiere but director Borgli will be in attendance, joined by the president of the Swiss Federal Council Alain Berset, and Zurich City mayor Corine Mauch.
Zurich will be screening many of this year’s festival season highlights, including Todd Haynes’ melodrama May December, starring Natalie Portman and Julianne Moore, the Anne Hathaway/Thomasin McKenzie psychological thriller Eileen from director William Oldroyd and Tran Anh Hung’s foodie French romance film The Pot-Au-Feu. Eileen was a hit out of Sundance. Both May December and The Pot-Au-Feu were buzzy titles in Cannes.
Another Toronto title, Nyad, the real-life tale of Diana Nyad, a long-distance swimmer who, at 60, becomes obsessed with completing a 110-mile swim from Cuba to Florida, has also scored a Zurich gala premiere. The film stars Annette Bening as Nyad and Jodie Foster as her friend and coach Bonnie Stoll. Jimmy Chin and Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi directed.