Filmmaker Abel Ferrara, will be in attendance tomorrow, Saturday at San Sebastian Festival to host a ‘surprise film’ screening of his latest Sportin’ Life.

During lockdown, the director of movies such as Bad Lieutenant (1992) and The Funeral (1996) filmed a 68-minute documentary released at Venice Festival and featuring his wife, Cristina Chiriac, his daughter Anna and friends including actors Willem Dafoe and Paul Hipp as well as the musician Joe Delia, together with moments lived at the last Berlin Festival when he showed Siberia combined with images of deserted New York and Rome.

San Sebastian Festival dedicated a retrospective to his work (Getting to Know Abel Ferrara) fifteen years ago, in 2005. The North American director’s last visit coincided with the screening of Pasolini (2014) in Perlak.

SPORTIN’ LIFE
ABEL FERRARA (FRANCE)

Sportin’ Life is the sixth incarnation of the international art project Self, curated by Saint Laurent’s creative director, Anthony Vaccarello. This project is an artistic commentary on society while emphasizing the complexity of various individuals through the eyes of artists who evoke the Saint Laurent attitude of confidence, individuality and self-expression. The documentary is an exploration into the sources and personal history of creativity, the essential life of an artist. Raw and sharp, it has the feeling of a moment in time that is still happening. Abel Ferrara’s intimate and lush look at his own life, his world refracted through his art – music, filmmaking, his collaborators and inspirations such as Ferrara’s early works and his creative partnerships with Willem Dafoe, Joe Delia, Paul Hipp and the musicians who inspired this work.