San Sebastian International Film Festival

François Ozon’s 'In the House' tops San Sebastian Fest

Boyd van Hoeij — Sun, 30 Sep 2012 17:18:03 GMT

The 60th edition of the San Sebastian Film Festival came to a close this weekend in the eponymous seaside resort on the Basque coast in Spain. The dramedy “In the House,” starring Fabrice Luchini and Kristin Scott Thomas and directed by François Ozon, was awarded the fest’s top honors, the Golden Shell, by a jury presided over by producer Christine Vachon, who also awarded the film the Best Screenplay honors. Ben Lewis’s Sundance title “The Sessions,” starring John Hawkes and Helen Hunt, won the Audience Award.

For its 60th edition, and its second under new director José Luis Rebordinos, the fest opened with U.S. indie “Arbitrage,” ensuring a star-studded opening with stars Richard Gere and Susan Sarandon in attendance. Because of the event’s anniversary edition, a total of five special Donostia awards were handed out this year, all to English-language cinema royalty (not a world cinema figure or even a Spanish-language heavyweight in sight).

Tommy Lee Jones, in town to promote “Hope Springs,” received a Donostia award, as did both Oliver Stone and John Travolta, who were in San Sebastian with “The Savages,” the film with the worst reception of all the major titles presented in town, throwing something of an odd shadow over their shared awards.

Ewan McGregor, who had come with director J.A. Bayona (himself from the Basque Country), presented the tsunami thriller and Toronto world premiere “The Impossible” and also received a Donastia Award, as did Dustin Hoffmann, whose directorial debut, the gray-haired melodrama “Quartet,” another TIFF holdover, was the festival’s closing film.

Adding further star wattage to the ten-day event was Ben Affleck, whose “Argo” had its European bow in San Sebastian. All of the major Hollywood films played out of competition and had their world premieres elsewhere.

Of the competition line-up, the eventual winner, “In the House,” another TIFF alumnus, was an early standout. Francois Ozon’s latest film cleverly combines the more accessible, mainstream and stylized comedy-drama of his biggest hits, “8 Femmes” and “Potiche” with the sensibility of his smaller, more cerebral arthouse efforts, such as “Time to Leave,” “The Refuge” and, especially, “Swimming Pool,” as both “Pool” and “House” are about a writer and the person whose life they transform, leading to a blurring of fact and fiction.

“House” stars Fabrice Luchini (of “Potiche” and “The Women on the 6th Floor” fame) as Germain, a literature teacher at a French highschool where, as he complains to his art-gallery-worker wife (Scott Thomas), the general level of interest of his students extends to mobile phones and pizza. Until he reads the assignment of a boy, Claude (newcomer Ernst Umhauer, very good), who describes how he manipulated a classmate (Bastien Ughetto) into giving him access to his home, ostensibly to help the other boy with his homework but really so that he can have a good look around in this perfectly bourgeois dwelling and get acquainted with both his parents (Denis Menichot, Emmanuelle Seigner).

Before things can go all Pasolini’s “Teorema,” however, Germain gives Claude some private lessons in narrative construction and storytelling, with the line between Claude’s new assignments and reality increasingly unclear until Germain himself starts popping up in Claude’s writing. Combining humor, drama, and a light philosophical exploration of the art of storytelling and the relationships between fiction and real life and author and reader, “House” is an impressive and handsomely assembled film that’s as thought-provoking as it is entertaining.

Not quite the same can be said of another French film in competition, Costa-Gavras’ plodding and moralistic “Le Capital,” a sombre yet obvious study of how corrupt the banking system (and the people that work in it) really is. Starring French comic Gad Elmaleh (“Midnight in Paris”) in an unusually serious role, the film pits his clever career climber against nefarious colleagues and competitors, including Gabriel Byrne. There’s also an extremely successful supermodel and full-time cocktease, Nassim (Lidia Kybide, gorgeous and vacuous as always), who rather improbably wants to spend time with Elmaleh’s character and even more improbably needs to borrow a million dollars from him because her “account is temporarily inaccessible.” Surely, Elmaleh gives her the money because she’s “worth it,” and because Costa-Gavras needs auds to know that yes, even successful bankers who are married have a moral weakness when confronted with real-life “L’Oréal” ads. But beyond the idea that bankers are greedy and morally bankrupt, “Le Capital” struggles to say anything much in particular.

A third major French film (and again a TIFF title) presented in San Sebastian was “Something in the Air,” by Olivier Assayas, which garnered stronger notices than “Capital.” The partially autobiographical tale of social fermentation, unrest and coming-of-age in the early 1970s was a press and audience favorite at the event.

In terms of local fare in competition, the clear festival darling was Pablo Berger’s enchanting “Blancanieves,” which transposes the Snow White legend to Andalusia in the 1920s and pours it into the form of a silent film, complete with seven bullfighting dwarves. During the fest, it was announced that Spain, entirely unsurprisingly after last year’s triumph of “The Artist,” will submit the film for consideration in the foreign-language Oscar race. In San Sebastian, it walked away with the Special Jury Prize as well as a shared Best Actress Silver Shell for Macarena Garcia, who plays the title role (the other thespian honored was non-professional actress Katie Coseni, who starred in Laurent Cantet’s “Foxfire,” another French film that received a muted response at the festival).

Two Spanish-language films that world premiered in the fest generated some chatter: “The Artist and the Model,” the return to live-action of “Chico & Rita” director Fernando Trueba, and “The Dead and Being Happy,” a road movie set in Argentina from Spanish iconoclast Javier Rebello. The former, shot in beautiful black-and-white, recounts the rather simplistic tale of an old French sculptor (screen veteran Jean Rochefort) who, during WWII, finds his taste for working again after a beautiful maiden (Aida Folch), a refugee from the Civil War in Spain, agrees to pose for him, naked. Though the film has some nice touches, and Rochefort is quietly dignified, Truebe nonetheless struggles to overcome its impression its all a rather artsy excuse to feature ample closeups of Folch’s lovely nakedness. The recent Cannes Un Certain Regard title “Renoir,” set during WWI, fared much better in painting a credible picture of the old clothed artist-young unclothed model relationship.

“The Dead and Being Happy” was probably the most divisive of the competition titles; it won a Best Actor mention from the main jury and the FIPRESCI prize but quite a few, including this critic, found the film, about an aging hitman on a road trip, to be too mannered for its own good, especially since the film’s many affected style elements (such as a near-constant voice-over narration that tells audiences what will happen onscreen just before it happens, or sudden cuts to silence in the background noise) didn’t seem to be there for any directly detectable purpose. That said, José Sacristan is absolutely credible as the weary Spanish contract killer who’s sick of his job, has taken the money for his latest gig but hasn’t executed his target and who, in one of the film’s most hilarious sequences, struggles to pass himself of as an Argentinean when stopped by the police.

Crowd pleasers included Audience Award winner “The Sessions” from Ben Lewin and Paraguayan pleasure “7 Boxes,” which for days was also near the top of the audience vote and finally walked away with the youth award. The latter is a rip-roaring ride through a big-city market involving a vehicle rarely seen in action-thriller-romance hybrids: wheelbarrows.

“Boxes” was at the festival at least in part because it won the San Sebastian and Toulouse film festivals’ Films In Progress Industry Award last year, a title that this year went to Chilean title “Gloria” from director Sebastián Lelio, who will no-doubt be in the Basque Country with his completed work in 2013. In the same section, Nicaraguan film “Tanta Agua” from Ana Guevara and Leticia Jorge walked away with the Norteando Award.

Though industry events were bustling, especially with Spanish-language and Brazilian industry types, representatives of the international press were less pleased, as Spanish and international distributors conspired to make it impossible for the attending journalists from all, including the biggest media, to get even roundtable opportunities with the attending A-list talent while regional Spanish newspapers and TV stations had easy access to everyone.

An especially frustrating development since there’s not a lot of overlap between writers attending San Sebastian and the festivals where international junkets were organized, Toronto and London, probably spelling a major drop in international press coverage next year as they decamp to festivals where interviews with the talent are an actual possibility and where half of the public screenings are impossible to attend because they only have Spanish subtitles.

Continue to the next page for a full list of winners.

SAN SEBASTIAN 2012 awards:

Golden Shell: “In the House,” François Ozon, France
Special Jury Prize: “Blancanieves,” Pablo Berger, Spain-France
Silver Shell for Best Director: “The Artist and the Model,” Fernando Trueba, Spain
Silver Shell for Best Actress (ex-aequo): Macarena Garcia in “Blancanieves,” and Katie Coseni in “Foxfire,” France-Canada
Silver Shell for Best Actor: José Sacristan in “The Dead and Being Happy,” Argentina-Spain-France
Best Cinematography: Touraj Aslani for “Rhino Season,” Turkey
Special Mention of the Jury: “The Attack,” Ziad Doueiri, Lebanon-France-Qatar-Belgium
Kutxa-New Directors Award: “Dog’s Flesh,” Fernando Guzzoni, Chile-France-Germany
New Directors Special Mentions: “Parviz,” Majid Barzegar, Iran; “The Cleaner,” Adrian Saba, Peru
Horizontes Award: “El Ultimo Elvis,” Armando Bo, Argentina-USA
Horizontes Special Mentions: “Once Upon A Time Was I, Veronica,” Marcelo Gomes, Brazil; “After Lucia,” Michel Franco, Mexico-France
SGAE-Fundacion Autor Audience Award: “The Sessions,” Ben Lewin, USA
Euskatel Youth Award: “7 Boxes,” Juan Carlos Maneglia, Tana Schémbori, Paraguay
FIPRESCI Prize: “The Dead and Being Happy,” Javier Rebollo, Argentina-Spain-France
Sebastiane Award for Best Gay Feature: “Joven y Alocada,” Marialy Rivas

San Sebastian Film Festival Responds to Planned Strike to Protest Austerity Programs

Justin Krajeski — Mon, 17 Sep 2012 19:20:29 GMT

In Madrid, Spain, Basque unions are calling for a general strike on Wednesday, September 26, to protest the Popular Party's austerity program. The program includes a rise in the main rate of Value Added Tax on goods and services to 21% and cuts in unemployment benefits, among other reforms.

In response to the strike plans, San Sebastian International Film Festival organizers have released a statement saying that they will not be screening films at any of their cinemas except for at the Kursaal Auditorium and the K2, and that all festival activities and services not housed in the Kursaal Centre will be suspended. The festival said that it will "respect the decision of its workers as to whether or not they decide to take part in the strike."

The festival runs Sept. 21-29.

San Sebastian International Film Festival to Honor Georges Franju with Retrospective

Aaron Bogert — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 20:19:28 GMT

The San Sebastian International Film Festival is set to honor filmmaker Georges Franju with a comprehensive retrospective, which will coincide with the year of his 100th birthday.

The influential French director founded the Cinematheque Francaise with Henri Langlois in 1936. From there he began to direct documentaries such as "Le Sang des betes" and "Hotel des Invalides."

Eventually, Franju began went on to direct narrative features, including "Head Against the Wall" and "Eyes Without a Face."

The San Sebastian International Film Festival is set to take place from September 21-29.

Original press release and films scheduled to be screened at retrospective below:

Original Press Release:

French filmmaker Georges Franju is to be the subject of one the retrospectives programmed for the 60th San Sebastian Festival to take place from 21-29 September 2012.

Georges Franju (12-4-1912 / 5-11-1987) was an enormously influential figure in French film culture. In 1936 he founded the Cinémathèque Française with Henri Langlois. His career as a director began in 1949 with documentaries, a field to which he contributed some of the greatest titles ever in the genre. His early works - Le Sang des bêtes, Hôtel des Invalides and En passant par la Lorraine – already demonstrated his particular talent for filming reality from unexpected angles, a trait leading in these testimonial films to a sensitivity akin to surrealism and expressionism.

Franju’s obsession with putting his finger on the inexpressible poetry of things through his lens stayed with him as he moved on to feature films with La Tête contre les murs (Head Against the Wall,1958), followed by Les Yeux sans visage (Eyes Without a Face,1959), considered to be a masterpiece of fantasy film. His fascination with popular culture, with the feuilleton soap-operas and silent film serials, is clearly visible in movies like Pleins feux sur l’assassin (1960), Judex (1963) and Nuits rouges (1974), true exercises in style striving to recover the innocence of those old narrations of intrigue and mystery in an obvious vindication of film as visual, narrative pleasure. But Franju was also known for his skilful adaptations of classic literary works on which he unfailingly left his personal stamp: François Mauriac (Thérèse Desqueyroux / Therese, 1962), Émile Zola (La faute de l’Abbé Mouret / The Demise of Father Mouret, 1970), Joseph Conrad (La Ligne d’ombre, 1973) and Jean Cocteau (Thomas l’imposteur / Thomas the Imposter, 1964). Today unjustly forgotten, Franju’s work enjoyed great critical acclaim in its time and earned him the admiration of the young filmmakers of the nouvelle vague.

The cycle programmed by the San Sebastian Festival will permit us to recover Franju’s films, precisely in the year he would have turned 100.

To celebrate this cycle, co-produced with the Filmoteca Española, a book will also be published, coordinated by Quim Casas and Ana Cristina Iriarte.

FILMS IN THE CYCLE

(Provisional programme)

Short films

LE SANG DES BÊTES (1949)
Today Franju’s first work as a director is considered to be an essential title in the history of documentary films. A look at life in a Paris slaughterhouse turns into a cruel, eye-opening experience thanks to what Franju called “my attraction to the unusual and poetic realism”.

EN PASSANT PAR LA LORRAINE (1950)
This Government-commissioned documentary was intended to reflect the modernisation of French industry. However, in Franju’s hands it became an ode to fire and a fascinating portrayal of industrial architecture.

HÔTEL DES INVALIDES (1952)
Franju always said that, of all his documentaries, this was the one he liked best. This French Government commission to demonstrate life in a hospital for war veterans metamorphosed into a brutal critique of militarism denouncing the horrors of war.

LE GRAND MÉLIÈS (1952)
In this documentary, Franju pays tribute to a figure for whom he always had great admiration: the filmmaker and father of fantasy film, Georges Méliès. A look at the figure and work of a unique artist evoked by his wife.

LES POUSSIÈRES (1953)
A scientific documentary about the effects of industrial waste on human beings brought to us by Franju with his personal poetic touch.

NAVIGATION MARCHANDE ATLANTIQUE (1954)
A documentary financed by a shipping line to advertise its modern cruise ships. Despite being a commission leaving Franju less freedom than usual, his influence is obvious in the rather unusual features he uses to present the vessel.

À PROPOS D’UNE RIVIÈRE (1955)
A lyrical evocation of times past and a reflection on the inevitable passing of time through the recollections of an old fisherman.

MON CHIEN (1955)
Once again in this documentary Franju depicts a distressing scenario, another of those corners of society hidden from everyday eyes: the tale of an abandoned dog finally taken to the pound, where a sad fate awaits it.

MONSIEUR ET MADAME CURIE (1956)
A tribute to the scientists who led the way in radioactivity studies. Franju uses documentary reconstruction with actors to demonstrate the methods of the Curie husband and wife team and the precarious conditions in which they went about their far-reaching research.

LE THÉÂTRE NATIONAL POPULAIRE (1956)
Documentary on the Popular National Theatre, an important experimental centre formerly directed by Jean Vilar. Franju combines films of plays with documentary images, creating connections and confrontations between theatre and the real world.

SUR LE PONT D’AVIGNON (1956)
A documentary on the city of Avignon improvised by Franju in ten days, the interval he had to wait while shooting Le Théâtre National Populaire.

NOTRE-DAME, CATHÉDRALE DE PARIS (1957)
The Ministry of Fine Arts commissioned Franju to make a film on the famous Parisian cathedral. In view of the filmmaker’s well-known background, he was instructed: “Only to film the cathedral. No priests, no masses. Only the architecture”. The film, shot in Cinemascope, turned out to be a delightful ode to the beauty of the building.

LA PREMIÈRE NUIT (1958)
Franju makes his first inroads to fictional cinema with this short film, an updated take on the myth of Orpheus and Eurydice represented in the story of a child lost in a modern underground hell: the Paris Metro.

LES RIDEAUX BLANCS (1965)
With a script by Marguerite Duras and music by Georges Delerue, this short focusses on the relationship between an old lady with amnesia and an illiterate child used once again by Franju to explore subjects like time and the memory.

MARCEL ALLAIN (1966)
A portrait of feuilleton author, Marcel Allain, creator of one of Franju’s favourite heroes: Fantômas.

Feature films

LA TÊTE CONTRE LES MURS (Head Against the Wall) (1958)
Franju’s feature film debut, following his experience as a documentary-maker, is an acerbic movie taking a similarly critical look at institutions. Based on a novel by Hervé Bazin, the film constitutes a disturbing reflection on madness and how it is treated viewed through the experience of a young boy forcefully committed to a psychiatric hospital.

LES YEUX SANS VISAGE (Eyes Without a Face) (1959)
Crime novel writers Boileau and Narcejac adapted a macabre tale by Jean Redon for Franju. The plot describes the experiments of a brilliant surgeon who kills women to remove the skin from their faces and graft it onto his daughter, badly disfigured in an accident. Possibly the most popular film in Franju’s filmography and undoubtedly one of his masterpieces; a cult title in the history of fantasy movies where horror and poetry walk hand-in-hand.

PLEINS FEUX SUR L’ASSASSIN (1960)
The second collaboration between Franju and novelists Boileau and Narcejac resulted in a delicious homage to classic crime fiction, plain old entertainment with all of the typical genre ingredients: a big house in the country, a hidden fortune, greedy heirs, a missing dead body and the odd crime. All wrapped in a sound and light show where nothing is what it seems to be.

THÉRÈSE DESQUEYROUX (Therese) (1962)
Franju took to the screen the excellent book of the same name by François Mauriac, adapted to film by the author’s son, Claude. Set in a small provincial town, the movie revolves around Thérèse, a young girl married to a man she doesn’t love who is driven by her stifling life in a boring, repressive environment to take desperate measures. The film earned its starring lady, Emmanuelle Riva, the Volpi Cup for Best Actress at the Venice Festival.

JUDEX (1963)
Franju wanted to pay tribute to the work of the master of silent film, Louis Fusillade, with this remake of one of the popular serials that made him famous. Fusillade’s grandson, Jacques Champreux, wrote the script for a film recovering the innocence and beauty of the feuilleton, a world packed with villains, crimes and abductions, beautiful women, disguises, tricks and all sorts of marvellous situations.

THOMAS L’IMPOSTEUR (THOMAS THE IMPOSTER) (1964)
Adaptation of Jean Cocteau’s novel on which Franju once again worked with Emmanuelle Riva as the leading lady. Set in the First World War, the film focusses on the friendship between an aristocratic woman who organises a convoy to evacuate wounded from the front and a 16 year-old boy who claims to be a famous general’s son. The cast also featured Cocteau’s fetish actor, Jean Marais, and the singer Charles Aznavour.

LA FAUTE DE L’ABBÉ MOURET (The Demise of Father Mouret) (1970)
Franju once again adapts a classic of French literature, this time by Émile Zola. Here the moviemaker takes an anti-clerical novel to the screen, removing absolutely nothing of the fury and aggressiveness from its message. A suffocating, claustrophobic tale about a priest in a country town who loses his memory in a fall. As he is nursed back to health by a beautiful young girl, the priest falls in love with her... not remembering who he is or his religious duties.

LA LIGNE D’OMBRE (1973)
A TV film by Franju based on Joseph Conrad’s homonymous novel, a masterpiece of seafaring literature. Defined by Franju himself as “a film of inaction”, this initiation tale (partly based on Conrad’s own experience) describes the adventures of a young captain on his first sea voyage on a ship afflicted with malaria and, as he says, enchanted by the spirit of the former captain.

NUITS ROUGES (1974)
Franju and the screenwriter Jacques Champreux created a mini TV series in old serial format, entitled L’Homme sans visage, while shooting this complementary film conceived for cinemas. A return to the universe of silent film master Louis Feuillade, described thus by Franju: “A film entered like the traditional fiestas to which you’d better take your innocence if you don’t want to be disappointed”.

San Sebastian Festival's New Directors to Launch Independently

Devin Lee Fuller — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 18:10:14 GMT

The Zabaltegi Section's New Directors category at San Sebastian Festival will go independent for its 60th edition. It will now function simply as the New Directors section.

The section showcases first and second films from directors worldwide. The participants compete for the Kuxta-New Directors Award which includes a cash prize of more than €90,000 ($116,487).

Directors featured in this section in previous years include David O. Russell, Lee Daniels, Nicolas Winding Refn, Bong Joon-ho and Danny Boyle.

Full press release below:

The San Sebastian Festival New Directors competition goes independent

The Section offers the Kutxa-New Directors award with its cash prize of €90,000

As of the 60th edition, the Zabaltegi Section’s New Directors category at San Sebastian Festival will take off independently as the New Directors Section. As usual, the Section will continue to function as a showcase for first and second films by filmmakers worldwide.

The participants will compete for the Kutxa-New Directors Award, including a cash prize of €90,000 for the director and distributor of the film in Spain. The Award can only be granted to films selected in this section, and not to first and second films presented in other Festival sections.

Every year since its creation, the New Directors section has seen around twenty promising filmmakers compete with their first movies. Films programmed in this section have included the first works by directors who have gone on to make an international name for themselves, like Olivier Assayas, Agustín Villaronga, Ixabel Coixet, Juanma Bajo Ulloa, Tsai Ming-liang, Danny Boyle, David O. Russell, Agustín Díaz Yanes, Hans Petter Moland, Nicolas Winding Refn, Juan José Campanella, Simon Staho, Laurent Cantet, Bong Joon-ho, Achero Mañas, Tom McCarthy, Lee Daniels, Javier Rebollo, Hana Makhmalbaf and Judith Colell, among others.

Thanks to this initiative raising the profile and visibility of the section, the San Sebastian Festival underlines its focus on new talents from the international film world, added to its intention to place greater importance on their films and promote their distribution in our country.

Bingham Ray Named the New Executive Director of the San Francisco Film Society

Brian Brooks — Wed, 19 Oct 2011 15:00:19 GMT

Specialty film veteran Bingham Ray has been named the new executive director of the San Francisco Film Society, effective November 7, the organization announced Wednesday.

The news comes over three months after the organization's former leader, Graham Leggat, resigned in July for health reasons. He died in late August after a long battle with cancer.

Ray most recently served as the first-run programming consultant to the Film Society of Lincoln Center, executive consultant to the digital distribution company SnagFilms (parent company of indieWIRE) and as adjunct professor at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts.

Ray said he became aware about SFFS search for Leggat's replacement while visiting Los Angeles in September. During a meeting with William Morris Independent agent Liesl Copland, she suggested he inquire about the job.

"I thought, wow... Absolutely I'd be interested in that," Ray told iW. "It was one of those things that clicks and I thought, 'I'd really, really be interested.' I know Rachel Rosen very well and had a lot of respect for Graham, who had turned the organization into really something."

Ray also said that he had long been talking to his wife about how they could live in San Francisco and still make a living in film and the opportunity worked perfectly on a personal level.

Ray noted that his work with the Film Society of Lincoln Center and SnagFilms had been a "great fit for me," but said he had nevertheless been keeping an eye out for the next opportunity both in New York and outside the city.

He said that the job came together following what he described as a "rigorous process" that first began during the recent Toronto International Film Festival.

"I looked at what Graham had done and saw that it would be an amazing job," he said. "My passion for exhibition is known. They are involved in the development and finance of low-budget films for Bay Area filmmakers, which is an area I've long had a passion for professionally. Plus [SFFS has] an educational program that's been articulated by Graham and the staff, including [SFIFF head programmer] Rachel Rosen. Plus there are all these other components within the organization, including the San Francisco International Film Festival, which is an area I'm highly comfortable in... And as it blossomed out, I thought, 'Holy cow, this is truly an extraordinary opportunity!'"

Ray noted that Leggat will be a hard act to follow.

"Coming in behind a gentleman like Graham who went there and rejuvenated the organization with a new breath of elevation and life -- [it's not like I'll] be coming in from someone who crashed and burned in a train wreck.That is obviously not the reality for me, so what I can do is come in and study the overall program and learn why they worked so well and guide them to other levels of growth and success. I know that you don't go to a place and fix what is not broken. You make it your own over time and there are areas I have a deep intimacy, knowledge and passion for, but there are other areas I'll have to learn too."

Ray also said there are other ideas he'd like to build on with SFFS, including using his digital knowledge and grow the organization's nascent initiatives in the space. "It's an area I've come to know and would like to affect an articulated digital initiative for the whole Film Society," he said. "I believe this was part of Graham's true vision, so I think this will complement what he had planned to do."

"I've had a lot of experience during my time in distribution with all of San Francisco's film festivals like the San Francisco International Film Festival, Mill Valley and others," he said. "It's a deep and rich film culture and one that is a major market for films I have great passion for. From the filmmaker services' perspective, there's an amazing opportunity to reach out into the community and developing from a low-budget independent production side, emerging talent. I'd love to find through this program at the Film Society, with the amazing staff there, an emerging talent like a Lena Dunham ('Tiny Furniture')."

Ending his conversation with iW, Ray said: "Coming into San Francisco - which let's face it, is one of the world's great cities - it's crazy great!"

Acting SFFS executive director Steven Jenkins noted, "I think it's tremendously exciting for the organization. We have had a chance to meet a few times and to have someone of his caliber and experience at this point bodes extremely well for us. It's tough with any transition. It was of course hard losing Graham so tragically, and it has been daunting. But with Bingham coming, it points us again toward honing in on the vision that Graham had, which I think he respects -- it's dynamic for us. He's enormously intelligent, but also laid back. He's culturally a perfect fit for us."

"I am very excited for Bingham. He worked with us during a crucial period of transition and did a wonderful job of helping the FIlm Society launch our new Film Center," Rose Kuo, Executive Director of the Film Society of Lincoln Center commented to indieWIRE by email. "I know that he will bring the same enthusiasm and expertise to the San Francisco FIlm Society. We wish him all the best in his new endeavor."

"We have been delighted to work closely with Bingham over the last year, adding top narrative indies to our library and continuing our leadership in distributing docs," SnagFilms CEO Rick Allen told iW today via email. "As a former board member of the festival, I know well the importance the SFFS has played in our industry and for its community and I look forward to Bingham taking Graham’s significant legacy to new heights. We look forward to continuing to work with Bingham and the Film Society."

"The board of directors and staff of the San Francisco Film Society are honored, thrilled and extremely fortunate to have Bingham Ray join the organization to succeed Graham Leggat as our executive director," said Pat McBaine, SFFS board president in a statement. "Few veteran industry professionals are more highly regarded, have broader experience or a better track record of success in all facets of the film world than Bingham. With his extensive background as a major studio executive, founder of October Films, adjunct professor at NYU and consultant to numerous film societies, festivals and companies, Bingham is a perfect and timely fit to carry on Graham's legacy and build on the foundation of our year-round exhibition, education and filmmaker services programs."

More history on Bingham Ray and reaction to his appointment courtesy of a SFFS release follows:

In 2007 Ray joined the Los Angeles-based production company Sidney Kimmel Entertainment and held two posts during his three-year tenure, president of Kimmel Distribution and president of creative affairs. In the first post Ray supervised all marketing and distribution plans for the original Death at a Funeral, Talk to Me, Lars and the Real Girl and Synecdoche, N.Y., among others. In the latter he was responsible for the development and production activities of the remake of Death at a Funeral, as well as supervising the development of a seven-film production slate.
In September 2001, Ray assumed the post of president of United Artists. During his tenure at UA, the company acquired and/or produced many highly acclaimed films such as No Man's Land, winner of the 2001 Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film, Michael Moore's Bowling for Columbine, winner of the 2002 Academy Award for Best Feature Documentary and the 2004 Academy Award-nominated Hotel Rwanda. Other United Artists films successfully released during Ray's tenure include Jeepers Creepers 1 & 2, Nicholas Nickleby, Ghost World, Igby Goes Down and Pieces of April.
"Bingham's coming on board is fantastic news for the Film Society. He is well known and well loved by filmmakers and studio executives alike, with a wide reach both domestically and internationally. He's as at ease and knowledgeable in a conversation about the qualities of a screenplay as he is about the distribution pattern of a new film in Europe or Asia. We couldn't ask for a more full service addition to SFFS," said Film Society board member and former AMPAS President Sid Ganis.
Prior to running United Artists, Ray cofounded October Films in 1991 and served as its copresident until its sale to USA Networks in 1999. October was one of the foremost independent film companies of the 1990s, winning two Oscars and garnering 13 Oscar nominations and top prizes at the Cannes Film Festival on three occasions. Some of October Films' credits include the internationally acclaimed Secrets & Lies, The Apostle, Cookie's Fortune, The Celebration, Lost Highway, The Last Seduction and Breaking the Waves.
Ray began his career in 1981 as manager/programmer of the Bleecker Street Cinema. He has been on the juries of the Sundance Film Festival, Rotterdam Film Festival, Edinburgh Film Festival and the Film Independent Spirit Awards. He has lectured on film production and development at the City College of New York's Graduate Film School, Columbia University and New York University.
Ray succeeds Graham Leggat, who served as the San Francisco Film Society's executive director from October 2005 to June 2011 before his untimely death from cancer in August 2011. In five short years Leggat transformed the organization from an annual fifteen-day film festival producer into a year-round cultural institution with an increasingly national impact, providing programs and services in three key areas of activity: exhibition, education and filmmaker services. He strengthened SFFS with a valuable legacy and left it in the best shape--artistically, organizationally and financially--in its 54-year history.
"Graham's death was difficult for all of us, both professionally and personally, and left very big shoes to fill. Having followed Bingham's dynamic career for years and witnessed his passion for film, I can think of no one better to lead us into a new era and I'm thrilled that he'll be bringing his tremendous experience, fresh energy and ideas to the Film Society," said Director of Programming Rachel Rosen.
"The Film Society became an incredibly unique institution under Graham Leggat's tenure," said SFFS board co-vice president Jen Chaiken. Co-vice president Todd Traina and I spearheaded the search for our new director, as we wanted potential candidates to fully understand what a special opportunity this is. After interviewing candidates from across the country and abroad, there is no one we're more excited about to take us into the future than Bingham Ray. He's a one-of-a-kind, seminal figure in the film world and we couldn't be luckier to have him."
The Film Society's expanded year-round programming includes daily screenings and events at San Francisco Film Society | New People Cinema, highlighted by the Fall Season of seven specialized festivals. The crown jewel of the exhibition program is the San Francisco International Film Festival (April 19-May 3, 2012). The education department offers year-round media literacy programs to over 10,000 K-12 students, college and university programs to help students transition into the professional filmmaking arena, and more than 120 classes and workshops per year in film craft and film studies for filmmakers, filmgoers and cinephiles of all ages and skill levels. Filmmaker services offers a full suite of programs and activities designed to foster creativity and further the careers of independent filmmakers and oversees one of the largest film grant programs in the country, which will have dispersed more than $3.5 million to filmmakers by 2013. Hundreds of filmmakers have benefited from a vibrant fiscal sponsorship program, which provides production and development assistance.
"I firmly believe in the adage 'don't fix what's not broken,'" said Ray. "My initial mission will be to carefully study and evaluate the existing programs of the Film Society, aiming to guide them to further growth and articulation. I'm particularly excited to begin an exploration into creating a dynamic digital initiative for the organization which could eventually expand the reaches of the education programs and SFIFF."

"The Double Steps" Wins at San Sebastian, But It Won't Win Audience Awards Anytime Soon

Nigel M Smith — Mon, 26 Sep 2011 08:21:07 GMT

The Spanish film "The Double Steps" from director Isaki Lacuesta won the top prize, the Golden Shell, at the San Sebastian International Film Festival, which ended Saturday. Though rumors about the film’s win had been circulating for a couple of days, the beautiful but extremely complex – some might say nonsensical – work won’t be winning any audience awards anywhere anytime soon.

A trio of world premieres by high-profile names that somehow managed to escape the attention of the programmers of Venice and Toronto were the most highly anticipated titles to premiere in competition at the Festival in Spain, though it was another local title as well as a couple of Toronto holdovers that most impressed the international press.

The fest opened on September 16 with the European premiere of Juan Carlos Fresnadillo’s "Intruders," a Toronto world premiere. The spooky European genre film stars Clive Owen, Carice van Houten, Daniel Brühl and Pilar Lopez de Ayala and was a logical choice to open the fest, since it not only stars relatively well-known names and was directed by a local director but also reflected the interest in genre fare from San Sebastian’s new fest director, José Luis Rebordinos, who is the former head of the town’s Fantasy Horror Film Week.

"Intruders"’ dual-track narrative, set in both Spain and England, teases out the connections between the stories of two young children who are confronted with tales and, not much later, actual appearances of Hollowface, a sort of "Harry Potter" Dementor-wannabe who’s not half as scary as he (or she?) should be. The psychological angle the film plays up, in a storyline involving a psychologist played by Kerry Fox, is interesting enough though so protracted it drains the proceedings from suspense. And a Spanish priest played by German-Spanish actor Brühl, feels like a naïve young kid whose sole reason to enter priesthood was an unhealthy obsession with the original "The Exorcist."

Two well-known Asian filmmakers, Kim Ki-duk and Horikazu Kore-eda, world premiered their latest works in competition at the Basque coastal resort. Kim finally came out of (self-imposed) filmmaking hibernation earlier this year, as documented in his autobiographical "Arirang," which scooped a shared Un Certain Regard prize in Cannes. His follow-up, "Amen," was presented in San Sebastian, and is hopefully a minor detour before a return to more classical filmmaking.

"Amen" is a low-budget travelogue about a Korean woman who arrives in Paris to look for her artist boyfriend, though she soon learns he has moved to Venice, leading her to follow his trail. On the night train there, a mysterious figure wearing a gas mask steals her belonging. To make matters worse, once she’s in Venice, she finds out her boyfriend’s no longer there either but has gone to Avignon.

Captured in smudgy digital images, with cuts that feel arbitrary and a sound track filled with unfiltered noise from the streets, "Amen" is about as far away as one can get from the technical polish that was a universal constant in Kim’s earlier films. The story itself feels like it was improvised on the spot and shot while Kim and his actress were traveling around Europe, with the ending, hinted at by the title, straining for a deeper meaning that isn’t really there.

Kore-eda, by comparison, delivered another solid if light-hearted entry with his latest film, "I Wish." It continues his fascination with young children after his Cannes entry "Nobody Knows," though "I Wish," which looks at two separated brothers on opposite sides of the country and the trains that might have connected them, has none of the melancholy of "Nobody Knows." Young child actors and real-life brothers Koki and Oshiro Maeda are an utter delight. The film won Best Screenplay.

San Sebastian’s third high-profile world premiere is the first French-language feature of actress-writer-director Julie Delpy, "Skylab", which walked away with the jury prize. Her work as a filmmaker include the English-language films "The Countess" and "2 Days in Paris," and her latest, though in French, is closest to the insouciant and saucy banter of the latter, though again there’s a sense that Delpy is a good dialogue writer but hasn’t got a clue how to connect the dots between the various scenes to turn her film into a coherent and pacey narrative.

"Skylab," which is inspired by memories of the youth of the actress-director herself, is a portrait of an extended family that gathers in Brittany for a weekend for the birthday of the clan’s matriarch in 1979, the year that the titular satellite was expected to crash into Brittany.

A competition highlight coming from Toronto was Terence Davies’ adaptation of Terence Rattigan’s play, "The Deep Blue Sea," which manages the difficult trick of being elegiac in tone while simultaneously suggesting the still-smoldering embers of a blinding and all-consuming passion. The handsomely appointed film stars Rachel Weisz as a suicidal woman in a beautifully nuanced performance opposite handsome rising star Tom Hiddleston, who plays the dashing ex-RAF pilot for whom Weisz’s character has left her bourgeois and respectable husband, a judge. Reflecting the contrasting natures of the two male leads, which are sexy, fiery and unpredictable and staid, steady and secure respectively, Davies’ filmmaking equally sways between lyrical use of the camera and classical music and more posed shots and dialogues.

Out of competition, the Telluride titles "Albert Nobbs," from filmmaker Rodrigo Garcia, delighted the local press, again especially winning notices for its performances. Star Glenn Close was in town to accept a Career Achievement honor and present "Nobbs," which she headlines and also co-wrote. The historical tale of an Irish hotel butler who is actually a woman was made on a tiny $6 million budget and stars, alongside the inimitable Close, Mia Wasikowska in another strong performance as the hotel maid with whom Albert becomes infatuated. Cameos of Jonathan Rhys-Meyers, as a boozy and licentious gay man, and Brendan Gleeson as a kind doctor, further elevate the acting stakes, though heartthrob Aaron Johnson, as Wasikowska’s paramour, manages to do little else but look hot in period duds (when he’s wearing them) and grime.

As usual, San Sebastian, which is situated in the autonomous Basque region, showcased Spanish-language fare made locally as well as further afield, across several sections including a work-in-progress market and the Horizontes Latinos section, which showcases the best of Latin-American filmmaking.

The biggest disappointment of all the local offerings for this writer was the eventual competition winner, the perhaps intriguing-sounding double bill offered by local documentary filmmaker Isaki Lacuesta, whose "The Double Steps" played in competition, while its companion piece, "The Clay Diaries," played in the Zabaltegi Specials sidebar.

Known for his imaginatively conceived and filmed portraits of artists – "The Legend of Time" explored the legacy of Flamenco legend Camarón; "All Night Long" looked at Ava Gardner’s time in Spain – Lacuesta’s latest nominally look at French painter Francois Augieras, who worked in Africa. "The Double Steps," which like "The Clay Diaries" was shot on location in Mali, certainly offers breathtaking views. But its largely fictional narrative, which includes an indigenous family of which one of the members is also called Francois Augieras, is so convoluted that, in the end, instead of becoming lyrical (which is Lacuesta’s usual m.o.), the film simply becomes impenetrable. The shorter "The Clay Diaries," which is more clearly in a documentary vein, did not excite audiences much either.

The other two Spanish titles in competition were the bombastic, convoluted and incredibly black tale of murder, terrorism and cops, "No Rest for the Wicked," and "The Sleeping Voice," a harrowing tale of two sisters of whom one is incarcerated and waiting for her execution under the Franco regime, adapted from a novel inspired by oral research. The two films would make for an interesting double bill as they almost form a yin-and-yang duo of opposing forces: male/female; fiction/reality, hard-boiled genre item/historical weepie.

Despite belong in an overcrowded category, "The Sleeping Voice" finally emerged as the most impressive film of the two, with its all-round exceptional cast, including María León as the younger of the two sisters, who manages to be both naïve and hard-bitten at the same time. Her scenes go from comedy to intense drama in a heartbeat and a wonder to behold and she very deservedly took home the Best Actress prize.

The film is also one of Spain’s three finalists for the country’s foreign-language Oscar submission spot, together with "Black Blead," which premiered at San Sebastian last year, and Almodovar’s "The Skin I Live In."

Also worth mentioning is the animated local film "Wrinkles," from director Ignacio Ferreras, which played in the Zabaltegi-New Directors section. It’s essentially a gray-haired buddy movies that looks at two old codgers in an old people’s home. Funny and sad (on of the protags has Alzheimer’s) the film was praised in San Sebastian for the fact the voice work and animation aligned so neatly that most people forget they were watching an animated film at all.

Other Spanish-language films in Horizontes Latinos, including Cannes Un certain regard entry "Bonsai" from Chile, a beautifully melancholic story that involves literature and slow-growing miniature trees, and Cannes breakout hit "Miss Bala," Locarno winner "Abrir puertas y ventanas" and the eventual San Sebastian winner of the section, the delightful yet delicate road movie "Las Acacias," from Argentina

On the English-language indies front, Sean Durkis’ Sundance title "Martha Marcy May Marlene" was well-received by the local press, while Sarah Polley’s "Take This Waltz," a follow-up to "Away from Her," was met with a slightly more mixed reaction.

This year’s retrospectives included the works of French director Jacques Demy and a look at contemporary film noir from the U.S., including such films as "Heat" and "Fargo." Star of the latter, Frances McDormand, headed the jury this year, which also included Chinese actress Bai Ling and writer-directors Guillermo Arriaga and Alex de la Iglesia.

The 2011 San Sebastian Film Festival winners are

Golden Shell: "The Double Steps"
Special Jury Prize: "Skylab"
Best Director: Filippos Tsitos, "Unfair World"
Best Actress: Maria Leon, "The Sleeping Voice"
Best Actor: Antonis Kafetzopoulos, "Unfair World"
Best Cinematography: "Happy End"
Best Screeplay: "I Wish," by Horokazu Kore-eda
Kutxa New Directors Award: "The River Used to Be A Man"
Horizontes Latinos Award: "Las Acacias"
Audience Award: "The Artist"

Alex de la Iglesia, Frances McDormand, & Bai Ling Among San Sebastian Fest Jury

Bryce J. Renninger — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 09:15:23 GMT

The San Sebastian Film Festival has announced the members of its various juries for this year's edition. Serving as part of the official selection jury are "Babel" scribe Guillermo Arriaga, "The Last Circus" director Álex de la Iglesia, "The Crow" actress Bai Ling, "Hotel Rwanda" star Sophie Okonedo, and Frances McDormand ("Fargo").

The full list from the San Sebastian Film Festival is below.

JURY MEMBERS AT THE 59TH EDITION OF THE SAN SEBASTIAN FESTIVAL
Sección Oficial
Guillermo Arriaga, writer, screenwriter and film director
Álex de la Iglesia, film director
Bent Hamer, film director
Bai Ling, actress
Sophie Mantigneaux, cinematographer
Frances McDormand, actress
Sophie Okonedo, actress
Zabaltegi-New Directors
Jonathan Rosenbaum (Chairman), writer and film critic
Lucia Casani, Director of Cultura at La Casa Encendida
Jessica Hausner, film director
Paz Lazaro, Head of Programming for Berlin Film Festival’s Panorama section
Un-Seong Yoo, Programmer for the Jeonju Film Festival
Horizontes Latinos
Juan Diego Botto (Chairman), actor
Javier Martin, Head of Programming at the Forum des Images
Daniela Michel, Director of Morelia Film Festival
Zinemira
Ramon Aguirre, actor
Maialen Lujanbio, bertsolari
Joxean Muñoz, writter and script writter. He's now developing cultural projects.
Chairman of the Film Students Meeting Jury
Nicolas Provost, film director and visual artist

San Sebastian Makes Picks for Cinema in Motion and Films in Progress 20 Series

Nigel M Smith — Tue, 23 Aug 2011 09:10:16 GMT

The San Sebastian International Film Festival announced the four films to make the 7th edition of their Cinema in Motion series, which features films at the end of their filming or at their post-production stage, made by directors from Maghreb, Portuguese-speaking African countries and developing Arab countries. The selected filmmakers will compete for a bevvy of prizes, including €15,000 in sound mixing services, €5,000 towards post-production costs, €2,500 towards French or English subtitling, and more.

The four films screen September 19.

The four selected films are (synopses courtesy of the festival):

"Confession and Struggle"
Lebanon
Director: Eliane Raheb
A documentary exploring the tragic events of the Lebanese Civil War from the point of view of two people on different sides: Assaad Shaftari, a member of the Secret Services, a “killing machine” seeking redemption and forgiveness; and Maryam Saiidi, the mother of a young boy who disappeared during the fighting. Eliane Raheb (Lebanon, 1972) has formerly directed two fictional shorts and three documentaries; one of these, Hayda Lubnan (This is Lebanon), landed an award at the Yamagata Film Festival. She is a founding member of the cultural cooperative Beirut DC and artistic director of the “Ayam Beirut al Cinem’iya” Festival.

"The Last Friday"
Jordan
Director: Yahya Alabdallah
Cast: Ali Suliman, Yasmine Almasri, Fadi Areida
The existential crisis of a divorced forty year-old man who needs an operation and has to find the money to pay for it. Yahya Alabdallah (Libya, 1978) is a writer, producer, director and literary critic. He has directed several short films, including: Six Minutes 2004, winner of awards at the Al Jazeera Film Festival, Amman Short Film Festival, Trenton Film Festival and Carthage International Film Festival, and SMS 2008, with which he participated in the Rotterdam Festival, the Tangiers ISFF and the Osian’s Cinefan-IFF.

"Une Fusee Dans Le Ciel"
France - Lebanon
Directors: Khalil Joreige and Joana Hadjithomas
A documentary shining light on a forgotten story in Lebanon’s history: a project by professor of mathematics Manoug Manougian and his university students to launch a rocket into space. This unusual experiment was eventually controlled by the army and received financial contribution from the State. In 1999, Khalil Joreige and Joana Hadjithomas (Lebanon, 1969) directed their first feature Autour de la maison rose, followed by A Perfect Day (2006) and Je veux voir (2008), an entrant in the Cannes Festival “Un Certain Regard” section after having participated in the 2007 edition of Cinema in Motion.

"When I Saw You"
Jordan - Palestine
Director: Annemarie Jacir
Cast: Mahmoud Asfa, Ruba Blal, Saleh Bakri
Set in the late 1960s, the film looks at discovery of the world by Tarek, the 12 year-old son of a Palestinian refugee in Jordan. Annemarie Jacir (Palestine, 1974) had previously made the shorts The Satellite Shooters (2001) and Like Twenty Impossibles (2003). Her feature debut, Milh Hadha al-Bahr (Salt of this Sea, 2008), landed a Cinema in Motion award at the 55th edition of San Sebastian International Film Festival. She is a founding member of the Palestinian Filmmakers’ Collective.

In addition to this announcement, the festival picked the six films slated to participate in the Film in Progress 20 series, open to Latin American cinema. A total of 71 films from 15 countries vied for the slots. The series screens from September 21-22.

The six films are: "Era uma vez Verônica" (Brazil), by Marcelo Gomes, who already participated in the Horizontes Latinos section at San Sebastian Festival with his "Cinema, Aspirinas e Urubus" (2005); "Infancia Clandestina" (Argentina), by Benjamín Ávila, who previously presented the documentary "Nietos (Identidad y memoria)" in Zabaltegi Specials in 2004; "Joven & Alocada" (Chile), by Marialy Rivas; "Un Mundo Secreto" (México), by Gabriel Mariño; "La Playa" (Colombia), by Juan Andrés Arango and "7 Cajas" (Paraguay), by Juan Carlos Maneglia and Tana Schémbori.

"The Tree of Life" Wins FIPRESCI Prize & San Sebastian's 'Made In Spain' Selection Revealed

Indiewire Staff — Fri, 19 Aug 2011 09:52:44 GMT

The International Federation of Film Critics (FIPRESCI) has granted its Grand Prix for the year's best film to Terrence Malick's "The Tree of Life." The film, which won the Palme DdOr at Cannes in May, will screen at the Zabaltegi-Pearls section of the San Sebastian Film Festival, where the award will be presented.

This is the second award Malick has won at San Sebastian; he previously won the festival's highest prize, the Golden Shell, in 1972 for "Badlands."

In addition, the San Sebastian Film Festival has announced the 15 Spanish films it will feature in its "Made In Spain" section. Highlights include Álex de la Iglesia's "The Last Circus," which won the Director and Screenplay prizes at the Venice Film Festival along with 15 Goya nominations, Sergio Caballero's "Finisterrae," winner of the Tiger Award at the Rotterdam Festival, and "Torrente 4," Spain's biggest blockbuster this year.

Full press releases below:

Terrence Malick's ''The Tree Of Life'', winner of the FIPRESCI Grand Prix 2011
The prize will be presented at San Sebastian International Film Festival’s 59th edition
The International Federation of Film Critics (FIPRESCI) grants its Grand Prix for Best Film of the year to TERRENCE MALICK’S THE TREE OF LIFE. The prize is the result of a vote by 205 critics across the world, all members of FIPRESCI on any feature-length film from the previous 12 months. The prize will be presented at the opening gala of San Sebastian Festival’s 59th edition on September 16th at the Kursaal Auditorium.
TERRENCE MALICK’S THE TREE OF LIFE will open the Zabaltegi-Pearls section at this year’s edition of the San Sebastian Festival, after having carried off the Golden Palm at the Cannes Festival in May this year. Starring Brad Pitt and Sean Penn, the film is a poetic, personal reflection on the meaning of human life.
Terrence Malick, who bagged the Golden Shell for Best Film with Badlands, thanked all members of FIPRESCI for the recognition: “It’s comforting to discover so many generous hearts that encourage myself and all those who work with me to continue forging ahead.”
Given that Terrence Malick is unable to attend the opening gala, the prize will be collected by a representative of Tri Pictures, the Spanish distributors of the film.
In previous editions of the Festival, the FIPRESCI Grand Prix has gone to movies directed by some of the biggest names in film worldwide: Pedro Almodóvar, Paul Thomas Anderson, Jafar Panahi, Kim Ki-duk, Aki Kaurismäki, Nuri Bülge Ceylan, Jean-Luc Godard, Cristian Mungiu, Michael Haneke and Roman Polanski.
Fifteen spanish films selected for the San Sebastian International Film Festival's 'Made in Spain' section
The 59th edition of San Sebastian Festival will present the year’s big Spanish productions in its Made in Spain section.
EL ABRAZO DE LOS PECES (THE EMBRACE OF THE FISHES), Chema Rodríguez
A documentary in which director Chema Rodríguez describes how his 18 year-old daughter - deaf-blind from birth - finds her place in society and the problems she faces every day.
ÁGUILA ROJA, LA PELÍCULA (RED EAGLE, THE MOVIE) José Ramón Ayerra
The adventures of heroic Gonzalo Montalvo hit the movie screens following his TV success. The popular cast of the series, headlining David Janer, Javier Gutiérrez, Inma Cuesta, Francis Lorenzo and Myriam Gallego, is joined on the big screen by Martina Klein.
BALADA TRISTE DE TROMPETA (THE LAST CIRCUS), Álex de la Iglesia
Álex de la Iglesia narrates the tragicomical misfortunes of a clown who made the unfortunate mistake of setting his sights too high: he fell in love with the trapeze artist. Carlos Areces, Antonio de la Torre and Carolina Bang star in this movie, winner of the Best Directing and Screenplay Awards at Venice Festival plus 15 Goya nominations.
BLACKTHORN, Mateo Gil
Director Mateo Gil travels to the Bolivian plains to track the adventures of one of the last Wild West outlaws: Butch Cassidy. Eduardo Noriega and Sam Shephard head the cast of this heartfelt homage to the western presented at the Tribeca and Las Palmas Festivals.
CATALUNYA ÜBER ALLES!, Ramón Térmens
Director Ramón Térmens brings us a harsh, precise portrayal of today’s Catalonia with three parallel stories starring a businessman, an ex-convict and an immigrant. The film bagged the Special Jury Prize and Youth Jury Prize at Malaga Festival.
FINISTERRAE (FINISTERRAE), Sergio Caballero
One of the least easily classified and most surprising works to have come out of Spanish film in recent years: two ghosts experience myriad eccentric adventures on the Way of St. James. Helmed by Sergio Caballero, co-director of Barcelona’s Sonar Festival, the film landed the Tiger Award at Rotterdam Festival.
LA MALETA MEXICANA (THE MEXICAN SUITCASE), Trisha Ziff
Documentary on the 4,500 negatives taken by prestigious photographers Robert Capa, Gerda Taro and David “Chim” Seymour during the Spanish Civil War; negatives given up for lost during the war and found in a Mexico City apartment 70 years later. It was screened at the Karlovy Vary Film Festival.
LA MITAD DE ÓSCAR (HALF OF OSCAR), Manuel Martín Cuenca
Two brothers unite for their grandfather’s death after years of separation. Manuel Martín Cuenca soberly directs this tale of complex human relations starring Antonio de la Torre, Verónica Echegui and Rodrigo Sáenz de Heredia.
EL MUNDO QUE FUE Y EL QUE ES (THE WORLD THAT WAS AND THAT IS), Pablo Llorca
Pablo Llorca’s new movie chronicles the harsh life of Communist Party activists in the post-war period who were constantly hounded and forced to remain underground. Winner of the Best Actor Award (Pedro Casablanc) at the Las Palmas Film Festival.
NO CONTROLES (LOVE STORMING), Borja Cobeaga
Sergio (Únax Ugalde) still can’t get his head round the idea that he’s been left by his girlfriend. That’s why, when they’re stranded in an airport hotel on New Year’s Eve, he puts his all into winning her back with the aid of his outlandish friends. Returning after Pagafantas, Borja Cobega confirms his talent for romantic comedy.
NO TENGAS MIEDO (DON’T BE AFRAID), Montxo Armendáriz
Montxo Armendáriz looks meticulously and delicately at the subject of child abuse through the tale of a young girl still suffering from the trauma of having been abused by her father when she was only a child. Selected for the Official Selection of the Karlovy Vary Festival.
PRIMOS (COUSINHOOD), Daniel Sánchez Arévalo
This film from Daniel Sánchez Arévalo, his 13th, brings us a tale of reunion between three old friends who return to the place where they’d spend their summers as kids. A comedy starring Quim Gutiérrez, Raúl Arevalo, Antonio de la Torre and Inma Cuesta.
¿QUIÉN FUE PILAR MIRÓ?, Diego Galán
Filmmaker Pilar Miró was an essential figure in Spanish film and a character as controversial as she was charming. This documentary takes a closer look at her personality through her confessions and the testimonies of those who knew her best.
TODAS LAS CANCIONES HABLAN DE MÍ (EVERY SONG IS ABOUT ME), Jonás Trueba
Like a hero from one of François Truffaut’s films relocated to modern times, Ramiro (Oriol Vila) wanders the streets of Madrid reflecting on love and trying to understand why his girlfriend has left him. This first work from Jonás Trueba, the youngest in the saga, participated in the Gijon Film Festival and bagged two Goya Award nominations (Best New Director and Best New Actor).
TORRENTE 4, Santiago Segura
Torrente’s beer-belly and dandruff never looked so good as they do in this new 3D adventure, Spain’s biggest box-office smash of the year. Santiago Segura brings the people’s hero back to life amid an oddball cast featuring Spanish national TV’s crème de la crème.

San Sebastian Fills Out Its Lineup with the Latin American Sidebar

Nigel M Smith — Thu, 18 Aug 2011 07:08:39 GMT

The upcoming San Sebastian International Film Festival has added 13 films to its official lineup with the Horizontes Latinos sidebar, including two Cannes' Un Certain Regard players, Gerardo Naranjo's "Miss Bala" and Chilean Christian Jimenez's "Bonsai."

The 13 films will compete for a Euros35,000 cash prize in the Latin American section.

The festival runs September 16-24.

Below find the full Horizontes Latinos program with synopses provided by San Sebastian:

"Back to Stay" is the opera prima from the Argentinean director Milagros Mumenthaler, a subtle portrayal of the everyday lives of three sisters living in their grandmother’s house since her death. In 2000, Milagros Mumenthaler (Córdoba, 1977) filmed her first short, ¿Cuándo llega papá?, followed by El patio (2003), Cape Cod (2003) and Amancay (2005). She won the Pardo d'Oro at the Locarno Film Festival with this first feature, sponsored by the Cannes Festival’s Cinéfondation programme.

"Las Acacias" by Pablo Giorgelli, a Spanish-Argentinean co-production, landed the Caméra d’Or (best opera prima) at the last Cannes Festival. The movie depicts the relationship between a truck driver and a woman and her baby, established on the long trip from Asunción to Buenos Aires. The woman and her baby have to travel in the truck’s cab, as part of the load. The film marks the feature directorial debut of Pablo Giorgelli, who started in film as an editor and had formerly directed the short El último sueño (1993).

"Anonymous," is a Chilean production directed by Renato Pérez, revolving around a man with a dark past who strikes up a peculiar relationship with his landlady’s teenage daughter. The film is the first production from the Film School of the University for Development in Chile’s capital, Santiago, and opera prima from the young filmmaker Renato Pérez (Santiago de Chile, 1986).

"The Cinema Hold Up" is a Mexican production directed by Iria Gómez Concheiro and winner of the CineCinéma Award as a participant in the Films in Progress section at the Rencontres Cinéma d’Amérique in Toulouse, followed by the Casa de América Award at the Films in Progress section corresponding to the 58th edition of the San Sebastian Festival; since then, it has competed at the Sundance Festival and landed the best Opera Prima award at Guadalajara Festival. This drama about four teenagers who decide to rob a cinema is the first feature from Iria Gómez Concheiro (Mexico City, 1979). Her previous work was the short Dime lo que sientes (2004), winner of the Ariel Award for Best Fiction Short Film.

"Bonsai" is the second film from Chilean director Christian Jiménez, a tragic-comical love story between two youngsters amid books, literary quotes, coming-togethers and fall-outs. With this film, Christian Jiménez (Valdivia, 1975) won the Films in Progress Award at the Rencontres Cinéma d’Amérique in Toulouse and participated in the “Un Certain Regard” section at Cannes Festival. His first feature, Ilusiones ópticas (Optical Illusions, 2008), was selected for Films in Progress at the Rencontres Cinéma d’Amérique in Toulouse and San Sebastian in 2008 and for the Horizontes Latinos section of the San Sebastian Festival in 2009.

"Between Night and Day," a Mexican production directed by Bernardo Arellano, tells the story of a solitary man with autism fleeing from domestic abuse and finding a haven in the midst of nature. This film won the Industry Award at the Films in Progress section of San Sebastian Festival’s 58th edition, going on to compete at the Guadalajara Film Festival and won the Award to the Best Opera Prima at the Guanajuato International Film Festival. Bernardo Arellano (Mexico City, 1981) had previously directed the movie La unión (2008) and the short film Zoogocho (2008).

"Historias Que So Existem Quando Lembradas" is a Brazilian film directed by Julia Murat about a young man as he attempts to unravel the mysteries of a ghost town inhabited by people who live a life tied to never-ending routines. The film participated in the Films in Progress section of the Rencontres Cinéma d’Amérique in Toulouse, where it landed a special mention and the Cine+ award. It will also participate in the “Giornate degli autori / Venice Days” section of the coming Venice Festival and in the Toronto Festival's Discovery section. This is the first feature from Julia Murat, who had already directed the short film Pendular (2009) and the documentary Dia dos pais (2008).

The Spanish-Brazilian co-production "Girimunho," directed by Helvecio Marins Jr. and Clarissa Campolina tells the tale of an old widowed lady who has to deal with life in a small village with the sole company of her granddaughter. The movie will participate in the “Orizzonti” section of the coming Venice Festival. Clarissa Campolina had previously directed the documentary Notas flanantes (2009), while Helvecio Marins Jr had made the short Nascente (2005) and an episode of the collective film Dessassosego (Filme das Maravilhas, 2010).

"Miss Bala," a Mexican production directed by Gerardo Naranjo, competed in the “Un Certain Regard” section at the last Cannes Festival. The film narrates the story of an aspiring queen at a beauty contest set upon by warring criminal gangs. Gerardo Naranjo (Mexico City, 1971) formerly directed the films Malachance (2004), Drama/Mex (2006) and Voy a explotar (2008), winner of the FIPRESCI critics’ award at Thessaloniki Festival and three prizes at Guadalajara Festival.

"Pescador" is the fourth movie from the Ecuadorian filmmaker Sebastián Cordero, about a fisherman turned impromptu drug dealer when he stumbles by chance on a load of cocaine. Sebastián Cordero (Quito, 1972) has participated in several international festivals including Venice and Cannes with his previous films: Ratas, ratones, rateros (1999), Crónicas (Scoops, 2004), an entrant in the Horizontes Latinos section at San Sebastian Festival where it landed a Special Jury Mention, and Rabia (Rage, 2009), winner of numerous awards at festivals including Tokyo, Guadalajara and Malaga. Sebastián Cordero chaired the Horizontes Award Jury at the 58th edition of San Sebastian Festival.

The co-production "Porfirio," directed by the Colombian-Ecuadorian Alejandro Landes, was successfully presented at the last Cannes Festival Directors’ Fortnight. Taking reality as its base and in poetic key, the film tells the tale of a man handicapped during the Colombian conflict who decides to take the law into his own hands using rather unconventional methods, his last resort in dealing with a deaf, bureaucratic State that refuses to support him. Director Alejandro Landes debuted with the film Cocalero (2007), premiered at the Sundance Festival.

"All Your Dead Ones" is a Columbian production from Carlos Moreno which participated in the Films in Progress section at the 58th edition of San Sebastian Festival. It later competed at the Sundance and Rotterdam festivals. The movie narrates the ups and downs of a farmer who finds a pile of dead bodies on his land. Carlos Moreno already made his mark with his first movie Perro come perro (Dog Eat Dog), which competed at the Sundance Festival and landed awards at the Guadalajara and Huelva festivals, in addition to participating in the Horizontes Latinos section at the 56th edition of San Sebastian Festival.

"Ulysees" is a Chilean-Argentinean co-production focusing on the misadventures of a Peruvian immigrant in Chile. It is the first movie by the director Óscar Godoy and had its world premiere in the San Francisco International Film Festival.

Updated: San Sebastian Festival Adds International Titles to New Directors Section

Nigel M Smith — Wed, 17 Aug 2011 11:01:12 GMT

[Updated 3:00pm EDT] The world premiere of Kim Ki-duk's "Amen" along with Oren Moverman's "Rampart" round out the 59th San Sebastian Film Festival's competition section in additions made Wednesday. Also joining the festival's Zabaltegi-Pearls section are titles from Steve McQueen, Johnnie To and Nicolas Provost.

San Sebastian has also added an international array of titles to its Zabaltegi-New Directors section. The entries from Iceland, Japan, Israel, Germany, South Korea, Chile, the U.S., Austria and the UK join the three Spanish movies already announced: Ignacio Ferreras’ "Wrinkles," Sandra Sánchez’"Behind the Lights" and Telmo Esnal’s "Urte berri on, amona!"

All films will contend for the Kutza-New Directors award along with three titles from the Official selection: Mathieu Demy's "Americano," Oren Moverman's "Rampart" and Sarah Polley's "Take This Waltz."

The 59th San Sebastian International Film Festival runs from September 16 to 24.

Below are the international additions to the Official Competition, Zabaltegi-New Directors and Zabaltegi-Pearls sections (synopses provided by the festival):

Official Selection

"Amen," the new work from the South Korean moviemaker Kim Ki-duk, will have its world premiere in San Sebastian Film Festival. The film, integrally shot in Europe, narrates the mysterious voyage of a young Korean girl and her encounters with a man on her trail. Kim Ki-duk (Bonghwa, 1960) is one of the South Korean directors to enjoy greatest international prestige, particularly since his film Seom (The Isle, 2000) competed at the Venice Festival. Bi-mong (Dream, 2008) was selected for the Official Selection of San Sebastian Festival’s 56th edition, and Bom yeoreum gaeul gyeoul geurigo bom (Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter… and Spring, 2003) bagged the Audience Award when it was presented in the Zabaltegi-Pearls section at the Festival’s 51st edition. He landed the Silver Bear for Best Director at the Berlin Festival for Samaria (Samaritan Girl, 2004), and, at the last Cannes Festival, won the “Un Certain Regard” Award for Arirang (2011). Other important movies on his filmography are Suchwiin bulmyeong (Address Unknown, 2001), Nabbeun namja (Bad Guy, 2002), Hae anseon (The Coastguard, 2002) and Bin-jip (3-Iron, 2004).

"Rampart" (North America) is a drama helmed by Oren Moverman starring Woody Harrelson, Robin Wright, Steve Buscemi, Ben Foster, Sigourney Weaver, Anne Heche, Ice Cube and Ned Beatty. Based on the plot by acclaimed crime novelist James Ellroy, Rampart is the harrowing portrayal about a jaded cop in Los Angeles. Oren Moverman made his directorial debut with The Messenger (2009), winner of a Silver Bear at the Berlin Festival for Best Screenplay and two Academy Award nominations: one for Best Screenplay and another for Woody Harrelson as Best Supporting Actor. Rampart will compete for the Kutxa New Directors Award.

Zabaltegi-Pearls

"Dyut Ming Gam" (A Life Without Principle), the latest work from the Hong Kong director Johnnie To, will compete in the Official Selection at the coming Venice Festival. In this new contribution to the genre for which he has shown great mastery, the action thriller, To narrates the intertwining fates of three people desperate to get their hands on money fast, all set around a robbery haul. With over fifty films to his name as a director and sixty as a producer, Johnnie To (Hong Kong, 1955) is one of the most prestigious figures on today’s Asian film scene. He has competed in the official selections of the Berlin, Cannes and Venice festivals and boasts a long career in which we can find true modern crime movie classics: Am zin (Running Out of Time, 1999), Cheung fo (The Mission, 1999), Chuen jik sat sau (Full Time Killer, 2001), PTU (2003), Dai si gin (Breaking News, 2004), Hak se wui (Election, 2005), Hak se wui yi wo wai kwai (Election 2, 2006), Fong juk (Exiled, 2006) and San taam (Mad Detective, 2007). His film Fuk sau (Vengeance, 2009) was presented in the Zabaltegi-Pearls section of San Sebastian Festival’s 57th edition.

"L'Envahisseur" (The Invader) is a Belgian production directed by Nicolas Provost looking at the subject of immigration through the adventures of an undocumented young African boy as he tries to get by in European society. The film, to compete in the “Orizzonti” section of Venice Festival, represents the feature debut of reputed video artist Nicolas Provost (Belgium, 1969), whose experimental shorts have competed in the most prestigious international festivals, including Berlin, Sundance, Rotterdam, Turin and Clermont-Ferrand: Papillon d’amour (2003), Exoticore (2004), The Divers (2006), Induction (2006), Suspension (2006), Plot Point (2008), Long Live the New Flesh (2009), Storyteller (2010) and Stardust (2010), among others. His work has been the subject of retrospectives and exhibitions the world over.

"Shame" is the new film by Steve McQueen, a British production starring Michael Fassbender and Carey Mulligan about Brandon, a 30-something man living in New York who is unable to manage his sex life. After his wayward younger sister moves into his apartment, Brandon’s world spirals out of control. Shame is a compelling and timely examination of the nature of need, how we live our lives and the experiences that shape us. Steve McQueen (London, 1969) made people sit up and take notice on the movie scene when his opera prima, Hunger (2008), carried off the Caméra d’Or at Cannes Festival. The movie was subsequently acclaimed and accoladed at numerous international festivals and was presented in the Zabaltegi-Pearls section of the 56th edition of San Sebastian Festival. Shame has been selected for competition at the coming edition of the Venice Festival.

Zabaltegi-New Directors

"Either Way" is an Icelandic production directed by Hafsteinn Gunnar Sigurðsson, a dramatic comedy on the peculiar friendship between two youngsters who spend their time painting roads that no-one seems to use. First work from director Hafsteinn Gunnar Sigurðsson, whose short film Skröltormar landed an award at the Columbia University Film Festival.

"A Beautiful Valley" by Hadar Friedlich is an Israeli-French co-production reflecting on the passing of time through an old woman who watches the kibbutz that has always been her home transform into a completely different reality. Hadar Friedlich previously directed the shorts Ta’anit dibbur (1996), Anashim (1998) and Shiur Moledet: Avdei Hashem (2003).

"Ending Note (Death of a Japanese Salesman)" is a Japanese production directed by Mami Sunada. This heartrending documentary follows the last months in the life of the director’s father, based on the diary he left after having been diagnosed with incurable cancer. Mami Sunada worked with the director Hirokazu Kore-eda as a production assistant on Aruitemo, Aruitemo (Still Walking, 2008) and as an assistant director on Kûki ningyô (Air Doll, 2009).

"Scars," is the second film from the South Korean LIM Woo-seong, a dedicated approach to the emotional sufferings of a woman with an unfaithful husband. LIM Woo-seong’s first work, Chaesikjuuija (Vegetarian, 2009), competed at the Sundance Festival.

The German production "The River Used to be a Man," directed by Jan Zabeil, tells the story of a young German man lost in Africa. With his short films L.H.O. (2007) and Was wei der Tropfen davon (2007), Jan Zabeil received several awards in national and international festivals. The River Used to Be a Man (Der Fluss war einst ein Mensch, 2011) is his feature debut.

"By the Fire," by Alejandro Fernández Almendras, is a co-production between Chile and Germany. The movie narrates the moving love story between a man and a woman afflicted with a terminal illness. This film participated in the Films in Progress sections at San Sebastian Festival’s 58th edition in 2010 and at the Rencontres Cinéma d’Amérique in Toulouse in 2011 and was supported by the World Cinema Fund of the Berlin Festival and the Swiss Visions Sud Est fund. Alejandro Fernández Almendras’ first film, Huacho (2009), participated in the Critics’ Week at Cannes Festival and in Horizontes Latinos at the 57th edition of San Sebastian Festival before going on to enjoy presentation and land awards at various international festivals.

The North-American production "Silver Tongues," helmed by Simon Arthur brings the disturbing tale of a couple involved in an obscure game of destruction with the people who cross their paths. Directorial debut by Simon Arthur, who had previously made a short on the same subject, Silver Tongues (2007), plus another entitled Rebel Song (2007).

"Still Life" is an Austrian film directed by Sebastian Meise on the destruction about a family due to a disturbing observation of Bernhard, the son. His father approaches prostitutes he calls "Lydia". "Lydia" is also the name of Bernhard's sister. Previous shorts directed by Sebastian Meise are Prises de vues (2003), Random (2005) and Dämonen (2006).

"Wild Bill," by Dexter Fletcher. The heartfelt comic tale of an ex convict out on parole who returns home to find himself landed with taking care of his teenage boys. "Wild Bill" is an independent British production and the directorial debut of Dexter Fletcher, an actor whose previous credits include The Elephant Man (1980), The Long Good Friday (1980), Revolution (1985), Caravaggio (1986), Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels (1998), Layer Cake (2004) and the TV series Band of Brothers (2001).

Glenn Close to Receive Lifetime Achievement Award in San Sebastian

Nigel M Smith — Fri, 12 Aug 2011 09:55:31 GMT

The San Sebastian International Film Festival is honoring actress Glen Close with this year's Donostia lifetime achievement award on September 18. Close will also be on hand at the event to introduce the European premiere of her latest project, Rodrigo Garcia's "Albert Nobbs."

The film's been gaining traction as a possible awards contender, especially for Close's buzzed-about performance as a woman passing as man in order to work and survive in 19th-century Dublin. In addition to starring, Close co-penned the screenplay for the drama, based on a short story by Irish author George Moore.

Before hitting San Sebastian, the film will have its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival.

The San Sebastian International Film Festival runs from September 16 to 24.

Martin Scorsese, Frederick Wiseman and Hirokazu Kore-eda Added to San Sebastian Roster

Brian Brooks — Wed, 10 Aug 2011 08:01:13 GMT

New films by Martin Scorsese, Frederick Wiseman and Hirokazu Kore-eda will be part of the San Sebastian International Film Festival's Zabaltegi special screenings program.

As already announced, Zabaltegi-Specials will present six Spanish movies: "14 d’abril Macià contra Companys," by Manuel Huerga; "Al final del tunnel" (A light at the End of the Tunnel in the Basque Country), by Eterio Ortega; "El cuaderno de barro" (The Clay Diaries), by Isaki Lacuesta; "Extraterrestre" (Extraterrestrial), by Nacho Vigalondo; "Madrid, 1987," by David Trueba and "Puzzled Love" by the ESCAC (Escola Superior de Cinema i Audioviuals de Catalunya).

The 59th San Sebastian International Film Festival takes place in Spain's Basque region September 16 - 24.

Ten films unveiled for SSIFF's Zabaltegi section with descriptions and credits provided by the event:

"Carrière. 250 Metros" is a documentary directed by Juan Carlos Rulfo giving us deeper insight to the author and screenwriter Jean-Claude Carrière, Luis Buñuel’s faithful collaborator, the author of over 100 movie screenplays recently decorated with the Spanish Order of the Arts and Letters. Carrière recalls in an emotional sentimental voyage the places and people that have marked his life, cities like Toledo, Paris and New York, and old friends like Peter Brook and Milos Forman. Juan Carlos Rulfo (Mexico City, 1964) made an international name for himself with the documentary En el hoyo (In the Pit, 2006), winner of awards at the Sundance, Karlovy Vary and Guadalajara Festivals; in collaboration with Carlos Hagerman he went on to direct Los que se quedan (2008), also the recipient of awards at the Los Angeles and Guadalajara festivals.

"Le Chat du Rabbin" (The Rabbi’s Cat) is an animated film helmed by Antoine Deslevaux and the illustrator Joann Sfar on the incredible adventures of a rabbi and his talking cat when they set out on a quest to find a mythical African city. The film carried off the Cristal Award for best feature at the Annecy Animated Film Festival. Joann Sfar (Nice, 1971) is a cult figure in the comic field, particularly thanks to his Dungeon series; in 2010 he made his directorial debut with Gainsbourg, vie héroïque (Gainsbourg, a Heroic Life).

"Crazy Horse" is the new documentary by Frederick Wiseman, who plunges his cameras into the entrails of the famous Parisian cabaret, “Crazy Horse”. Wiseman (Boston, 1930) is a living legend in American documentary, highly feted for his sharp portraits of American society, public institutions and the professional worlds: Titicut Follies (1967), High School (1968), Welfare (1975), Meat (1976), Model (1980), La danse – Le ballet de l’Opéra de Paris (La Danse: The Paris Ballet Opera, 2009) and Boxing Gym (2010), to name but a few.

"George Harrison: Living in the Material World," Martin Scorsese’s latest documentary, takes a closer look at Beatle George Harrison through testimonies by Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, Yoko Ono and Phil Spector, among others. The film features previously unreleased recordings and images. Martin Scorsese (New York, 1942) is an essential name in modern American cinema, having put his name to titles that have made history: Mean Streets (1973), Taxi Driver (1976) –Golden Palm winner at the Cannes Festival– Raging Bull (1980), Goodfellas (1990), The Age of Innocence (1993), Casino (1995) and The Departed (2006), thanks to which he landed the Academy Award for Best Director. His other documentaries are The Last Waltz (1978), No Direction Home: Bob Dylan (2005) and Shine a Light (2008).

"Nochi No Hi" (The Days After) is the contribution of Japanese director Hirokazu Kore-eda to the fantasy TV series KAIDAN-HORROR CLASSICS produced by NHK and NHK Enterprises. His episode is a poetic reflection on mourning and the loss of a loved one portrayed through the story of a couple visited every night by their dead son. Hirokazu Kore-eda (Tokyo, 1962) further participates this year in the Official Selection with Kiseki (I Wish), having already entered the San Sebastian competition with three earlier films: Wandâfuru raifu (After Life, 1998), Hana yori mo naho (Hana, 2006) and Aruitemo, aruitemo (Still Walking, 2008).

"Sur La Planche" (On the Edge), by the Moroccan filmmaker Leila Kilani, secured Cinema in Motion Award at the 58th edition of the San Sebastian Festival, and took part in the Cannes Festival Directors’ Fortnight. This film about two Moroccan youngsters and their harsh living conditions is the first fictional feature by Leila Kilani (Casablanca, 1970), who had previously directed two documentaries: Tánger, le rêve des brûleurs (2003) and Nos lieux interdits (2009).

Zabaltegi Special Midnight Showings:

"Le Moine" (The Monk) is an adaptation of the great classic Gothic novel written by Matthew Gregory Lewis in the 18th Century. Dominik Moll helms this Spanish-French co-production, a powerful thriller about a monk who makes a pact with the Devil. On the cast we find Vincent Cassel, Deborah François, Sergi López and Geraldine Chaplin. German moviemaker Dominik Moll (Bühl, 1962) made a name for himself on the international film scene with his disturbing thrillers: Harry, un ami qui vous veut du bien (With a Friend Like Harry, 2000), earning him the César for Best Director, and Lemming (2005).

The Australian production "Snowtown," directed by Justin Kurzel, is a disturbing portrait of the relationship between an adolescent and his new found father-figure who draws him into a world of bigotry and violence. Kurzel competed with this opera prima in Critics' Week at this year's Cannes Film Festival, winning a special mention; the film also bagged the Audience Award at Adelaide Film Festival.

"Pinku Eigu" is the name given to Japanese erotic cinema principally produced in the 60s and 70s, always revolving around tales of extreme passion and violence. Consumer films the delirious proposals of which have now become cult objects for movie buffs with a strong penchant for strange, unclassifiable works. The “Pinku Eiga Night” will include two classics by masters in the genre:

"Edogawa Ranpo Ryoki-kan: Yaneura No Sanphosha" (Watcher in the Attic, 1976), by Noboru Tanaka.

"Hana To Hebi" (Flower and Snake, 1974), by Masaru Konuma.

French Comedy "Intouchables" to Close San Sebastian International Film Festival

Nigel M Smith — Thu, 04 Aug 2011 06:48:13 GMT

The world premiere of the French comedy "Intouchables," from directors Eric Toledano and Olivier Nakache, will close the 59th edition of San Sebastian International Film Festival, it was announced today.

The film, which stars François Cluzet and Omar Sy, tracks a friendship between two people with nothing in common: a millionaire left tetraplegic after an accident and an immigrant from the Parisian suburbs recently released from prison, who is hired on as his carer.

Toldeano and Nakache are best known for their features "Je préfère qu'on reste amis" (2005), "Nos jours heureux" (2006) and "Tellement proches" (2009).

The San Sebastian International Film Festival runs from September 16 - 24.

Full release below:

The 59th edition of San Sebastian Festival will close with the world premiere screening of Intouchables (Untouchable), written and directed by Eric Toledano and Olivier Nakache.
Intouchables is a witty comedy on the unexpected friendship arising between two people with nothing in common and very different ways of understanding life: a millionaire left tetraplegic after an accident and the man hired as his carer, an immigrant from the Parisian suburbs recently released from prison. The film will be distributed worldwide by Gaumont and the rights for the USA have been acquired by The Weinstein Company. In Spain the film will be distributed by A Contracorriente Films.
The screenwriter/director duo Eric Toledano (Paris, 1971) and Oliver Nakache (Suresnes, 1973) already made their mark in the short film field, particularly when their second work, Les petits souliers (1999), landed the Audience Award at the Paris Film Festival. Since then, they have helmed the features Je préfère qu'on reste amis (2005), Nos jours heureux (2006) and Tellement proches (2009).
The film stars François Cluzet and Omar Sy, accompanied on the cast by Audrey Fleurot, Joséphine de Meaux and Clotilde Mollet. François Cluzet is currently one of the most popular actors on France’s movie scene, having starred in the biggest French comedy hit of the year, Guillaume Canet’s Les petits mouchoirs (Little White Lies, 2010). His solid career includes works for Claude Chabrol (Les fantômes du Chapelier / The Hatter’s Ghost, 1982, Une affaire de femmes / Story of Women, 1988, L'enfer / Hell, 1994), Claire Denis (Chocolat, 1988), Agnieszka Holland (Olivier, Olivier, 1992), Bertrand Tavernier (Round Midnight, 1986), Olivier Assayas (Fin aôut, début septembre / Late August, Early September, 1998) and Nicole Garcia (L'adversaire / The Adversary, 2002). Omar Sy also worked with Toledado and Nakache on their earlier films, Nos jours heureux and Tellement proches, and on Jean-Pier Jeunet’s film Micmacs (2009), among others.
Intouchables will be screened out-of-competition following the Festival closing gala on September 24th.

Berlinale & San Sebastian Fest Collaborate for "Culinary Zinema" Gastronomy Section

Sophia Savage — Wed, 03 Aug 2011 09:00:40 GMT

The Berlin and San Sebastian International Film Festivals and the Basque Culinary Center have unveiled the San Sebastian Fest’s new section, “Culinary Zinema”, a nod to Berlin's "Culinary Cinema" section. The two fests will collaborate on a number of gastronomy-related activities. SSIFF director José Luis Rebordinos said; “For years we have admired the work of the Berlinale in this field with its Culinary Cinema section. That’s why, now, when we’ve decided to create our own section on cinema and gastronomy, we’ve come to the conclusion that the best way to do it is by working together with one of the biggest festivals in the world, the Berlinale, thus being able to draw on its experience and prestige in both worlds: cinema and cuisine.”

This section of the festival will open with the world premiere of "Mugaritz BSO," a doc from directors Felipe Ugarte and Juantxo Sardon. Six other features and one short (accompanied by themed dinners) make up the rest of the program, as listed below (with accompanying restaurant/chef). ¡Buen apetito!

San Sebastian's locale boasts the world's highest concentration of Michelin stars per square metro, including those held by some of the best chefs and restaurants in the world: Mugaritz (2 Michelin stars), Arzak (3 stars), Martín Berasategui (3 stars), Akelarre (3 stars), Andoni Luis Aduriz, Juan Mari and Elena Arzak, Martín Berasategui, Pedro Subijana.

"Mugaritz BSO"
Dir: Felipe Ugarte, Juantxo Sardon.
Spain, 2011.
Documentary.
OPENING GALA

Restaurant/Chef: Mugaritz / Andoni Luis Aduriz

The musician Felipe Ugarte and the chef Andoni Luis Aduriz set out on a joint project aiming to transform the gastronomic menu into a musical experience. The recipes created at Mugaritz endeavour to reproduce a faithful, transparent world of sound converting the sensations of the palate into musical compositions.

"El Bulli: Cooking in Progress"
Dir: Gereon Wetzel.
Germany, 2010. 109 min.
Documentary.

Restaurant/Chef: Mirador de Ulía / Rubén Trincado

Documentary on the process of creating dishes at the restaurant El Bulli. Each winter, at the end of the season, Ferran Adrià, widely considered the best, most innovative and craziest chef in the world, and his closest collaborators, Oriol Castro and Eduard Xatruch, cloister themselves in their experimental kitchen in Barcelona where they work to create their new menu for the following season. This documentary closely observes these months of creation.

"El Camino del vino (The Way of Wine)"
Dir. Nicolás Carreras.
Argentina, 2010. 95 min.
Fiction.

Restaurant/Chef: La brasserie Mari Galant (Hotel de Londres) / Roberto Ruíz, del restaurante El Frontón de Tolosa

The famous sommelier Charlie Artuarola arrives in Argentina’s Mendoza province to participate in the “Masters of Food and Wine”tasting contest. Once there, catastrophe strikes: he completely loses his sense of taste. Desperate to find a cure and recover his most precious sense, he travels all over the province to try the great wines of the region and “wash” his palate in the doing. Although he finds no cure, he does find renewed encounters with his loved ones, his deepest fears and ghosts.

"Les Émotifs anonymes (Romantics Anonymous)"
Jean-Pierre Améris.
France, Belgium, 2010. 80 min.
Fiction.

Restaurant/Chef: Iñigo Lavado / Iñigo Lavado

Jean-René is a chocolate-maker on the verge of bankruptcy, manic and afraid of absolutely everything, particularly women; Angélique is a pretty and gifted creator of delicious chocolates who attends therapy classes for her complexes with a group reserved for “anonymous emotionals”. They meet and fall in love when she’s taken on at the business, but their shared pathological shyness doesn’t make things easy and creates all kind of misunderstandings between them.

"Jiro Dreams of Sushi"
David Gelb.
USA, 2010. 83 min.
Documentary.

Restaurant/Chef: Bokado Aquarium / Mikel Santamaría

Documentary about Jiro, a chef in his eighties, owner of the only sushi restaurant to hold three Michelin stars, located in a Tokyo metro station, with seating for 10 guests who have to reserve a month in advance and pay 300 euros to enjoy the delicacies prepared before their eyes by this exotic character.

"Noma - at Boiling Point"
Christian Vorting.
Denmark, 2010. 58 min.
Documentary.

Restaurant/Chef: Fagollaga / Ixak Salaberria

Restaurant Noma in Copenhagen has recently been ranked number one in the world by the British magazine The Restaurants. This fly-on-the-wall documentary how René Redzepi runs the kitchen with military precision and talent while exploring the tastes and flavours of the Nordic region.

"Perfect Sense"
David MacKenzie.
UK, Germany, Denmark, 2010. 88 min.
Fiction.

Restaurant/Chef: Illarra / Josean Eizmendi

The world is afflicted by an epidemic causing people to suffer the gradual loss of their senses. The film stars a chef and an epidemiologist, inhabitants of a Scottish city, who meet, fall in love and ride out the illness together. Meanwhile, they devise original recipes to keep their clients coming, even if they are losing their sense of taste and smell.

"Il ritorno"
Massimo Bottura.
Italy, 2010. 12 min.

Short film illustrating the gastronomic principles of Massimo Bottura’s cuisine.

15 Spanish Films Make the Cut at 59th San Sebastian Film Festival

Nigel M Smith — Tue, 02 Aug 2011 11:04:15 GMT

This year's San Sebastian Film Festival revealed today that their lineup will feature 15 Spanish films, three of which will compete for the Golden Shell in the Official Selection, and three of which will vie for the Kutza-New Directors Award in the Zabaltegi-New Directors lineup. The remaining films will screen out of competition.

Among the highlights that made the cut: "Madrid, 1987," the latest work from David Truba whose documentary "Fernando's Chair" screened in 2006 at the festival; the directorial debut from Eduardo Chapero-Jackson, "Verbo," which fuses fantasy and rap music to tell a coming-of-age story; the alien invasion romantic comedy "Extraterrestrial," from Nacho Vigalondo; and Enrique Urbizu's thriller "No Rest for the Wicked," playing in the Official Selection.

The 59th San Sebastian Film Festival runs September 16-24.

Below find the full lineup of Spanish cinema at the San Sebastian Festival with synopses provided by the event:

Official Selection

"No Rest For the Wicked"
The new movie from Enrique Urbizu, is a chair-gripping thriller starring José Coronado, Rodolfo Sancho, Helena Miquel and Juanjo Artero. Enrique Urbizu (Bilbao, 1962) sent strong ripples through the Spanish movie world when his film Todo por la pasta (Anything for Bread, 1991) left no doubt about his passion for genre cinema, a trait he was to highlight yet again with Cachito (1996) and La caja 507 (Box 507, 2002), proud winner of four awards at the Cognac Detective and Thriller Film Festival. He also took his drama La vida mancha (Life Marks 2003) to the Malaga Spanish Film Festival competition and landed the Best Film award at Nantes Spanish Film Festival.

"The Double Steps"
"The Double Steps"marks the return to the Festival’s Official Selection of Isaki Lacuesta, previous entrant in the 57th edition with Los condenados (The Damned, 2009) where he whisked off the FIPRESCI critics’ award. In this new work, the filmmaker brings us a fictional documentary taking its inspiration from the novelettish biography of French artist and author François Augiéras. The artist painted every inch of the walls of a military bunker in the desert and let it sink into the sand so that no-one would find it till the 21st Century. Searches for the bunker continue to nurture the myth… Who is Augiéras? A legionnaire, painter, writer, gangster, saint, thief, devil, or a bit of them all? The film boasts participation of the artist Miquel Barceló in one of the leading parts. Isaki Lacuesta (Girona 1975) has become one of the most interesting and unusual voices on today’s Spanish film scene thanks to works like Cravan vs. Cravan (2002), La leyenda del tiempo (The Legend of Time, 2006) and La noche que no acaba (All Night Long), presented at San Sebastian Festival’s 58th edition.

"The Sleeping Voice"
"The Sleeping Voice" is an adaptation of Dulce Chacon’s book of the same name, directed by Benito Zambrano and starring Inma Cuesta, María León, Marc Clotet and Daniel Holguín. Set in the terrible years immediately following the end of the Spanish civil war, the film narrates the moving relations between two sisters separated by the dictatorship when one of them was thrown into jail under Franco’s regime. Benito Zambrano (Lebrija, 1962) blasted onto the scene as one of Spanish film’s great surprises with his debut oeuvre, Solas (Alone, 1990), winner of awards at several international festivals: Berlin Festival’s “Panorama” section, the FIPRESCI prize at Brussels Festival and others at Cartagena, Havana and Tokyo; the film also carried off 5 Goyas, 7 Cinema Writers Circle Awards and a Silver Fotogramas. Zambrano has since then directed the TV series Padre Coraje (2002) and the film Habana Blues (2005).

"Bertsolari"
Asier Altuna’s film "Bertsolari" will be screened out-of-competition in the Official Selection. This documentary takes a close-up look at popular bertsolaris (improvisers of Basque verse) in the Basque Country, delving into the secrets of this complex art of oral poetry. Asier Altuna (Bergara, 1969) had already made his mark in short films, some of which landed awards at different events: Txotx (1997), Topeka (2004) and Sarean (2006). His feature debut was the comedy, Aupa Etxebeste! (2005), an entrant in the Zabaltegi-New Directors section of San Sebastian Festival’s 53rd edition, at which it won the Youth Award.

"Intruders"
As already announced, the opening gala will feature the European premiere of "Intruders," a horror/thriller helmed by Juan Carlos Fresnadillo with an international cast starring Clive Owen, Carice van Houten, Daniel Brühl, Pilar López de Ayala and Kerry Fox. The film will be screened out-of-competition as part of the Official Selection.

Zabaltegi - New Directors

"Wrinkles"
"Wrinkes" directed by Ignacio Ferreras, is an adaptation of the graphic novel of the same name by Paco Roca, for which he secured the Spanish National Comic Award in 2008. This animated movie describes the dreams, feelings and frustrations of a group of elderly people in a home for the aged. Ignacio Ferreras is backed by a solid career in the field of animated film, having worked in the art department of the TV series Rugrats and the film Astérix et les vikings (Asterix and the Vikings, 2006). He was also involved in animating the Dreamworks production Joseph: King of Dreams (2000) and the Oscar-nominated L’Illusioniste (The Illusionist, 2010). His short film How to Cope with Death (2002) landed prizes at several international festivals, including Annecy, Melbourne and Ottowa.

"Behind the Lights"
"Behind the Lights," a documentary by Sandra Sánchez, traces the nomad life of Lourdes as she travels with her family and their dodgems from fairground to fairground in the north of Spain. Sandra Sánchez (Narón, 1970) is an editor and maker of documentaries including Aguiño, sobrevivir al Prestige (2003) and Sueños desde el abismo (2006). In addition to having made several short films and TV series for TVG (Galicia Television), she has edited a number of fictional and documentary films. Tralas luces marks her feature debut.

"Urte Berri On, Amona!"
"Urte Berri On, Amona!," the first go-it-along feature from Telmo Esnal, uses touches of black humour to steer us through the misfortunes of a couple forced to care for the wife’s elderly mother. The film stars Josean Bengoetxea, Nagore Aramburu and Montserrat Carulla. Telmo Esnal (Zarauz, 1967) co-directed with Asier Altuna the shorts Txotx (1997) and 40 ezetz (1999) and the feature Aupa Extebeste! (2005). He also wrote the shorts Taxi! (2007) and Amona putz! (2010).

Zabaltegi Specials

"14 D'Arbril: Macia Contra Companys"
"14 D'Arbril: Macia Contra Companys" is the latest work helmed by Manuel Huerga. Written by Toni Soler and with a cast headed by Pere Ponce, Fermí Reixach, Eduard Fernández and Joel Joan, the film recreates the proclamation of the Second Spanish Republic and the political confrontation between the two presidents of the Catalonian Government during this period, Francesc Macià and Lluís Companys. Manuel Huerga (Barcelona, 1957) has a long career under his belt as a film and TV director, including fine works like Gaudí (1989), Antártida (1995), Salvador (Puig Antich) (2006) and Diario de un astronauta (Son & Moon, 2009).

"A Light At the End of the Tunnel in the Basque Country"
The documentary feature "A Light At the End of the Tunnel in the Basque Country," directed Eterio Ortega on an original idea by Elías Querejeta, produced by IDEM4, investigates the end of terrorism by ETA, taking a look at its roots in Basque nationalism and offering a collective portrait of this part of Basque society at a moment key to its future in peace and freedom. Eterio Ortega (Burgos, 1962) is remembered for his earlier documentaries on the same subject, Asesinato en febrero (Murder in February, 2001) and Perseguidos (Persecuted, 2004).

"The Clay Diaries"
"The Clay Diaries" is a documentary by Isaki Lacuesta conceived in collaboration with the artist Miquel Barceló. Having taken to spending long periods of time in Africa, Miquel has adapted to his wild surroundings, learning among others to paint in the company of termites and scorpions. Lacuesta penetrates Barceló’s African workshop to film the “Pasodoble” performance played out in the Malian village of Gogoli. The film team’s arrival causes tremendous stir in the village as the locals gather round to see what’s going on.

"Extraterrestrial"
"Extraterrestrial" is the eagerly anticipated new film from director Nacho Vigalondo, an original and unpredictable romantic comedy with alien invasion included. The cast headlines Julián Villagrán, Michelle Jenner, Carlos Areces and Raúl Cimas. Nacho Vigalondo (Cabezón de la Sal, 1977) shot to fame when his short film 7:35 de la mañana (7:35 in the morning) garnered an Academy Award nomination. His first feature, Los cronocrímenes (2007), secured awards at the Austin, Amsterdam, Gérardmer and Philadelphia festivals, plus the Cinema Writers Circle Award for Best New Artist.

"Madrid 1987"
"Madrid 1987," the latest work from David Trueba, portrays the Spanish ‘transition’ through the relationship struck up between a sceptical maturing author and the naive girl student who attempts to interview him. José Sacristán and María Valverde carry the full weight of this acting duel. Director and writer David Trueba (Madrid, 1969) debuted in 1996 with his film La buena vida (The Good Life), followed by Obra maestra (2000), Soldados de Salamina (Soldiers of Salamina, 2003) and Bienvenido a casa (Welcome Home, 2006), and the documentary La silla de Fernando (Fernando’s Chair, 2006), presented at the 54th edition of San Sebastian Festival.

"Puzzled Love"
"Puzzled Love" is an unexpected proposal from the ESCAC (Escola Superior de Cinema i Audioviuals de Catalunya) through its production company Escándalo Films: the tale of a couple’s relationship told in 13 episodes written and directed by 4th year students at the school. A tale packed with laughs and love mirrored in the different styles of 13 up-and-coming promises in our movie world.

"Verbo"
"Verbo," the feature directorial debut from Eduardo Chapero-Jackson, merges fantasy and rap music to narrate the initiatory voyage of a young girl powerfully drawn into a new dimension. Alba García headlines the movie, accompanied by a cast figuring Miguel Ángel Silvestre, Verónica Echegui, Najwa Nimri, Víctor Clavijo and Macarena Gómez. Chapero-Jackson (Madrid, 1971) has proven himself to be an excellent short filmmaker with three works to have bagged awards at a number of festivals: Contracuerpo (2005), Alumbramiento (2007) and The End (2009).

Terence Davies, Sarah Polley, Julie Delpy All Lined Up for San Sebastian International Film Fest

Nigel M Smith — Wed, 27 Jul 2011 08:32:22 GMT

Terence Davies, Sarah Polley, Julie Delpy and Wang Xiaoshuai are among the directors lined up to screen their new works at the San Sebastian International Film Festival, the event said today, unveiling some of this year's Official Selection.

Among the highlights that made the cut: "The Deep Blue Sea," the new film from Davies that stars Rachel Weisz and Tom Hiddleston; Polley's second directorial effort "Take This Waltz;" Deply's fourth opus "Le Skylab," a '70s set comedy starring herself; and "Americano," a French production directed by and starring Mathieu Demy, and also starring Salma Hayek and Geraldine Chaplin.

Below are the announced titles with synopses courtesy of San Sebastian. The 59th San Sebastian International Film Festival runs from September 16 to 24.

"The Deep Blue Sea"
"The Deep Blue Sea" is the new film from reputed British director Terence Davies, to whom the Festival dedicated a retrospective at its 56th edition (2008). Starring Rachel Weisz, Tom Hiddleston and Simon Russell Beale, this adaptation of a play of the same name by Terence Rattigen is a chamber piece focusing on the emotional turmoil of a married woman who falls in love with another man. Terence Davies (Liverpool, 1945) has helmed other important titles including Distant Voices, Still Lives (1988), The Long Day Closes (1992), House of Mirth (2000) and Of Time and the City (2008).

"Kiseki"
"Kiseki" (I Wish), the new movie from Japanese filmmaker Hirokazu Kore-eda, tells the tale of a 12 year-old boy with one big dream in life: to be reunited with his elder brother, who has been living kilometres away since their parents’ divorce. Kore-eda (Tokyo, 1962) has been hailed as one of the most prestigious names in contemporary Japanese cinema ever since his first film, Maborosi no hikari (Maborosi, 1995), bagged an award at the Venice Festival. Other works by the same director, including Distance (2001) and Dare mo shiranai (2004), were presented at Cannes Festival. This is the fourth time Kore-eda has been selected to compete at San Sebastian Festival, having previously presented at the event his earlier films Wandâfuru raifu (After Life, 1998), Hana yori mo naho (Hana, 2006) and Aruitemo, aruitemo (Still Walking, 2008).

"Las Razones Del Corazon"
"Las Razones Del Corazon" (The Reasons of the Heart) is the latest work from Mexico’s Arturo Ripstein, who this time round brings us a free and personal adaptation of the last chapters of Gustave Flaubert’s novel Madame Bovary. Arturo Ripstein (Mexico City, 1943) has carried off San Sebastian Festival’s Golden Shell on two occasions, for Principio y fin (The Beginning and the End, 1993) and La perdición de los hombres (The Ruination of Men, 2000), plus the Special Jury Prize for El lugar sin límites (The Place Without Limits, 1978). His extensive filmography includes other important titles like La mujer del puerto (Woman of the Port, 1991), La reina de la noche (The Queen of the Night, 1994), Profundo carmesí (Deep Crimson, 1996) and Así es la vida (Such is Life, 2000).

"Take This Waltz"
The actor, director and producer Sarah Polley will also compete in the Official Selection with her second feature, the Canadian production, TAKE THIS WALTZ. With a cast headed by Michelle Williams and Seth Rogen, the film brings us a romantic drama starring a young woman struggling with conflicting emotions. Sarah Polley (Toronto, 1979) made her acting debut at the age of only six, going on to work with Terry Gilliam on The Adventures of Baron Munchausen, (1988), Atom Egoyan on Exotica, (1994) and The Sweet Hereafter (1997), Isabel Coixet on My Life Without Me (2003) and The Secret Life of Words (2005) and David Cronenberg on ExistenZ (1999). Among the many other works in which she has participated are The Weight of Water (2000), The Claim (2000) and Dawn of the Dead (2004). She has directed several shorts and an earlier feature film, Away from Her (2006), for which she secured many awards including an Oscar nomination for Best Adapted Screenplay and a Best Actress nomination for Julie Christie. Contender for the Kutxa-New Directors Award.

"Le Skylab"
Another popular and reputed actor and director, French this time, Julie Delpy, will participate in the Official Selection with her fourth opus, "Le Skylab" a nostalgic comedy on a family reunion set in the 70s starring and directed by herself. Julie Delpy (Paris, 1969) one of the biggest actors on today’s French movie scene, debuted at the age of 14 in Jean-Luc Godard’s Détective (1985). Since then she has worked with directors like Léos Carax (Mauvais sang / Bad Blood, 1986), Bertrand Tavernier (La passion Béatrice / Beatrice, 1987), Agnieszka Holland (Europa, Europa, 1990), Krzystof Kieslowski (Three colours: White / Trzy kolory: Bialy, 1994), Richard Linklater (Before Sunrise, 1995, and Before Sunset, 2004) and Jim Jarmusch (Broken Flowers, 2005). Her films as a director also include Looking for Jimmy (2002) and two movies that participated in the “Panorama” section at Berlin Festival: Two Days in Paris (2007) and The Countess (2009).

"11 Flowers"
The Chinese movie "11 Flowers," the latest work from filmmaker Wang Xiaoshuai, describes the turbulent period before Mao Tse-Tung’s death seen through the eyes of a boy. Wang Xiaoshuai (Shanghai, 1966) earned international acclaim with Shiqi sui de dan che (Beijing Bicycle, 2001) winner of the Silver Bear at Berlin Film Festival. Six years later he reaped the same accolade for Best Screenplay with his film Zuo You (In Love we Trust), going on to compete at Cannes Festival with his next work, Rizao Chongqing (Chongqing Blues, 2010).

"Americano"
"Americano" is a French production directed by and starring Mathieu Demy. Also starring are Salma Hayek, Geraldine Chaplin and Chiara Mastroianni. The movie narrates the Mexican adventures of a young Frenchman on the trail of a mysterious woman who was a friend of his dead mother. Mathieu Demy (Paris, 1972) is well known in his native country thanks to a rich filmography that includes works for directors such as Agnès Varda, Michel Hazanavicius, Pascal Bonitzer, Benoît Cohen, Michel Deville, André Techiné and Jean-Pierre Mocky. Americano is his feature directorial debut. Mathieu Demy is the son of Agnès Varda and Jacques Demy, to the latter of whom San Sebastian will dedicate a retrospective this year. Contender for the Kutxa-New Directors Award.

"Los Marziano"
"Los Marziano" (The Marziano’s Family), an Argentinean production directed by Ana Katz, starring Guillermo Francella and Arturo Puig, is a bittersweet family comedy about two long-estranged brothers and the tense friction arising between them when they’re forced together for a family celebration. The screenwriter, actress and director Ana Katz (Buenos Aires, 1975) debuted in feature films with El juego de la silla (Musical Chairs, 2002), a participant in San Sebastian Festival’s Films in Progress programme which later competed in the Zabaltegi-New Directors section. Her second work, Una novia errante (A Wandering Bride, 2007) was also included in Films in Progress, going on to compete at the Cannes, Toronto and Havana festivals and in San Sebastian’s Horizontes Latinos section. Los Marziano (The Marziano’s Family), produced by Kramer&Sigman, is her third film.

"Sangue Do Meu Sangue"
"Sangue Do Meu Sangue" (Blood of my Blood), a Portuguese production directed by João Canijo, is an intense family melodrama set in the outskirts of Lisbon. João Canijo (Lisbon, 1958) has worked as assistant director to Manoel de Oliveira, Alain Tanner and Wim Wenders and participated in the “Un certain regard” section of Cannes Festival with his films Ganhar a vida (2000) and Noite Escura (2003); he also competed in the "Orizzonti" section of Venice Festival with Mal nascida (2007) and at Rotterdam Festival with his first movie, Tres menos eu (1985).

"Adikos Kosmos"
The Greek film "Adikos Kosmos" (Unfair World), directed by Filippos Tsitos, is a surprising dramatic comedy on the strange goings on of a police officer obsessed by making the world a fairer place. Filippos Tsitos (Athens, 1966) competed at Berlin Festival with his first film My Sweet Home (2001), while his second work Akadimia Platonos (2009) garnered Best Actor Award at Locarno Festival for Antonis Kafetzopoulos, also the star of Adikos Kosmos.

"Happy End"
"Happy End" is a Swedish production directed by Björn Runge on the psychological and physical abuse of women in today’s society. Björn Runge (Lysekil, 1961) started in film as assistant director to Roy Andersson and has assiduously worked in TV and documentaries. Having directed the features Harry och Sonja (1996) and Raymond-sju resor värre (1999), he landed the “Blue Angel” award at Berlin Festival for his third movie, Om jag vänder mig om (Daybreak, 2003), and competed at the Karlovy Vary Festival with his next work, Mun mot mun (Mouth to Mouth, 2006).

Clive Owen-Starring "Intruders" Set to Open San Sebastian International Film Festival

Nigel M Smith — Thu, 14 Jul 2011 09:36:16 GMT

"Intruders," the new thriller from director Juan Carlos Fresnadillo ("Intacto," "28 Weeks Later"), starring Clive Owen and Carice van Houten ("Black Book"), is set to open the 59th San Sebastien International Film Festival on September 16.

The film, shot in London, Madrid and Segovia, boasts a screenplay by author Nicolás Casariego and director Jaime Marqués ("Ladrones") and also stars Daniel Brühl, Pilar López de Ayala and Kerry Fox.

Here's what it's about according to the festival:

"Intruders" tells the parallel tale of two families whose lives are thrown off track by menacing apparitions: in Spain, a mother protects her son from a faceless stranger; meanwhile, in the UK, a young girl has terrifying dreams of Hollowface, a demon who becomes a real danger to the girl and her family. According to Fresnadillo, the film “reflects my love of the darkest visual universe, of the demons buried in our unconscious”. But more than a simple tale of supernatural horror, Intruders is an intense psychological drama taking the family as its central theme.

Check out the creepy teaser below:

Toolkit | Meet the San Francisco International Film Festival Programmers (In Their Own Words)

Brian Brooks — Fri, 01 Apr 2011 13:58:34 GMT

With the sheer number of arts-related events in San Francisco, one might mistake the city as one of America's largest metropolises, but in fact it's California's fourth largest city. San Francisco has however had a long tradition of embracing arts on the cusp, reflecting its vibrant and diverse citizens. The city hosts an array of film events throughout the year, including the world's oldest and largest gay film festival, a number of ethnic-focused festivals in addition to playing home to an active filmmaking community. At the heart of it all is the annual San Francisco International Film Festival - America's oldest - which will celebrate its 54th edition from April 21 to May 5 (Check out the festival's lineup here and here).

SFIFF is produced by the San Francisco Film Socity, which offers a broad scope of programming, youth education and filmmaker services throughout the year. The group says it presents over 300 films per year and its educational initiatives reach 15,000 students, but its marquee event is, of course "The International," as organizers are heard to refer to the festival.

"The San Francisco Film Society encourages the progressive evolution of film culture and individual lives by celebrating the transformative power of the moving image in all its forms. Through a combination of intelligent programming and exemplary service, it creates singularly vital experiences for audiences of all kinds," the organization states on its website.

Headed by Graham Leggat, SFFS's executive director, the San Francisco Film Society is at the forefront of film organizations in the United States. Leggat is assisted by programmers who shape the annual festival. Spearheading the programming team is Rachel Rosen with fellow programmers Rod Armstrong, Sean Uyehara and Audrey Chang. The four offer insight to what makes SFIFF "tick" and their selection process. Similarly to other programmers who have participated in these profiles (links below), they encourage filmmakers submitting to the festival to "read directions" and "make sure your DVD screener works." But they also mention some other general thoughts on their personal tastes, though they emphasize that SFIFF routinely offers a broad spectrum of current worldwide cinema.

"I tend to gravitate towards work that pushes boundaries and will spark a conversation," notes Uyehara. "I am not at all into the idea that endurance is a necessary precursor to enlightenment. In other words, it's okay if work is challenging and entertaining."

"My personal feeling, having observed and participated in the selection process for close to five years now, is that I find the process of editing a film is similar to programming in that it is a collaboration between trusted colleagues and advisors who through discussion and debate create a final product that is balanced, adventurous and innovative," comments Chang.

Graham Leggat, executive director of the San Francisco Film Society with Walter Salles and Alejandro González Iñárritu. Photo credit: Tommy Lau, courtesy of SFFS.

Along with advice, Rosen points out what key areas that all festivals, including SFIFF play in celebrating cinema. "I really think that the best thing a festival can do for film is to help keep local film culture rich and audiences engaged."

Below are programmer profiles. In the late summer and autumn, iW also profiled programmers from four other major festivals as well. iW will have more festival programmers spotlighted in the Filmmaker Toolkit in the coming months.

indieWIRE's other Festival Programmer Profiles:
Sundance Film Festival
SXSW
Tribeca
Los Angeles Film Festival

San Francisco International Film Festival programmer profiles (in their own words):

Rachel Rosen, director of programming

Rosen's illustrious start in film...

I started out after college working in film publicity in New York. After a few years I went back to school to get my MA in the Documentary Film Program at Stanford. While I was working on my thesis film (which took me an embarrassingly long time to complete), I got a seasonal job at the New York Film Festival and then another seasonal position at the San Francisco International Film Festival and worked at both festivals for several years. And I just got hooked; I discovered that I was more interested in and suited to programming than filmmaking. After graduating, I worked for a year at Film Forum in New York and then returned to San Francisco to take a full time programming job at the SFFS. In 2001, I moved to Los Angeles to become the Director of Programming for the Los Angeles Film Festival and then in 2009, I returned to San Francisco to become Director of Programming here.

Director of Programming, Rachel Rosen. Photo by Pamela Gentile, courtesy of SFFS.

Touting SFIFF's "Euro-esque" personality...

San Francisco is a great city festival with a reputation for quality and a fantastic history. One of our filmmakers last year told me that we’re the most “European” festival in the U.S. which I think means that we’re known for the internationalism of our program, our willingness to show challenging work and an atmosphere that keeps the focus on the films. Which is not to say we don’t have fun; we are a celebration, too.

Like most festivals, we serve a variety of constituents, but I think our main task is to bring great films to our audience and great audiences to our films. We’re not heavily invested in the concept of breaking films for the industry or competing for premieres with other festivals internationally, but in the idea of supporting great films at whatever stage makes the most sense - be it as a premiere, as word of mouth support before a release or as a retrospective.

Rosen on SFIFF's role...

I think that the festival’s role as a guiding force for audiences is more important than ever. We are like a matchmaker for films and viewers. Recently there has been a proliferation of ways to see foreign, independent and documentary films, but those new platforms and the choices they involve can be daunting or overwhelming to movie watchers. Organizations like the San Francisco Film Society and the festival that have established trust with a local audience are going to continue to play an important part in bringing audiences and films together.

Rachel Rosen with Roger Ebert in San Francisco. Photo by Pamela Gentile, courtesy of SFFS.

I know a lot of festivals are involved with getting films out to a wider audience than their local one, but I really think that the best thing a festival can do for film is to help keep local film culture rich and audiences engaged.

I think that the constant with festivals is that they fulfill a desire for communal experience.

Some quick advice...

Get your film in as early as you feel comfortable sending it; things never get less hectic for programmers closer to the deadline. Make sure your screener works.

Because we’re very much an international, general interest film festival that tries to show a very broad spectrum of film, we’re not looking for any one specific type of film. We’re looking for films that excel at whatever they’re aiming to do and that speak to us on some level, whether it’s, intellectual, visceral, visual or all of the above.

Thoughts of the city...

The city plays itself plays a pretty large role in augmenting the experience of the filmmakers. It’s a place that most people are very happy to come to. And it’s a place where there is a very enthusiastic and engaged audience that visiting filmmakers enjoy.

The festival has one of the oldest schools programs in the country, so many filmmakers will interact with students from the elementary school to college level, either at a school or at a special festival screening. I know that those screenings are really memorable for visiting filmmakers.

I also think the fact that we’re a year-round organization is a huge advantage to many festival films. Maybe we will support a festival film for a one-week run on the SFFS screen during the year, or a filmmaker will go on participate in one of our education programs, or receive funding or fiscal sponsorship for their next film through our filmmaker services.

For audiences, visiting filmmakers are a huge draw and part of what makes their experience at the festival unique. We also have some special never-to-be-repeated programs in our live and on stage section. Even though we’re a big festival with a sizable audience, we’ve managed to keep things relaxed so that the interaction between visiting guests and audiences is pretty open and comfortable.

Some of Rosens recent favorites...

SFIFF and/or SFFS screening:" Alamar," "Carlos," "Everyone Else," "Fantastic Mr. Fox," "Our Beloved Month of August," "Still Walking."

Favorite San Francisco Film: "The Conversation," but I also love "Vertigo," "Bullitt," "Zodiac, & "Medicine for Melancholy."

[Programmer profiles continue on next page.]

Rod Armstrong, Programmer

Programmer Rod Armstrong. Image courtesy of SFFS.

From journalist to programmer:

Before joining the Film Society in 2005, I wrote about film and was the Editor in Chief for Reel.com. I have had a life-long affinity for films and remember dragging my parents to Herzog and Kurosawa retrospectives in my teens. Beginning to weary of writing about movies, I turned to programming as a way to share my enthusiasm for cinema in a more collaborative and curatorial way.

Pointing out SFIFF's staying power and fantastic audience...

Besides its stature as the oldest film festival in the Americas, SFIFF is one of the finest audience-oriented festivals in the world. We have an avid and engaged community of film aficionados who see SFIFF as the high point of a festival-packed city. In addition, the Film Society offers an ever-expanding roster of services for filmmakers, including grants and classes, and for filmgoers, such as a robust Fall Season of various mini-festivals and one-offs and weekly runs of art house films at the SFFS Screen.

...and contemplaing SFIFF's evolution.

Attracting a younger audience is one of the key elements to long-term flourishing, so SFIFF has broadened its range to include new media presentations, increased live and on stage events, and a section focusing on genre titles geared toward younger generations.

Dishing out some advice...

First off, please send a DVD that plays! Offer something new, show your craft, make sure the film is pretty close to the finished product because we will be treating it as such.

At the most essential, I think we’re looking for a good story, well told. Something surprising is always welcome.

The SF advantage...

The San Francisco Bay Area is a very important market for filmmakers and film viewers. Viewers take chances on new work and are never less than fully engaged while filmmakers take advantage of being one step removed from centers like Los Angeles and New York to craft independent, idiosyncratic, and important work.

Some faves...

From SFIFF – "35 Shots of Rum" (Claire Denis), "Lake Tahoe" (Fernando Eimbcke), "Still Walking" (Hirokazu Kore-eda), "Alamar" (Pedro González-Rubio), "My Queen Karo" (Dorothee van den Berghe), "Lourdes" (Jessica Hausner), "To Die Like a Man" (João Pedro Rodrigues), "Marwencol" (Jeff Malmberg)

Others – "Of Gods and Men" (Xavier Beauvois), "A Christmas Tale" (Arnaud Desplechin)

Favorite SF Movie – "Harold and Maude"

Sean Uyehara, Programmer

Going from science to film...

I enrolled at UC Santa Barbara as a physics major, something that is likely laughable to most people who know me. While there, I took film studies classes and switched my focus. I never expected that it would lead to anything other than a college degree, but following school I kept studying the history of filmmaking and worked on film productions of different scales. I moved to San Francisco in 2000 and was a screener for SFIFF. I then took a job working on the publication of the festival catalog. While doing that I got to see what the programmers, Brian Gordon, Doug Jones, Rachel Rosen and Peter Scarlet, were doing. I thought, "That's what I want to do."

Programmer Sean Uyehara. Image courtesy of SFFS.

At the time, I was working on a Ph.D. (that I didn't finish) at USC on the history of "new media." One of the first programs I worked to bring to SF was the interactive DVD-ROM of Pat O'Neill's "The Decay of Fiction" in 2003. So, the film and media tracks started coming together, and now part of my focus is on the intersection of technology and screen-based media.

Talking up SF and the Film Society

In addition to the media market that the San Francisco Bay Area comprises, San Francisco is a vital proving ground for innovations in aesthetics and technology. SFIFF provides a terrific forum for seeing how film production is being shaped worldwide.

The city is one of the most beautiful and iconic. Our creative director Miguel Pendas leads tours on VERTIGO and film noir locations each year for visiting guests, always a favorite. Of course, it's the people who make the city, and San Francisco is one of the most film literate communities in the world. The festival presents open and intelligent exchanges between audiences and filmmakers.

SFIFF is one of many events that the SF Film Society presents year-round. While SFIFF will continue to be a vital zone of intensity in the work of the Film Society, we expect the rest of our year-round activities and film culture in San Francisco generally to continue rising up to the importance of the festival.

Media technologies, and specifically the proliferation of media outlets, will certainly play a major role in the shape and relevance of festivals and media exhibition organizations. One way that we are investigating those changes is through the establishment of a year-round series titled KinoTek. The series is supported by the Warhol Foundation and will present eight emergent and cross-disciplinary media projects in 2011 and 2012. SFFS also has established a robust education department and a grants, residencies and fiscal sponsorship arm that aims to broaden the avenues for filmmakers and film viewers to discover, create and enjoy movies.

Practical advice...

If your film is rejected, it isn't necessarily a statement on the worth of your work. We get many, many entries, and we are able to present a mere fraction of what we receive. Don't underestimate the importance of submitting a full and clear application. We don't ask for information that we don't find useful in making decisions.

We don't have specific criteria outside of quality. I think that different programmers are more interested in different ideas, and we try to alert each other of work that would engage our varying interests. For my part, one major role I see for SFIFF is to provide a social context for understanding developments in aesthetics and communication - both for artists and for the public generally. So, I tend to gravitate towards work that pushes boundaries and will spark a conversation. I am not at all into the idea that endurance is a necessary precursor to enlightenment. In other words, it's okay if work is challenging and entertaining.

Some of Sean's picks...

I loved the live music and silent film presentations we presented with Stephin Merritt/20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, Black Francis The Golem and Dengue Fever/The Lost World for the past few years. I thought "To Die Like a Man" was amazing. A movie I would have liked to present was Double Take by Johan Grimonprez.

SF films are so difficult to narrow down: here's a smattering of awesome-ness - "Vertigo," "Greed, Dirty Harry," "Mrs. Doubtfire," "Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill," "Bullitt," "Invasion of the Body Snatchers" (1978), "The Maltese Falcon," "48 Hrs.," "Foul Play".... and "The Rock."

Audrey Chang, Golden Gate Awards Manager

A UCLA beginning...

My oldest brother instilled in me a passion for film at a very young age. He was a film major at UCLA in the late ‘60s and introduced me to the works of Truffaut, Godard, Kurosawa and countless other film legends when I was growing up in the sheltered environment of Orange County. I fled to Los Angeles after high school and majored in English at UCLA, but spent most of my time in Melnitz Hall watching films from the UCLA TV and Film Archive and taking film theory classes taught by Robert Rosen and Bob Epstein.

Golden Gate Awards Manager Audrey Chang. Image courtesy of SFFS.

After a short stint working in a small publishing company in San Francisco, I moved to Boston and started working in the film department at WGBH in 1984, where I decided to pursue a career in editing. I moved to New York in 1986 and got my first job as Assistant Picture and Sound Editor on Barbara Kopple’s film, "American Dream." New York in the ‘80s was a mecca for independent filmmaking and I was fortunate to have learned from some incredibly gifted editors, including Larry Silk ("Pumping Iron," "Marjoe"), Tom Haneke ("From Mao to Mozart"), Cathy Caplan and Ila von Hasperg who was Fassbinder’s and Daniel Schmid’s editor in the early '70s.

After completing "American Dream," I moved back to Los Angeles in 1991 and continued working in post-production. My passion for editing waned as AVIDs replaced flatbeds in cutting rooms during the mid to late ‘90s, but it wasn’t until 2005 that I decided to start over and move to San Francisco. I started at SFFS in 2006, overseeing festival submissions and the Golden Gate Awards competition. My role has evolved to participating in the selection of documentary features and narrative/documentary shorts for Golden Gate Awards.

Contemplating the festival itself...

Being the longest-running festival in the Americas, SFIFF is unique in that it combines a distinguished and storied history while still being open to new directions in creative expression and new technologies. SFIFF also provides an intimacy and ample opportunities for discussion between filmmakers and audiences that is refreshing.

In the face of the glut of over budgeted and inflated concept films and remakes coming out of the major studios, SFIFF and our fellow festivals are not only vital to the visibility and viability of independent and moderate to low budget films, but we have evolved to be the first, and in many cases the only venues, for these works to be seen on the large screen by a significant audience.

The advice thing...

My recommendation is to submit the strongest cut possible. Although we do accept rough cuts or works in progress, our screeners review hundreds of entries over a 3-month period and make recommendations based on what is presented, so take your time and send us what you consider to be a fine cut of your work. Read/follow entry guidelines carefully, expect to pay entry fees and budget accordingly. Do your homework - research and view films that have played in past festivals to gauge the type of work that is programmed.

I don’t know if there are any specific criteria in selecting films. My personal feeling, having observed and participated in the selection process for close to five years now, is that I find the process of editing a film is similar to programming in that it is a collaboration between trusted colleagues and advisors who through discussion and debate create a final product that is balanced, adventurous and innovative.

San Francisco as a "step ahead..."

The city of San Francisco is an integral part of SFIFF’s success. San Francisco has always been a step ahead of other cities in terms of its politics, art and culture and SFIFF matches the spirit of the city in its innovation and daring.

Recent favorites...

Some favorite SFIFF films - "Last Train Home," "Marwencol," "Everyone Else," "Lourdes," "Way of Nature," "35 Shots of Rum," "Alamar," "Home," "Oblivion"

Non-SFIFF – "Carlos," "The Kids Are All Right," "Un Prophet," "Exit through the Gift Shop," "Up!"

Favorite San Francisco film(s) - "Chan is Missing," "Petulia"

"Neds" Takes San Sebastian Fest's Golden Shell

Brian Brooks — Sat, 25 Sep 2010 12:59:48 GMT

The 58th edition of the San Sebastian Film Festival concluded today in the eponymous seaside town on Spain's Atlantic coast with the official awards ceremony and closing film "Sarah's Key," which earlier premiered at Toronto. Peter Mullan's hard-hitting "Neds," short for "Non-Educated Delinquents," was awarded the fest's top prize, the Golden Shell, by a jury headed by director Goran Paskaljevic. The film also won Best Actor for young non-pro Connor McCarron.

The jury, also composed of makeup artist Jo Allen, directors Claudia Llosa, Raya Martin, Pablo Trapero and Lucy Walker and actor Jose Coronado, gave its Jury Award to Spanish drama "Elisa K" from Judith Colell and Jordi Cadena, and the Best Actress prize to Spanish thespian Nora Navas, for her role in the Catalan-language historical film "Black Bread." Chilean-born veteran director Raoul Ruiz was named Best Director for his 4.5-hour epic "Mysteries of Lisbon." A full list of winners is appended.

One of the oldest and biggest festivals of Europe, San Sebastian has a somewhat unfortunate position on the festival calendar, just after the Venice-Telluride-Toronto trifecta in early September and just before New York, London and Rome, among others. Being less high-profile than at least some of these other fests makes it a hard festival to program, especially since the need for premieres for any competition program is always high. San Sebastian revolves this problem by focusing on "just" European premieres and by creating several sidebars, each with a strong identity and focus, for which exclusivity are not necessarily a must.

The competition's standout was definitely "Neds," which garnered positive notices out of Toronto and also impressed the Spanish and international press in San Sebastian. Coming eight years after his "The Magdalene Sisters," which topped the Venice Fest, this is another socio-realist slap in the face from the actor and occasional director. Mullan guarantees the film's authenticity by working with non-professional actors who embody rather than play who their characters are: lower-class workers, punks and outcasts from Glasgow, Scotland. The film tells of the non-education of a potentially good student, John McGill, whose future is hampered not so much by his working-class background as by the fact his older brother is a notorious gang leader. His father a violent drunk (played by Mullan himself, in one of the film's least nuanced roles), John sees all the other authority figures in his life dismiss any possibility of charting his own course.

Further titles of interest in the competition program include Bent Hamer's Yuletide-themed "Home for Christmas," another Toronto holdover, and Agusti Villaronga's "Black Bread," a historical film based on several Catalan novels with a remarkably complex vision of a child's loss of innocence just after the Spanish Civil War. Like "Neds," "Bread" is aided by a fantastic lead performance by a young unknown, and in both films, their destiny may be shaped by forces beyond their reach, but their coming to terms with their destiny is filtered entirely through their own personas, even if they are still very much in development.

A scene from Peter Mullan's "Neds," which took San Sebastian's top prize Saturday.

"Bread" has one of the most jaw-dropping prologues in recent memory, in which a horse-drawn cart is pushed off a vertiginously high cliff, and both the horse and vehicle rebound against the steep cliff several times on the way down before landing in the valley. The shocking brutality of the scene - shot without any detectable CGI - is an apt foreshadowing of the brutal coming-of-age in store for young Andrea, whose family was on the losing side in the war. Young Francesc Colomer, like Best Actor winner Connor McCarron, shows a real talent for nuanced characterization that will hopefully benefit a lot of films and filmmakers in the future.

"Home for Christmas," which won the Best Screenplay nod at San Sebastian, is less quirky than some of director Bent Hamer's previous films ("Kitchen Stories," "O'Horten," the Bukowski biopic "Factotum") but manages to stay just on the right side of treacly. The intersecting stories, set in a Norwegian village covered in - you guessed it - snow, all take place on Christmas Eve but retain enough of their Nordic sense of identity (film was based on a Norwegian collection of short stories) to ensure the film doesn't totally feel like a "Love Actually" with weird accents.

The festival's Zabaltegi section is divided into three sub-sections. "Pearls" showcases major works from other festivals, with this year's edition including Lee Chang-dong's "Poetry," from Cannes, "Buried" from Sundance, Golden Bear Berlinale winner "Honey," from Turkey, and Danis Tanovic' "Cirkus Columbia," which earlier traveled to Sarajevo, Venice and Toronto.

Zabaltegi's most interesting strand is without a doubt "New Directors," which showcases first or second films from directors whose work has not traveled much. This is the section that allows for some nice surprises and offers opportunities for discoveries. Romanian title "Principles of Life," by Constantin Popescu, is such a find, though the film more rightly belongs to lead actor Vlad Ivanov (the abortionist from "4 Months, 3 Weeks, 2 Days") and screenwriter Razvan Radulescu, whose screenplays for "Boogie," and "Tuesday After Christmas" this new film resembles in its everyday subject matter, natural dialogues, middle-class setting and short time-frame. "Life" explores the family dynamics at play for a father (Ivanov), who has a rebellious teenage son from a previous marriage and a baby with his younger second wife. The family is preparing for a seaside holiday in Bulgaria, but everything seems to go wrong.

The prolific Radulescu also co-wrote Bulgarian Zabaltegi entry "Shelter," which feels almost 100% like a Romanian film, even though it is set in present-day Bulgaria. It focuses on the family dynamics of two parents who try to come to terms with the behavior of their rebellious teenage son who's decided he wants to be a punk anarchist like his friends. Of the two films, the Bulgarian one has the clearest political overtones, as it looks at common Bulgarians after the country's ascension to the European Union (which, not coincidentally, happened at the same time as Romania).

The small third strand in the Zabaltegi section, "Specials," showcased the excellent documentaries "Guest," from Jose Luis Guerin, "Yves Saint Laurent, L'amour fou," from Pierre Thoretton (former son-in-law of Catherine Deneuve), Isake Lacuesta's fascinating "All Night Long," about Ava Gardner's time in Spain and her relationship to her self-image, and jury member Lucy Walker's nuclear weapons-themed "Countdown to Zero."

Though situated in the Basque country, where people speak Basque rather than Spanish, San Sebastian, as the biggest festival in Spain, has a special relationship with Spanish-language cinema, further augmented by the fact it hosts a co-production market for Spanish-language projects. Several of the awarded films in competition, including "Elisa K." and "Black Bread" are local titles.

Opening film "Chicogrande" by Felipe Cazals looks at the Mexican revolution but was not well received at the festival, while Spanish competition title "The Great Vazquez" is a comedy about a real-life con man and comic artist that is strictly for the local market. But more interesting films certainly showed that Spanish-language cinema is alive and kicking both in Spain and Latin America. Spanish-speaking films are sprinkled throughout the various sections, while two dedicated ones, "Made in Spain" and "Horizontes Latinos," complete the picture with films that have previously screened elsewhere, offering the rare opportunity to really look at the current state of Spanish-speaking cinema as a whole.

"Post Mortem" and "Nostalgia for the Light," from Pablo Larrain and Patricio Guzman respectively, are two of the most impressive examples of the seventh art to be released this year in any language, and the Vega brothers' "October," Diego Luna's "Abel" and "It's Your Fault" from Anahi Berneri are reminders that South America provides films that are perhaps not original in their choice of subjects but are very well executed and constantly captivating examples of their respective genres.

Mexican immigrant tale "A Stone's Throw," in Horizontes Latinos, hits a few too many false notes and is too meandering and cliched to be really captivating throughout, but a film like "Blog," in the Zabaltegi - New Directors sidebar, is an example of a flawed but nonetheless very interesting piece of work. The debut film of Spaniard Elena Trape gives a contemporary female spin on the lose-your-virginity-in-high-school genre, with the characters "confessing" to the camera of one of their (unseen) girlfriends, chatting via IM or sending things into the safe anonymity of cyberspace via their webcams (no one seems to blog, however, which would seem odd for a film with that title).

Full list of winners at the 2010 San Sebastian Film Festival:

Golden Shell for Best Film: "Neds" by Peter Mullan

Special Jury Award: "Elisa K." by Judith Colell, Jordi Cadena

Silver Shell for Best Director: Raoul Ruiz for "Mysteries of Lisbon"

Silver Shell for Best Actress: Nora Navas in "Black Bread"

Silver Shell for Best Actor: Connor McCarron in "Neds"

Jury Prize for Best Screenplay: Bent Hamer for "Home for Christmas"

Jury Prize for Best Cinematography: Jimmy Gimferrer for "Father"

Jury Special Mention: "The Mosque" by Daoud Aoulad-Syad

Kutxa New Directors Award: "The Colours of the Mountain" by Carlos Cesar Arbelaez

Kutxa New Directors Special Mentions: "A Useful Life" by Federico Veiroj, "Nothing's All Bad" by Mikkel Munch-Fals

Horizontes Latinos Award: "Abel" by Diego Luna

Horizontes Latinos Special Mention: "A Stone's Throw" by Sebastian Hiriart

TCM Audience Award: "Barney's Version" by Richard J. Lewis

Euskatel Youth Award: "Abel" by Diego Luna

Felipe Cazals Nabs Opening Slot for San Sebastian Film Festival

Nigel M Smith — Fri, 20 Aug 2010 09:16:31 GMT

"Chicogrande," from Mexican award-winning director Felipe Cazals, will open the 58th edition of the San Sebastian Film Festival (SSFF). The film will compete at the festival along with a crop of freshly announced films to make the official lineup.

Cazals' film, which stars Damián Alcázar, recounts the true story of Pancho Villa's invasion of Columbus in New Mexico, and tracks the subsequent punishment expedition launched by U.S. troops. This year marks Cazals' third visit to the festival with a competing film. In 1976 his film "Canoa" competed at SSFF after garnering the Special Jury Prize at the Berlinale, and in 1987 Cazals returned to SSFF with "Lo del César."

Additional Asian titles will be represented at the festival by Chinese director Liu Hao's "Addicted to Love," whose "Chen Mo and Meiting" landed him a Special Mention at Berlinale in 2002. "Akma-reul Bo-at-da" (I Saw the Devil) from Korea's Kim Jee-Woon will also be in competition.

German filmmaker Sophie Heldmann will be on hand this year in San Sebastian to screen her directorial debut "Satte Farben vor Schwarz" (Colors in the Dark). Starring Bruno Ganz and Senta Berger, Heldmann's drama follows a couple who have been together for 50 years as they cope with a terminal illness that befalls one of them. The film is also in contention for the Kutxa-New Directors Award.

See below for the full synopses of the new additions to the SSFF lineup.
[Synopses provided by SSFF]

"Chicogrande" (Competition Opening Film), Mexico
Director: Felipe Cazals
Cast: Damián Alcázar, Daniel Martínez, Juan Manuel Bernal, Iván Rafael González, Tenoch Huerta, Patricia Reyes Spíndola
Following the frustrated invasion of Columbus, Pancho Villa retreats, only to be injured in the leg by Carranza’s troops in the city of Guerrero. The North Americans, on Mexican territory, launch a massive campaign to capture him dead or alive. Convalescent, Villa takes refuge deep in the mountains. Chicogrande, a young follower of Villa, is given the task of finding medical assistance and is prepared to give up his own life in the attempt.

"Addicted to Love," China
Director: Liu Hao
Cast: Niu En Pu, Jiang Mei Hua
Old Pop, a retired Beijing factory worker, likes going to the market with his old colleague, Lao Chang. One day, he recognizes a face he had been unable to forget: his first love, Li Ying. In spite of their children’s reluctance, the two start meeting in secret. Discovering that Ma Ying has Alzheimer, Old Pop plays little games with her to exercise her mind. As in his award-winning Chen Mo and Meiting (2002), Liu Hao uses non-professional actors and treats an unusual love affair with a poetic and humorous touch.

"I Saw the Devil," South Korea
Director: KIM JE-WOON
Cast: LEE BYUNG-HUN, CHOI MIN-SIK
Kyung-chul is a dangerous psychopath who kills for pleasure. He has committed infernal serial murders in diabolic ways that one cannot even begin to imagine and his victims range from young women to even children. The police have been chasing him for a long time, but unable to catch him. One day, Ju-yeon, daughter of a retired police chief, becomes his prey and is found dead in a horrific state. Her fiancé Soo-hyun, a top secret agent, decides to track down the murderer himself. He vows to do everything in his power to take bloody vengeance against the killer, even if it means that he must become a monster himself to get the monstrous and inhumane killer.

"Colors in the Dark," Germany-Switzerland
Director: Sophie Heldman
Cast: Senta Berger, Bruno Ganz, Leonie Benesch, Carina Wiese, Barnaby Metschurat, Thomas Limpinsel
Satte Farben vor Schwarz / Colours in the Dark is a love story, the story of Anita and Fred who have been married for 50 years. The autumn of their lives has long begun, but they continue to live their love – self-determined and not always symbiotic. When Fred becomes terminally ill he hides his illness from his family, apart from his wife, who knows about it. Freedom or denial? A story about the last weeks in the live of a loving couple which concludes with the question about everlasting love in an extraordinary step. Directorial debut. Contender for the Kutxa-New Directors Award.

San Sebastian Sets 15 For New Directors Section

Peter Knegt — Mon, 09 Aug 2010 05:55:11 GMT

Fifteen films from seventeen countries will participate in the 58th San Sebastian Film Festival's Zabaltegi-New Directors section. All the films will contend for the Kutxa-New Directors Award, carrying a 90,000 Euro prize, alongside two films in the Official Selection that have already been announced: Jose Maria de Orbe's "Aita" and Victoria Galardi's "Cerro Bayo." The festival runs September 17-25, 2010.

The prize is eligible only for filmmakers presenting their first or second film who are participating in their first ever international competition. This year's titles include emerging filmmakers from Eastern Europe (Rumania, Bulgaria, Poland), Western Europe (the Netherlands, Denmark, Spain, Belgium, Germany and France) and Latin America (Uruguay, Chile, Colombia, Panama, Guatemala and Mexico), as well as from China and the USA.

Over the last two decades, San Sebastian Festival and its Zabaltegi-New Directors section have drawn attention to numerous filmmakers who have gone one to have important careers. They include Olivier Assayas (who screened "Desordre" in 1986), Alejandro Agresti ("El amor es una mujer gorda," 1987), Isabel Coixet ("Demasiado viejo para morir joven," 1988), Tsai Ming Liang ("Rebels of the Neon God," 1993), Walter Salles ("Terra Estrangeira," 1995), Francois Ozon ("Regarde la mer," 1997), Laurent Cantet ("Ressources humaines," 1999), Jonathan Glazer ("Sexy Beast," 2000), Xavier Giannoli ("Les corps impatients," 2003), and Lee Daniels ("Shadowboxer," 2005).

The following is a list of the announced titles, with descriptions provided by the festival:

"Beautiful Boy" (USA)
Director: Shawn Ku Cast: Maria Bello, Michael Sheen, Alan Tudyk, Moon Bloodgood, Austin Nichols, Kyle Gallner, Meat Loaf Aday
Beautiful Boy centres around a couple in a faltering marriage who discover that their 18 year-old son has recently committed a mass shooting at his university before taking his own life. Through the tragedy, the couple is forced to deal with their grief and ultimately is led to rediscover both themselves and their relationship. Directorial debut.

"Blog" (Spain)
Director: Elena Trape Cast: Candela Anton, Anna Castillo, Lola Errando, Sara Gomez, Lidia Torrent, Irene Trullen, Alada Vila
Blog is the surprising tale of a group of teenagers, 15 year-old middle-upper class girls who are well educated, smart, sensitive and savvy. A group of youngsters with a secret plan and a shared purpose, something they believe to be an absolute goal and a universal truth: the need to experience strong emotions to set them apart from the rest. Directorial debut

"Chrzest" (Poland)
Director: Marcin Wrona Cast: Tomasz Schuchardt, Wojciech Zielinski, Natalia Rybicka, Adam Woronowicz, Michal Koterski, Pawel Tomaszewski
The script is loosely based on the real story of a man from the Polish provinces who, after operating as a criminal in his home town, finds himself in Warsaw. He hopes to change his luck and to escape from the criminal past he left behind. Unfortunately, there is a mafia sentence against him. Michal desperately tries to find a way to save his family. Several days before the christening of his child he invites his old friend to be the godfather. Second film from the director of My Flesh My Blood.

"Los Colores De La Montana" (Colombia-Panama)
Director: Carlos Cesar Arbelaez Cast: Hernan Mauricio Ocampo, Nolberto Sanchez, Genaro Aristizabal, Hernan Mendez, Natalia Cuellar
Manuel, 9, has an old ball with which he plays football every day in the countryside. He dreams of becoming a great goalkeeper. His wishes seem set to come true when Ernest, his father, gives him a new ball. But an unexpected accident sends the ball flying into a minefield. Despite the danger, Manuel refuses to abandon his treasure... He convinces Julian and Poca Luz, his two friends, to rescue it with him. Amid the adventures and kids' games, the signs of armed conflict start to appear in the lives of the inhabitants of "La Pradera". Directorial debut.

"Izarren Argia" (Spain)
Director: Mikel Rueda Cast: Barbara Goenaga, Itziar Lazkano, Klara Badiola, Estibaliz Gabilondo
Stars to Wish Upon tells the story of Victoria. A woman, who, like many others during the Spanish Civil War, is not only deprived of her liberty, but also of the one thing dearest to a mother: her child. In such a situation, there are only two options: to hold onto hope or to lose it forever. First feature from Mikel Rueda, director of the shorts Present Perfect, Erase una vez and El Carrito.

"Lucia" (Chile)
Director: Niles Atallah Cast: Gabriela Aguilera, Gregory Cohen, Eduardo Barril, Esperanza Silva, Francisca Bernardi
Young Lucia works as a seamstress in a factory and lives with her father in an old house in Santiago, Chile. The film takes place in December 2006, in the weeks between ex-dictator Pinochet's funeral and Christmas. The simple observation of Lucia's everyday life gives spectators insight to the hidden and neglected world of a generation of Chileans who struggle to recover from the military dictatorship. Directorial debut

"Marieke, Marieke" (Belgium-Germany)
Director: Sophie Schoukens Cast: Hande Kodja, Jan Decleier, Barbara Sarafian, Caroline Berliner
Marieke wants to live her life. But how can she succeed if love has been taken away from her? She seeks warmth in the arms of much older men to find the strength to face the past and finally be herself. Directorial debut.

"Las Marimbas Del Infierno" (Guatemala-France-Mexico)
Director: Julio Hernandez Cordon
Don Alfonso plays the marimba, the traditional Guatemalan instrument. He faces the lack of interest for his old-fashioned instrument. Blacko is a pioneer in Guatemalan Heavy Metal. He is also a doctor at the public hospital but nobody wants to be treated by him because of his hard rock style. When Don Alfonso and Blacko meet each other and decide to combine their talents and create a brand new project called "Marimbas from Hell", they could never have imagined the reactions they would provoke. Second film from the director of Gasolina, winner of the Films in Progress Industry Award at San Sebastian in 2007.

"Podslon" (Bulgaria)
Director: Dragomir Sholev Cast: Cvetan Daskalov, Yanina Kasheva, Kaloyan Siriiski, Irena Hristoskova, Silvia Gerina
12 year-old Rado, the son of the water polo coach Stoychev, is almost a punk now. Mr. Stoychev thinks he's been a good father and can't understand why his son wants to run away from home with the first junkies he has met on the street. Directorial debut.

"Principii de Viata" (Romania)
Director: Constantin Popescu Cast: Vlad Ivanov, Gabriel Huian, Rodica Lazar
Velicanu considers himself fulfilled. He has money, a new villa, he is married for the second time to a young woman with whom he has a baby and has a son from his first marriage. Before the holidays, he has to leave his business in good order. But things get a little bit complicated. The crisis at the end of the day makes him wonder if he is really happy and fulfilled. Second feature from the director of Portrait of the Fighter as a Young Man, screened in the Forum Section of Berlin Festival 2010.

"Schemer" (The Netherlands)
Director: Hanro Smitsman Cast: Gaite Jansen, Mathijs van de Sande Bakhuyzen, Roos Netjes, Melody Klaver, Robert de Hoog, Gerson Oratmangoen
An ordinary group of teens at an ordinary school in an ordinary town turns extraordinary hateful to one of their peers. Dusk is a character study in which this group of teens is followed, to try and find a reason for this senseless act. Second film from the director of Skin.

"Single Man" (China)
Director: Hao Jie Cast: Yang Zhenjun, Du Tianguang, Liang Youzhong, Liang Chunying
In Gu Jia Gou Village, 150 km from Beijing, men outnumber women. Some buy wives from faraway Sichuan province. Others remain bachelors; they gossip and complain together – yet find ways to have a sex life. Lao Yang is still in love with the girl he was forbidden to marry as a young man; she is now the middle-aged wife of the village head, but they sneak out for secret trysts. Yet, Lao Yang wants more… Hao Jie’s first film is a humorous look at peasant life, using non-professional actors. Directorial debut.

"Smukke Mennesker" (Denmark)
Director: Mikkel Munch-Fals Cast: Bodil Jorgensen, Henrik Prip, Mille Hoffmeyer Lehfeldt, Sebastian Jessen, Stine Fischer Christensen, Martin Buch
Smukke Mennesker follows the lives of four longing souls. Ingeborg who feels unattractive and young Jonas who is so attractive that he can literally sell some of what he's got. Anna, a young beautiful woman with a physical disability, and Anders, a tender man with a psychological disability. Four people yearning for love, four people, each hoping for a better tomorrow. Directorial debut.

"La Tete Ailleurs" (France)
Director: Frederic Pelle Cast: Nicolas Abraham, Jade Phan-Gia, Jean-Francois Gallotte, Anais Demoustier, Jean-Claude Lecas, Patrick Vo, Melanie Leray
Patrick Perrin is a dealer in a small seaside casino. His dream? To leave. To leave everything for an unknown destination. But a trip such as this doesn't happen overnight. To start with, Patrick decides to buy a suitcase. A nice red one with wheels that he immediately puts at the foot of his bed. All that's left to do is to fill it up and choose a destination. Directorial debut

"La Vida Util" (Uruguay-Spain)
Director: Federico Veiroj Cast: Jorge Jellinek, Manuel Martinez Carril, Paola Venditto
Jorge (45) lives with his parents and has been working at a film archive for 25 years. He does technical jobs, programming work, and hosts a radio show about films. The situation is increasingly dire at the film archive and Jorge, who has never worked anywhere else but in film, loses his job. La vida util won the Films in Progress Industry Award in 2009, while Acne, his first film, participated in the Quinzaine des Realisateurs at Cannes 2008 and San Sebastian's Horizontes Latinos in 2008.

Diego Luna's "Abel" to Open San Sebastian's Latin American Sidebar; 10 More on Tap

Brian Brooks — Wed, 04 Aug 2010 10:19:55 GMT

Eleven films from Latin America are slated for the San Sebastian Film Festival's Horizontes Latinos section, with "Abel" by Diego Luna and produced by Gael Garcia Bernal opening the sidebar, which will offer a €35,000 prize. Horizontes Latinos showcases a selection of Latin American films produced over the past twelve months, with a number of titles backed by awards received on the festival circuit this year. Films in the section are features totally or partially produced in Latin America and either directed by movie makers of Latin origin or set around the framework or subject of Latin communities throughout the rest of the world. All are at least Spanish premieres.

"Abel" premiered in the International Premieres section at the 2010 Sundance Film Festival and traveled to Cannes as a Special Screening in the Official Selection in May.

Other films that have screened on the festival circuit include: "Por tu culpa" (It’s your fault, Berlinale - Panorama Specials); "La mirada invisible" (The Invisible Eye, Cannes – The Directors’ Fortnight); "Lo que más quiero" (Bafici); "Octubre" (October, Cannes - Un Certain Regard); and "Nostalgia de la luz" (Cannes – Official Selection, Special Screening). "Post Mortem" will compete at Venice.

The 58th San Sebastian Film Festival takes place September 17 - 25.

The full list of the Horizontes Latinos lineup with descriptions courtesy of the San Sebastian Film Festival:

"Abel" (Opening film, in competition) Mexico
Director: Diego Luna
Cast: Geraldine Alejandra, Karina Gidi, Christopher Ruíz-Esparza, Gerardo Ruíz-Esparza, José María Yazpik
Abel is a 9 year-old boy whose behavior and refusal to speak ends in his admission to a mental hospital near home. Convinced that reuniting him with his brother and sister could help his situation, his single mother persuades Abel’s doctor to let the boy out for a week. With no father on the scene, Abel becomes a rather unconventional paternal figure who succeeds in drawing the family closer together. Opera prima. Produced by Gael García Bernal, this film was a participant in the International Premieres section at Sundance and was shown as a Special Screening in the Official Selection at Cannes.

"A Tiro De Piedra" (A Stone Throw Away) Mexico
Director: Sebastián Hiriart
Cast: Jacinto Medina, Gabino Rodríguez
Jacinto Medina is 21 and bored with his life as a shepherd in northern Mexico. He finds a key on the ground. Taking it as a message, he sets out on a journey lasting thousands of kilometers. Opera Prima. Selected for Films in Progress 16.

"Agua Fría de Mar" Costa Rica - France
Director: Paz Fábrega
Cast: Montserrat Fernández, Lil Quesada Morúa, Luis Carlos Bogantes
On New Year's holidays, Mariana (21) and Rodrigo (30) drive to the Pacific coast. There, late at night and in the middle of nowhere, they find Karina (7) who ran away from home. The couple decides to stay the night and deal with the situation in the morning. But by dawn, the girl’s gone. Opera prima. Presented at Films in Progress 16, this work landed the VPRO Tiger Award at Rotterdam Festival and was screened at the Bafici and Guadalajara Festival.

A scene from Delfina Castagnino's "Lo Que Más Quiero." Image courtesy of San Sebastian Film Festival.

"Lo Que Más Quiero" Argentina
Director: Delfina Castagnino
Cast: Pilar Gamboa, María Villar, Esteban Lamothe, Leonardo Castañeda
Pilar lives in the south. She recently lost her father and is now on her own. María came to visit her, to keep her company and take a break from the boyfriend she’s on the point of leaving. Neither has the wherewithal to comfort the other. Neither knows what they want. They barely know what they don’t want. They don’t want to go back to their lives. They don’t want to think about the future. They don't want to be alone. They don’t want their holiday to end. A timber yard about to close, a horse and a dog, a few men, a little alcohol and the cold waters of the southern lakes. Opera prima. Pilar Gamboa and María Villar won the Best Actress Award at the Bafici.

"La Mirada Invisible" (The Invisible Eye) Argentina-Spain-France
Director: Diego Lerman
Cast: Julieta Zylberberg, Osmar Núñez, Marta Lubos, Gaby Ferrero
In the Argentina of 1982, María Teresa is a teacher at the Colegio Nacional in Buenos Aires. When María Teresa, hounded by a slight, perhaps non-existent smell of tobacco, starts hiding in the boys' toilets to catch the smokers and have them punished, she gradually discovers a darkly exciting habit. Her eyes miss nothing. The eyes of the jailer, of the master... of a pervert. From the director of "Tan de repente" (Silver Leopard at Locarno 2002) and "Mientras tanto" (Official Selection, Venice 2004). "La mirada invisible" was screened as part of The Directors’ Fortnight at Cannes 2010.

"Norberto Apenas Tarde" (Norberto's Deadline) Uruguay-Argentina
Director: Daniel Hendler
Cast: Fernando Amaral, Eugenia Guerty, César Troncoso and Roberto Suárez
Fired from his job, Norberto tries his luck as a real estate agent, putting off telling his wife. His new boss recommends that he attend a personal assertiveness course to overcome his timidity and he starts studying acting at a beginners' workshop. While preparing the 3-monthly show, while he fails in his endeavours to behave credibly towards his clients and his wife, what he does discover is a tremendous ability to lie to himself. Opera prima. TVE Award at Films in Progress 16. Selected for the Cinéastes du Présent section at Locarno 2010.

"Nostalgia de la Luz" France-Germany-Chile
Director: Patricio Guzmán
"Nostalgia de la Luz" is a film about the distance between the sky and the earth, between light and human beings and the mysterious comings and goings arising between them. At a height of 3,000 metres, astronomers from all over the world gather in the Atacama Desert to observe the stars of northern Chile. Here, the transparency of the sky means that you can see to the very limits of the universe. Below, the dryness of the ground keeps human remains intact forever: mummies, explorers, miners, Indians and the skeletons of the political prisoners of the dictatorship. While the astronomers seek extraterrestrial life, a group of women move stones: they’re looking for their relatives. Patricio Guzmán previously participated in San Sebastian in 2004 (Zabaltegi-Pearls) with "Salvador Allende." "Nostalgia de la Luz" was shown in a Special Screening as part of the Official Selection at Cannes 2010.

"Octubre" (October) Peru
Director: Daniel Vega and Diego Vega
Cast: Bruno Odar, Gabriela Velásquez, Carlos Gassols
Clemente, a moneylender of few words, is a new hope for Sofía, his single neighbour, devoted to the October worship of Our Lord of the Miracles. They're brought together over a new-born baby, fruit of Clemente’s relationship with a prostitute who’s nowhere to be found. While Clemente is looking for the girl’s mother, Sofía cares for the baby and looks after the moneylender's house. With the arrival of these beings in his life, Clemente has the opportunity to reconsider his emotional relations with people. Opera prima. Won the Jury Prize in the Un Certain Regard Section at Cannes 2010.

A scene from Pablo Larraín's "Post Mortem." Image courtesy of San Sebastian Film Festival.

"Por Tu Culpa" (It's Your Fault) Argentina
Director: Anahí Berneri
Cast: Erica Rivas, Nicasio Galán, Zenón Galán, Rubén Viani, Marta Bianchini, Omar Núñez, Carlos Portaluppi
For young mother Julieta, recently separated from her husband, it's another normal evening at home, with her two little boys raising hell in the cramped family apartment. But then the youngest boy falls and hurts himself. Boys in tow, Julia heads for the hospital, where help and understanding give way to shattering suspicions... Was presented at the Berlinale Special Section this year and her previous film, "Encarnación" (Incarnation), competed at San Sebastian in 2007.

"Post Mortem" Chile-Mexico-Germany
Director: Pablo Larraín
Cast: Alfredo Castro, Antonia Zegers, Jaime Vadell, Amparo Nobuera, Marcelo Alonso
Mario, 55, works in a morgue typing autopsy reports. In the midst of the 1973 Chilean coup, he fantasizes about his neighbor Nancy, a cabaret dancer, who mysteriously disappears on September the 11th. After a violent Army raid on her family‚s home, he hears about the arrest of her brother and father, a prominent Communist and Salvador Allende supporter. Troubled and madly passionate over the loss of his would-be lover, Mario begins his frantic search for Nancy. Will compete for the Golden Lion at the next Venice Festival. Larraín's previous film, "Tony Manero," was presented at Horizontes Latinos in 2008.

"Rompecabezas" (Puzzle) Argentina-France
Director: Natalia Smirnoff
Cast: María Onetto, Gabriel Goity, Arturo Goetz,
María's husband and children give her a puzzle for her 50th birthday. She's delighted, and finds it a great discovery. Not only does the patient housewife have fun doing the puzzles, she's also really good at them. Overflowing with enthusiasm for her new-found passion, she goes back to the shop where they bought the gift for another puzzle. There her eye is caught by a notice on the message board: "Partner for puzzle tournament wanted." María musters her courage and, despite her family's misgivings, answers the announcement. Opera prima. Casa de América Award winner at Films in Progress 16, this movie participated in the Official Selection at Berlin 2010, at Bafici and at the Guadalajara Festival.

Acclaimed Directors Line Up Upcoming San Sebastian Film Festival

Nigel M Smith — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 07:38:55 GMT

A bevvy of notable directors, including John Sayles, Peter Mullan, Naomi Kawase and Raúl Ruiz, will screen their latest works at the 58th the San Sebastian Internation Film Festival (SSIFF), which runs September 17 - 25. The international roster of directors will be in competition for the Golden Shell prize.

Fresh off her milestone as the first woman to win the Special Jury Prize in Cannes in 2007 for "The Mourning Forest," Japanese director Naomi Kawase will present "Genpin." Kawase's drama follows an obstetrician who struggles with the relationship between childbirth and death. Acclaimed British director, screenwriter and actor Peter Mullan, who picked up the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival for his previous film "The Magdalene Sisters," will unveil his third feature, "Neds," at the festival. The Glasgow set character study tracks a young boy about to start secondary school, who becomes immersed in the city's underbelly gang culture: the Neds (Non-Educated Delinquents).

In addition, the 58th edition of the festival will mark the return of many filmmakers whose works screened in previous years. Most notably, John Sayles, to whom SSIFF dedicated a retrospective in 1994, will revisit the festival with his latest, "Amigo." This is Sayles' fourth time participating a the festival. Veteran filmmaker Raúl Ruiz, who competed at SSIFF with "Fado majeur et mineur" in 1994, will be returning this year with "Mysteries of Lisbon." And Moroccan director Daoud Aoulad-Syad, will compete with "The Mosque," following his last appearance at SSIFF in 2004 when he presented "Tarfaya."

Below is a list of SSIFF's offical selection thus far. The Festival promises to unveil the complete list shortly:
[Synopses provided by SSIFF]

"Aita"
Spain
Director: José María de Orbe
Cast: Luis Pescador, Mikel Goenaga
An old abandoned house, the caretaker who looks after it, the village priest, spaces, sounds, lights and shadows, the passing of time. An intimate yet collective story unfolds in the darkest corners of the house. Cinema takes the shape of a ghost within the fiction of the film. Contender for the Kutxa-New Directors Award.

"Amigo"
USA-Philippines
Director: John Sayles
Cast: Joel Torre, Garret Dillahunt, Chris Cooper, DJ Qualls, Rio Locsin, Ronnie Lazaro, Bembol Roco
Amigo centers on Rafael Dacanay, cabeza of the barrio of San Isidro in a rice-growing area of Luzon, Philippines. His brother Simón, head of the local guerilla band, has forced the surrender of the Spanish guardia civil outpost and charged Rafael with the task of imprisoning the guardia Captain and the baryo's Spanish friar, Padre Hidalgo, in the name of the revolutionary government. But when the American troops chasing General Aguinaldo arrive, the Spanish officer and Padre Hidalgo are freed, and a garrison under the command of Lieutenant Ike Compton is left to 'protect' the barrio. The American occupation policy now changes from 'hearts and minds' to 'concentration' (what was called 'hamletting' during the Vietnam war) and Rafael has to answer to both the Americans and the Filipino patriots, with deadly consequences.

"Cerro Bayo"
Argentina
Director: Victoria Galardi
Cast: Adriana Barraza, Inés Efron, Verónica Llinás, Nahuel Pérez Biscayart, Guillermo Arengo
The ski season is approaching in a Patagonian village at the foot of Mount Bayo. However, the local peace and quiet is put to the test when Juana Keller, matriarch of a peculiar family, tries to commit suicide. While she lies in a coma, her daughters, sons-in-law and grandchildren see their lives changed by the incident, as the best and worst awaken in each one of them. Amorosa Soledad, Galardi’s earlier movie, codirected with Martín Carranza, was screened as part of Films in Progress 13, participated in Zabaltegi-New Directors 2008 and carried off the Gaztea Youth Award. It will compete for this year’s Kutxa-New Directors Award.

"Elisa K"
Spain
Directors: Judith Colell and Jordi Cadena
Cast: Aina Clotet, Clàudia Pons, Lydia Zimmermann, Hans Richter, Jordi Gràcia, Pep Sais, Ramon Madaula, Mari Pau Pigem, Nausicaa Bonnin
Elisa, who’ll be eleven this summer, loves her new dress with its blue bows.
But things are a hairsbreadth from losing all importance. Her father’s friend has made her cry, followed by the comment: “If you stop crying I’ll give you a silver bracelet.” No-one realises what’s happened. Elisa’s a bit odd and that’s it. Until 14 years, 4 months and a few days later when her mother calls her, frightened, saying: “Help me, I’ve just remembered something awful.” Third feature from Judith Colell, who participated with 53 Días de Invierno (53 Winter Days) in Zabaltegi-New Directors in 2006 and her first as co-director with Jordi Cadena, the moviemaker who presented Los Papeles de Aspern in the Official Selection at San Sebastian in 1991.

"Genpin"
Japan
Director: Naomi Kawase
Cast: Tadashi Yoshimura
The title, Genpin, was overlaid on the words of the Chinese philosopher Lao Tzu, “The valley spirit never dies. It is named the mysterious woman (genpin).”
In the film, the obstetrician Tadashi Yoshimura reflects on the relationship between childbirth and death, and observes, more as a human being than a doctor, that to deny death is to deny life.
Life born into this world, life that ends at the moment of birth, life that ends before birth. Lives do not cease as a solitary life, but are carried on by the species, and continue.
Through the flux of the Japanese seasons, Naomi Kawase entered the circle of the women giving birth at the Yoshimura Clinic and the world of Dr. Yoshimura, who has spent 40 years on the path of natural childbirth, and wove the footage she shot with her own 16mm camera into this film.

"The Great Vasquez"
Spain
Director: Oscar Aibar
Cast: Santiago Segura, Mercè Llorens, Álex Angulo, Enrique Villén, Jesús Guzmán, Manolo Solo, Itziar Aizpuru, Albert Vidal, Pep Sais
Barcelona, in the ‘60s. It’s springtime, and Vázquez is having a ball to himself. His characters – the Gilda Sisters, Anacleto, the Cebolleta Family... – are a huge success in the comics published by Bruguera. Meanwhile, Spain’s top cartoonist gets what he wants when he wants, paying nothing for it, artfully dodging anyone he owes money to, tricking and cheating his bosses and marrying gaily, collecting one family after another. Until a dull accountant at his publishing house decides it’s time for him to toe the line like everyone else. It won’t be an easy task: for the brilliant cartoonist life’s a party to gatecrash if you’ve not been invited.

A scene from Oscar Aibar's "The Great Vasquez." [Image courtesy of SSIFF]

"Home for Christmas"
Norway-Sweden
Director: Bent Hamer
Cast: Trond Fausa Aurvåg, Fridtjof Såheim, Nina Andresen Borud, Reidar Sørensen, Ingunn Beate Øyen, Joachim Calmeyer a.o.
In the small fictional Norwegian town Skogli, a puzzle of characters intersects with each other in different stories. These characters represent a wide range of ages and social classes, blending humour and tragedy, tenderness and desperation; but always open for forgiveness and hope. The stories bring forward the theme of living together in all aspects and it explores love at any age and in all its phases, from giving birth to dying.
"Home for Christmas" is a modern Christmas Carol based on a selection of short stories from the Norwegian author Levi Henriksen’s collection ”Only Soft Presents Under the Tree” (Bare mjuke pakker under treet).

"The Mosque"
Morocco-France
Director: Daouad Aoulad-Syad
Cast: Abdelhadi Touhrach, Bouchra Hraich, Mustapha Tahah, Naceur Oujri, Salem Dabella
For the filming of my last movie "Waiting for Pasolini", sets were built on land leased from local villagers. Among the sets, a mosque was built on the land of Moha, a villager who also appears in the movie.
At the end of filming, the filming team leaves the village. Villagers demolish all the sets, with the exceptions of the mosque. This mosque became a real place of prayer for the whole village. For Moha this is a real disaster.

"Mysteries of Lisbon"
Portugal
Director: Raúl Ruiz
Cast: Adriano Luz, Maria João Bastos, Ricardo Pereira, Clotilde Hesme, Léa Seydoux
"I was fourteen, and I didn't know who I was at all..."
Mysteries of Lisbon plunges us into a veritable whirlwind of adventures and escapades, coincidences and revelations, sentiments and violent passions, vengeance, love affairs, all wrapped in a rhapsodic voyage that takes us from Portugal to France, Italy, and as far as Brazil.
In this Lisbon of intrigue and hidden identities, we encounter a series of characters all somewhat linked to the destiny of Pedro da Silva, orphan in a boarding school. Father Dinis, a descendent of the aristocratic libertines, later becomes a hero who defends justice, a countess maddened by her jealousy and set on her vengeance, a prosperous businessman who had mysteriously made his fortune as a bloodthirsty pirate; these and many more all cross in a story set in the 19th century and all searching for the true identity of our main character.

"Neds"
UK–France-Italy
Director: Peter Mullan
Cast: Steven Robertson, Martin Bell, Marcus Nash
If you want a Ned, I’ll give you a fucking Ned!
Glasgow, 1973. On the brink of adolescence, young John McGill’s about to start secondary school. He’s a bright boy, a sensitive boy, eager to learn, but the cards are stacked high against him. The McGill family’s dirt poor, his hated father’s a drunken bully. His teachers – punishing John for the ‘sins’ of his older brother Benny – are down on him from the start. John’s on his own.
And then there’s the gangs. The Neds. Non-Educated Delinquents. The bad boys with weapons and attitude: cheap drugs, glam rock, fumbling sex, the violence and the camaraderie of the streets. Local monsters. Local Heroes. Benny’s fearsome reputation buys John protection, and then a way in. Scared, resentful, full of rage, John makes his decision. If no-one else will give him a chance: fuck them.
John takes to the savage life of the streets with a vengeance. But as his rage and frustration spin him further and further out of control, he is left facing a blank wall. No future. With one extraordinary chance of redemption. Peter Mullan’s previous film, "The Magdalene Sisters," won the Golden Shell at Venice in 2002.

"Black Bread"
Spain
Director: Agustí Villaronga
Cast: Francesc Colomer, Marina Comas, Nora Navas, Roger Casamajor, Laia Marull, Eduard Fernández, Sergi López.
In the harsh years of post-war rural Catalonia, Andreu, a youngster relegated to the losers’ side, comes across the bodies of a man and his son in the woods. When the authorities want to pin the blame on his father, the boy decides to try and help him, setting out to find out who killed them. The experience teaches Andreu moral awareness in a world of adults nourished by lies. To survive, he betrays his own roots, eventually finding the monster deep inside himself. Agustí Villaronga has already participated at San Sebastian with "In a Glass Cage," Zabaltegi-New Directors, 1986) and "Aro Tolbukhin" (Official Selection, 2002).