Zurich Film Festival

Olivia Colman  

The 16th Zurich Film Festival honours the actress Olivia Colman with its Golden Eye. She excels alongside Anthony Hopkins in the drama THE FATHER.   

The British Academy Award-winning actress plays the daughter of a dementia-suffering father who refuses to be helped in director Florian Zeller’s THE FATHER. The Zurich Film Festival honours the actress with a Golden Eye for her achievements. Colman, who is currently filming and unable to travel to Zurich due to the corona pandemic restrictions, will appear via live-stream during the Gala Premiere screening of THE FATHER on Saturday, September 26.

“Olivia Colman is one of the most exciting character actresses of her generation. She is a highly versatile performer who embodies her characters with great depth,” remarked Artistic Director Christian Jungen. “You never see the star when she’s at work, only the character. After having the privilege of showing her Academy Award-winning performance in THE FAVOURITE, we are deeply honoured to present her with the Golden Eye for her achievements.”

Colman embodied the English ruler Queen Anne in THE FAVOURITE (2018) and expressed with great skill both the extravagance and the tragedy of the early 18th century monarch. The film, her second collaboration with Yorgos Lanthimos, followed an initial performance for the director in his dystopian romantic comedy THE LOBSTER (2015). Colman now demonstrates her exceptional talent once again, this time alongside acting heavyweight Anthony Hopkins. Released by Sony Pictures Classics, Florian Zeller’s drama is set to join the Oscar race.

“I am genuinely honoured to receive the Golden Eye Award. To be in the company of those that have been presented with it previously, I mean, wow! My enormous thanks to the Zurich Film Festival. I only wish I could be there in your beautiful city in person.” Olivia Colman

Olivia Colman can currently be seen performing a further regal role on Netflix, where she excels as Elizabeth II in the third season of the series THE CROWN. The fourth season, also with Colman in the lead role, starts in November.

Born in 1974 the daughter of a nurse and a chartered surveyor, Olivia Colman initially trained as a teacher before discovering acting during a school performance. She later enrolled at a theatre school and worked as a cleaner prior to being able to make a living from her craft. She first appeared to a wider audience while in her late twenties in the comedy series PEEP SHOW (2003), and remained with the long-running TV show until 2015. She scored a further TV hit credit in 2013 with the crime drama series BROADCHURCH, before going on to conquer the hearts of viewers as a domineering Godmother in Phoebe Waller-Bridge’s series FLEABAG (2016).

Colman was also able to establish herself as a movie character actress. Beginning 2011 with the portrayal of a domestic violence victim in the social drama TYRANNOSAUR, she also appeared the same year as the daughter of Margaret Thatcher in THE IRON LADY. Colman first tried on the crown for size in 2012 when she played Queen Elizabeth in the comedy HYDE PARK ON HUDSON – that was the mother of the queen she currently portrays in the highly acclaimed series THE CROWN.

It was the same Queen Elizabeth II that bestowed the Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) upon Colman last year.

Previous winners of the Golden Eye Award have been: Iris Berben, Kristen Stewart, Jake Gyllenhaal, John Malkovich, Helen Hunt.