2008 Zurich Film Festival 2008 Zurich Film Festival The third annual 2008 Zurich Film Festival ran from September 25 to October 5, 2008. Actor Peter Fonda will act as prexy of the feature film jury. The festival introduced a new section this year, Panorama D, dedicated to German-language film from Germany, Austria and Switzerland. The showcase opened with the Nicolette Krebitz-directed psychological drama, "Das Herz ist ein dunkler Wald" (The Heart Is a Dark Forest). Highlights of the festival included Toronto and Venice Film Festival hits such as the Coen brothers' "Burn After Reading", and the psychological Iraq war thriller, "The Hurt Locker" directed
The Hurt Locker the Humvee, into a boots-on-the-ground experience." For the main characters, Bigelow made a point of casting relatively unknown actors: "it underscored the tension because with the lack of familiarity also comes a sense of unpredictability." Renner's character, Sergeant First Class William James, is a composite character, with qualities based on individuals whom screenwriter Boal knew when embedded with the bomb squad. Bigelow cast Renner based on his work in "Dahmer", a film about Jeffrey Dahmer, the notorious serial killer whose victims were boys. To prepare for the film, Renner spent a week living and training at Fort Irwin, a U.S.