The Zurich Film Festival (September 25 to October 5, 2025) is honored to present the outstanding actor Colin Farrell with the Golden Icon Award. The award acknowledges his remarkable performance in the film BALLAD OF A SMALL PLAYER as well as his overall career achievements. The Oscar-nominated actor will accept the award in person on September 27, 2025. On September 28, he will also give a ZFF Masters. Farrell will be accompanied by renowned Swiss director and Oscar winner Edward Berger.
From Dublin to Hollywood: The versatile actor Colin Farrell became internationally known through films such as MIAMI VICE, MINORITY REPORT, IN BRUGES, THE BATMAN, THE LOBSTER, THE KILLING OF A SACRED DEER, and THE BANSHEES OF INISHERIN. For his role in THE BANSHEES OF INISHERIN, he won a Golden Globe in 2023, received an Oscar nomination for Best Actor, and was awarded Best Actor in Venice. He has worked with some of the most celebrated directors in the industry, including Sofia Coppola, Yorgos Lanthimos, Woody Allen, Terry Gilliam, Steven Spielberg, Oliver Stone, Michael Mann, and Tim Burton. Having featured three of his films in recent years, the Zurich Film Festival is now excited to welcome Colin Farrell in person as a guest. On Saturday, September 27, Farrell will personally present his new film BALLAD OF A SMALL PLAYER to the audience. He will be presented with the Golden Icon Award at a gala premiere, honoring both his performance in the new film as well as his exceptional career. On Sunday, September 28, Farrell will also give a ZFF Masters.
Previous winners of the Golden Icon Award include Kate Winslet, Jessica Chastain, Hugh Jackman, Cate Blanchett and Hugh Grant.
Directed by Edward Berger, BALLAD OF A SMALL PLAYER marks the third consecutive Berger film to be showcased at ZFF, following ALL QUIET ON THE WESTERN FRONT and CONCLAVE. Berger received the prestigious A Tribute to… Award at the 2024 edition of the festival. His new film is based on the 2014 novel by Lawrence Osborne and is set in Macau. It tells the story of a high-stakes gambler whose past and debts start to catch up with him, but whilst laying low in Macau he encounters a kindred spirit who might just hold the key to his salvation.
An Essential Voice in Auteur Cinema
«Colin Farrell is one of the most passionate and charismatic character actors in auteur cinema», says Festival Director Christian Jungen. «He’s just as convincing as a villain as he is a romantic lead, or in complex roles that fall somewhere in between—like in Edward Berger’s irresistible tragicomedy BALLAD OF A SMALL PLAYER, where Colin captivates us as a roguish gambler and makes us root for his character. Colin Farrell has already worked with many great filmmakers, but under Edward Berger’s direction, he truly reaches new heights. He carries the film from beginning to end and takes us on an emotional roller coaster that makes us laugh, cry, and marvel. For this outstanding performance, which could earn him another Oscar nomination, and for his invaluable contribution to auteur cinema, we are honoring Colin Farrell with the Golden Icon Award. The fact that Colin will receive the award in the presence of Edward Berger, last year’s award recipient, makes the occasion even more special. We’ve shown several of Colin’s films at ZFF over the past years, and we are thrilled to welcome him to Zurich in person for the very first time.»
Colin Farrell is also delighted about receiving the Golden Icon Award and coming to Zurich: «I’d like to thank Zurich Film Festival for inviting BALLAD OF A SMALL PLAYER to the festival, and for honoring me with the Golden Icon Award. It’ll be my first time visiting the beautiful city of Zurich and I’m beyond excited to walk its streets, drink its coffee and move amongst its people. It’s both generous and humbling to have my years of making film recognized by such a storied festival, one that champions film from all corners of the globe. It will be an absolute pleasure to visit later this year and we are thrilled to be bringing BALLAD OF A SMALL PLAYER to audiences there.
Broken anti-hero, melancholic outsider or quirky comedy character
Colin Farrell has had a distinguished career of nearly twenty-plus years in film and television. An accomplished actor recognized the world over, Farrell can most recently be seen in HBO’s THE PENGUIN, reprising his acclaimed role as Ozwald Cobblepot. For his performance, Farrell won a Golden Globe for Best Actor in a Limited Series, a Screen Actors Guild Award, and a Critics Choice Award. He is also in shooting season 2 of the Apple TV+ series SUGAR, returning as private detective John Sugar.
Farrell was recently seen in writer/director Martin McDonagh’s THE BANSHEES OF INISHERIN for Searchlight Pictures which re-teamed him with the director and IN BRUGES co-star Brendan Gleeson. The film made its world premiere at the 2022 Venice Film Festival and Farrell won Best Actor. For the film he has also won the NY Film Critic Circle Award, National Board of Review and a Golden Globe, and was nominated for a Screen Actor Guild Award, BAFTA, and an Academy Award for his role as Pádraic Súilleabháin.
Additionally in 2022 he was seen in Warner Brother’s THE BATMAN directed by Matt Reeves; in the MGM / Amazon film THIRTEEN LIVES directed by Ron Howard; the BBC / AMC drama THE NORTH WATER, and A24’s AFTER YANG which premiered at the 2021 Cannes Film Festival and won Farrell a NY Film Circle.
In 2019 he starred in the live action film DUMBO and Fox’s 2018 ensemble feature WIDOWS, directed by Steve McQueen and co-starring Viola Davis. In 2017, Farrell made his second film with Yorgos Lanthimos, THE KILLING OF A SACRED DEER, opposite Nicole Kidman for A24. The film premiered at the Cannes Film Festival along with Sofia Coppola’s THE BEGUILED, in which he also starred with Nicole Kidman, Elle Fanning, and Kirsten Dunst. That same year, he appeared opposite Denzel Washington in the Sony film ROMAN, ISRAEL, ESQ., written and directed by Dan Gilroy. Lanthimos’s THE LOBSTER, co-starring Rachel Weisz, was Farrell’s first time working with the reputable director. The film won the Jury Prize at the 68th Cannes Film Festival and was nominated for a 2016 BAFTA. Farrell was also nominated for Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture, Musical or Comedy at the Golden Globe Awards, Best Actor at the British Independent Film Awards, and Best European Actor at the European Film Awards for his role in the film.
He was also seen in TRUE DETECTIVE. In 2009, he won a Golden Globe for his role in Martin McDonagh’s IN BRUGES. Past work also includes FANTASTIC BEASTS AND WHERE TO FIND THEM, MISS JULIE, SAVING MR. BANKS, WINTER’S TALE, DEAD MAN DOWN, TOTAL RECALL, Peter Weir’s THE WAY BACK, LONDON BOULEVARD, FRIGHT NIGHT, the Warner Bros. comedy HORRIBLE BOSSES and ONDINE. Farrell also had memorable roles in Gavin O’Conner’s PRIDE AND GLORY, MIAMI VICE, Oliver Stone’s ALEXANDER, Terrence Malick’s THE NEW WORLD, ASK THE DUST, THE RECRUIT, A HOME AT THE END OF THE WORLD, based on the Michael Cunningham novel, and two of Joel Schumacher’s films, PHONE BOOTH and TIGERLAND. Other notable film credits include MINORITY REPORT, DAREDEVIL, AMERICAN OUTLAWS, S.W.A.T. and INTERMISSION.
Born and raised in Castleknock in the Republic of Ireland, Farrell attended the Gaiety School of Acting in Dublin.
