Richard Gere will receive the coveted Golden Icon Award at this year’s Festival, taking place September 20th – 30th. The announcement was made by ZFF Directors Karl Spoerri and Nadja Schildknecht.

Serving as the Festival’s most prestigious symbol of recognition, awarded in appreciation of the lifetime achievements of an actor or actress, the Golden Icon Award will be bestowed to Mr. Gere on the evening of Sunday, September 23 at the Corso Cinema.

In addition to receiving ZFF’s Golden Icon Award, Gere will present his latest film, the Wall Street thriller “Arbitrage,” which has been selected to screen in the Gala Premieres section of the Festival.

“Richard Gere is an extraordinary man whose accomplishments in Hollywood are equaled by his humanitarian achievements,” said Karl Spoerri. “We’re honored to recognize his amazing career at the Zurich Film Festival.”

Richard Gere is universally known for his leading roles in such iconic films as “Chicago,” “Unfaithful,” “An Officer and a Gentleman,” “Days of Heaven,” “American Gigolo,” “Pretty Woman,” and “Primal Fear.”

In the Nicholas Jarecki directed thriller “Arbitrage,” Gere plays a troubled hedge fund magnate desperate to complete the sale of his trading empire who makes an error that forces him to turn to an unlikely person for help. Gere is part of an ensemble cast that includes Academy Award® winner Susan Sarandon (“Dead Man Walking”), Academy Award® nominee Tim Roth (“Pulp Fiction”), Brit Marling (“Another Earth”), Laetitia Casta (“Gainsbourg: A Heroic Life”), Nate Parker (“Red Tails”), Chris Eigeman (“The Treatment”) and Monica Raymund (“Lie to Me”).

One of Hollywood’s legendary leading men with over fifty films to his credit, additional starring roles for Gere came in a diverse array of films such as “Brooklyn’s Finest” alongside Don Cheadle and Ethan Hawke; Lasse Hallström's “Hatchi: A Dog’s Tail”; Fox Searchlight’s “Amelia,” opposite Hilary Swank and Ewan McGregor; “Nights in Rodanthe” reuniting with Diane Lane; critically acclaimed film “I’m Not There” with Cate Blanchett, Christian Bale, and the late Heath Ledger; Lasse Hallström directed “The Hoax”; “The Hunting Party” costarring Terrence Howard and Jesse Eisenberg; romantic comedy “Shall We Dance” with Susan Sarandon and Jennifer Lopez; “Bee Season”; Sony Picture’s psychological thriller “Mothman Prophecies”; Fox Searchlight’s critically acclaimed dramatic thrilled “Unfaithful”; and Paramount Pictures’ box-office hit “Runaway Bride.”

Off screen, Gere is an accomplished pianist and music writer. A student and friend of His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Gere, for over twenty years, has made numerous journeys throughout India, Nepal, Zanskar and Tibet, Mongolia and China. He is an accomplished photographer who has worked extensively within these regions.

An outspoken human rights advocate, Gere has done much to draw attention to the tragedy that has been unfolding in Tibet under Chinese occupation. 

He is the founder of the Gere Foundation, which contributes to numerous health education and human rights projects and is especially dedicated to promoting awareness of Tibet and her endangered culture. The Foundation contributes directly to His Holiness the Dalai Lama, the Tibetan community-in-exile and to aid in the cultural survival of the Tibetan people.  In 1987 Gere was the founding chairman of the Tibet House in New York.  After leaving Tibet House in New York in 1991, he became an active member of the Board of Directors of the International Campaign for Tibet based in Washington D.C., and in 1996 became Chairman. Gere has testified on Tibet’s behalf before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Congressional Human Rights Caucus, the European Parliament, and House International Operations and Human Rights Subcommittee.

About “Arbitrage”

Written and directed by Nicholas Jarecki (“The Informers,” “The Outsiders”), “Arbitrage” follows Robert Miller (Gere), a troubled hedge fund magnate desperate to complete the sale of his trading empire who makes an error that forces him to turn to Jimmy Grant (Parker), an unlikely person, for help. Leading detective Michael Bryer (Roth) squeezes information from Grant to get to Miller, whose daughter (Marling) and wife (Sarandon) come in quick succession. The film premiered at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival and is set to release this September in the United States.