Zurich, August 20, 2026 — The Zurich Film Festival (ZFF) will honor actress Naomi Watts with its Golden Eye Award for her performance in Ben Shirinian’s The Housewife. Watts will present the film in Zurich and receive the award in person on September 26, before taking part in a ZFF Masters session exploring her career.
In The Housewife, Watts portrays an enigmatic woman whose husband is suspected of having a Nazi past. Set in 1960s New York, the film follows an elegant and seemingly composed wife whose carefully maintained façade begins to unravel after a young New York Times journalist uncovers clues about her husband’s history.
Watts has been one of Hollywood’s leading performers for more than two decades, earning recognition for her emotional range, versatility and commitment to challenging roles. She has received two Academy Award nominations, as well as numerous international honors.
Her international breakthrough came with David Lynch’s 2001 mystery drama Mulholland Drive, for which she received several critics’ awards. Since then, she has worked across independent cinema and major Hollywood productions, collaborating with filmmakers including David Lynch, David Cronenberg, Alejandro González Iñárritu and Peter Jackson.
“Since her breakthrough in David Lynch’s MULHOLLAND DRIVE, Naomi Watts has been one of the most fascinating actresses of our time. Her greatest performances thrive on the tension between glamour and darkness, between what a character reveals and what she conceals – making her the kind of character actress Hitchcock would have loved. In THE HOUSEWIFE, she masters this ambiguity as an elegant and mysterious woman. At the same time, the film tells a true story that powerfully illustrates how indispensable investigative journalism is in uncovering historical crimes. Naomi Watts delivers one of the most compelling performances of her career, and we are proud to honor her with the Golden Eye Award,” said Christian Jungen, CEO of the Zurich Film Festival.
“It is such an honor to be presented with the Golden Eye Award from Zurich Film Festival. I cannot wait to be there, accepting this award among such great company, and I thank the film festival for honoring my role in this film,” said Naomi Watts.
From Shoreham to Sydney to Hollywood
Born in 1968 in Shoreham, Kent, Naomi Watts later lived in Wales before moving to Australia with her mother. In Sydney, she attended the same acting school as Nicole Kidman, with whom she has remained close since their teenage years.
Watts began her career as a model and appeared in smaller roles in Australian television productions before moving to Los Angeles in the 1990s. She gradually established herself in the American film industry through supporting parts and independent productions.
Following Mulholland Drive in 2001, Watts delivered a series of acclaimed performances. Her role as a grieving mother in Iñárritu’s 21 Grams (2003) earned her first Academy Award nomination for Best Actress. She received her second nomination in 2013 for her performance as a survivor of the 2004 tsunami in The Impossible (2012).
Watts has also worked extensively across horror, fantasy and arthouse cinema. Her credits include The Ring (2002), Peter Jackson’s King Kong (2005) and Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) (2014). On television, she returned to the world of David Lynch as Diane Evans in the third season of Twin Peaks in 2017.
In 2024, her performance as Babe Paley in Feud: Capote vs. The Swans earned nominations at the Emmy Awards, Golden Globes and Critics’ Choice Awards.
Her role as a grieving writer in The Friend (2024), opposite a Great Dane, also brought renewed attention during the 2025 awards season. With The Housewife, Watts once again takes on a character defined by the contrast between emotional vulnerability and restrained mystery.
Golden Eye Award at the Zurich Film Festival
The Golden Eye Award recognizes actors and actresses who have made a significant contribution to the current cinematic year while also ranking among the most important performers of their generation through their overall body of work.
Previous recipients include Jude Law, Kristen Stewart, Dakota Johnson, Jake Gyllenhaal and Benedict Cumberbatch.
Watts will accept the Golden Eye Award on September 26, 2026, during the Zurich Film Festival, where she will also discuss her career and latest work in a ZFF Masters session.