Julianne Moore to Receive Zurich’s Golden Icon Award as Jesse Eisenberg’s ‘The Debut’ Screens

The 22nd Zurich Film Festival will honor Julianne Moore with the Golden Icon Award for her “extraordinary career” and her performance in her new film, “The Debut.”

She will be accompanied in Zurich by “The Debut” director Jesse Eisenberg. The film marks Moore’s second collaboration with Eisenberg as a director following his directorial debut “When You Finish Saving the World” (2022). It is his third feature film as a director.

When Mona Friedman (Moore) is cast in a bit part at a small community theater, she transforms from a shy, unassuming housewife into a zealous method actor willing to do anything to protect the artistic integrity of her marginal role – even if it means waging war against the show’s domineering director.

“Julianne Moore is one of the outstanding character actresses of American cinema. She possesses remarkable versatility and, time and again, manages to captivate us with her intense portrayals of the characters she plays. No matter which film we see her in, we find ourselves rooting for her characters,” Christian Jungen, CEO of the Zurich Film Festival, said. “In the wonderful film ‘The Debut,’ she delivers a brilliant performance as a woman who realizes it’s not too late to fulfill her deeply personal dream: becoming an actress. It is Julianne Moore’s love letter to her own profession – and thus the perfect film with which to thank her, with our Golden Icon Award, for so many wonderful cinematic experiences.”

Moore won an Oscar for “Still Alice” and was Oscar nominated for “Far From Heaven,” “The Hours,” “The End of the Affair” and “Boogie Nights.” She won best actress awards at Cannes for “Maps to the Stars,” at Venice for “Far From Heaven” and Berlin for “The Hours.”