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The Zurich Film Festival is slowly turning into the Sundance of Europe. It is also increasing its impact on the German film world. It is surely on its way to achieve both of these goals with its lineup this year.

It is held in a city with the highest concentration of movie theaters per capita worldwide, and, despite the looming presence of the established Locarno Festival in August, Zurich is thriving under its savvy director, Karl Spoerri, by targeting audience pleasers and local gems.

This year the festival will screen 60 films in 11 days to an expected 30,000 crowd.

The event has become one of the most important festivals in German speaking Europe and a key platform for smaller films to find worldwide exposure says Spoerri.

One of the biggest success stories of the festival was the John McKenzie’s UK comedy Twelve in a Box about a group of people looking to collect 1 million pounds by remaining locked up in a remote country mansion for four days. The movie won the audience award. It was only its first theatre outing.

Producer Bruce Windwood says “The Zurich Film Festival was great for the film. The level of enthusiasm was amazing. The festival, and seeing hundreds of people queuing around the block, really helped us realize the film’s full potential.”

Anyway the most anticipated German film of this year is Uli Edel’s The Baader Meinhof Complex. It will open this years festival on September 25 th.

The film chronicles the rise and fall of West Germany’s notorious Red Army Faction terrorist group.

This year it will be honoring actor and director Sylvester Stallone for the inaugural Golden Icon Award for lifetime achievement. The festival will also present a retrospective on his work.

Constantin Costa Gavras also will be honored with the festival’s Golden Eye Award. But since the festival is so young it is difficult for it to get the big names for its red carpet events.

“It’s not that easy, but it’s great that they come.” While Spoerri agrees that the presence of international filmmakers and actors certainly adds to the glamour quotient, he’s equally keen on getting his high-profile guests to take part in the fest’s educational Master Class series.

The budget for the festival has also increased over the years with a modest beginning of around 450,000 dollars to 2.7 million dollars from corporate sponsors like Audi, Credit Suisse, Jobs.ch and L’Oreal Paris.

So this year the festival is surely going from strength to strength. It will be a matter of time before the big guns get attracted to this venue.