Thirteen film from fifteen countries will compete for the Kutxabank-New Directors Award at the 70th edition of San Sebastian Festival, which runs from September 16 to 24, 2022. Of the total selected movies, twelve are first works and one is the second film by its director.

Turkish director Jeanne Aslan and French moviemaker Paul Saintillan are two of the helmers who will show their debuts in New Directors. Together they co-directed Spare Keys (Fifi), the tale of a teenager who establishes a relationship with her girlfriend’s brother during summer.

The Nicaraguan Laura Baumeister will present her first movie, Daughter of Rage (La hija de todas las rabias), a story about an 8-year-old girl who gets by as she can in a rubbish dump.

For his part, the director from the Republic of Moldova Ion Borș, who carried off last year’s WIP Europa Industry and WIP Europa awards thanks to his feature film, CARBON, will participate with this black comedy set in the early 90s during theTransnistria War.

The Danish filmmaker Katrine Brocks will compete with her first full-length movie, The Great Silence (Den Store Stilhed), following a young novice who receives the awkward visit of her twin brother in the convent.

The Russian actor settled in France Dinara Drukarova will present her first feature behind the camera, Grand Marin. She herself plays the starring role of a woman who leaves everything behind to set sail on a fishing boat and head for the northern seas.

The moviemaker Carmen Jaquier will also make her feature debut with Thunder (Foudre), the portrait of a woman’s emancipation in early 20th-century Switzerland.

Jeong-sun is the directorial debut of Ji-hye Jeong, the Korean competition winner at Jeonju Festival with this movie about a woman who becomes embroiled in a covert affair with a colleague at the factory where both work.

The Japanese filmmaker Takeshi Kogahara will also show his debut in feature films with the title of Nagisa, following the love story between a brother and sister driven apart by death.

For her part, the director and producer Rocío Mesa will participate in New Directors with her first fiction, the feature film Secaderos, tinged with magical realism set in tobacco drying rooms.

The directing trio Masahiko Sato, Yutaro Seki and Kentaro Hirase make their debut with Miyamatsu to Yamashita / Roleless, addressing the trials and tribulations of a cable-car operator who side-lines as a film extra.

The Indian moviemaker Parth Saurabh will present his first inroads as a director, On Either Side of the Pond (Pokhar Ke Dunu Paar), following a couple who, forced by the economic difficulties caused by the pandemic, return from Delhi to their hometown, where their relationship starts to unravel.

In addition, the Croatian Josip Žuvan will show his debut, Carbide (Garbura), about two friends who try to keep their friendship alive despite the quarreling between their respective families.

Joining these titles are the first feature from Maria Elorza, To Books and Women I Sing (A los libros y a las mujeres canto), about an anonymous and unarmed legion of women who take care of books.

NEW DIRECTORS

A LOS LIBROS Y A LAS MUJERES CANTO / TO BOOKS AND WOMEN I SING
MARIA ELORZA (SPAIN)
Country(ies) of production: Spain

A woman was almost called Avioneta (Small Airplane) at birth. Another had a library in the back seat of her car. Yet another fractures her finger with the rebel shelves of her bookcase. Lectors read to cigar makers while they work. Women remember poems while they iron. And to them all I sing. Standing against fire, water, moths, dust, ignorance and fanaticism, an anonymous female army looks after books. An intimate resistance, lacking epic events, revolution or weapons. Debut film.

CARBON
ION BORȘ (REPUBLIC OF MOLDOVA)
Country(ies) of production: Republic of Moldova – Romania – Spain
Cast: Dumitru Roman, Ion Vantu, Igor Caras-Romanov, Adriana Bitca, Viorel Cornescu, Vitalie Vasilachi, Constantin Haret, Alla Dontu, Vitalie Jacota, Veaceslav Mereuta, Corneliu Tarlapan, Lidia Novicov
WIP Europa 2021

Moldova, early 90s. Dima, a tractor driver, wants to be enrolled in the military troops to take part in the local war on the Transnistrian border. Vasea, an Afghanistan war veteran, joins him. While on their way to the front, they find a carbonized body. Authorities ignore them without helping to identify the body. Dima and Vasea decide to bury the corpse according to the proper Christian rituals, but shortly they will go, together with the body, on an absurd journey to discover his identity. Debut film.

DEN STORE STILHED / THE GREAT SILENCE
KATRINE BROCKS (DENMARK)
Country(ies) of production: Denmark
Cast: Kristine Kujath Thorp, Elliott Crosset Hove, Karen-Lise Mynster

Alma is about to take her vows as a nun in a Catholic convent, when her estranged brother Erik arrives. His presence unearths a tragedy from their past and, with the ceremony approaching, Alma is increasingly haunted by resurfacing trauma. Debut film.

FIFI / SPARE KEYS
JEANNE ASLAN (TURKEY), PAUL SAINTILLAN (FRANCE)
Country(ies) of production: France
Cast: Céleste Brunnquell, Quentin Dolmaire, Chloé Mons, Laurent Poitrenaux, Megan Northam, Shirel Nataf, François Negret

Seeking to escape the chaotic atmosphere of her family, Sophie, 14, introduces herself to Jade’s, a friend who’s gone on vacation for the summer. But in the beautiful and vast apartment she thought deserted for all July, she falls on Stephane, 22, the older brother of her friend. Stéphane shows understanding, and to the extent that it does not bother him, authorizes her to return to take refuge there when she wants. Debut film.

FOUDRE / THUNDER
CARMEN JAQUIER (SWITZERLAND)
Country(ies) of production: Switzerland
Cast: Lilith Grasmug

Summer 1900, Switzerland. The sudden death of her older sister forces Elisabeth to return home. Stiffled by the strict rules of the village, Elisabeth is slowly driven to rebel for her right to live her life. Debut film.

GARBURA / CARBIDE
JOSIP ŽUVAN (CROATIA)
Country(ies) of production: Croatia
Cast: Franko Floigl, Mauro Ercegović Gracin, Ljubomir Bandović, Zdenko Jelčić, Marija Škaričić, Asja Jovanović, Ivana Rosčić

Antonio and Nikola are inseparable friends who live across the road from each other, and share a love of pyrotechnics and mobile phones. Their families have been in dispute for years over an easily resolvable problem: the water that flows from the top house to the bottom house. The boys’ friendship, as they are about to enter puberty, is put to the test at Christmas time when their families uncover much more dangerous secrets and interests, and the water just carries the hate of the adults to the children. Debut film.

GRAND MARIN
DINARA DRUKAROVA (RUSSIA)
Country(ies) of production: France
Cast: Dinara Drukarova, Sam Louwyck, Hlynur Haraldsson, Hjörtur Jóhann Jónsson, Dylan Robert, Antonythasan Jesusthasan, Magne Havard Brekke

Lili left everything behind to travel to the edge of the earth and accomplish her dream, fishing the Northern seas. She persuades Ian, the captain of a trawler by the name of Rebel, to give her a chance and let her join the crew. The only woman on board, they call her Sparrow. Hidden behind a frail appearance is a will of steel, and her courage and determination ultimately win over their respect. Adopted into this world of often unfortunate individuals, Lili will conquer her right to live differently, free. Debut film.

JEONG-SUN
JI-HYE JEONG (SOUTH KOREA)
Country(ies) of production: South Korea
Cast: Kum-soon KIM, Sun-ah YOONKEUM, Hyeon-woo CHO, Yong-joon YONG

Jeong-sun as her name, lives uncluttered life with modest behave even though working at a food factory. Young-soo, a factory colleague, approaches her. As they get closer, they enjoy their secret relationship, and he takes candid shots in beds with his mobile camera. One day, she gets inappropriate stares from others. Debut film.

LA HIJA DE TODAS LAS RABIAS / DAUGHTER OF RAGE
LAURA BAUMEISTER (NICARAGUA)
Country(ies) of production: Nicaragua – Mexico – Netherlands – Germany – France – Spain
Cast: Ara Alejandra Medal, Virginia Sevilla Garcia, Carlos Gutiérrez, Noé Hernández, Diana Sedano
Europe-Latin America Co-production Forum 2019
WIP Latam 2021

In a vast rubbish dump in Nicaragua, 8-year-old María struggles to get by, left to her own devices by her mother. When she accidentally kills the new-born puppies they were about to sell, she is punished by being left alone to live and work at a recycling factory. María will learn how to survive and accept this abandonment, using her strong willpower and fertile imagination. Debut film.

MIYAMATSU TO YAMASHITA / ROLELESS
MASAHIKO SATO (JAPAN), YUTARO SEKI (JAPAN), KENTARO HIRASE (USA)
Country(ies) of production: Japan
Cast: Teruyuki Kagawa, Noriko Nakagoshi, Kanji Tsuda

Miyamatsu, who works as a cable-car operator, is also a film extra. Through his different characters he has been living the life of a stranger, only playing that part. Finally he comes face to face with his own life, the one he had lost. Debut film.

NAGISA
TAKESHI KOGAHARA (JAPAN)
Country(ies) of production: Japan
Cast: Yuzu Aoki

A young man who suffers from guilt related to his adored sister’s death encounters her ghost in a haunted tunnel. He makes repeated visits to the tunnel and re-experiences the past. Debut film.

POKHAR KE DUNU PAAR / ON EITHER SIDES OF THE POND
PARTH SAURABH (INDIA)
Country(ies) of production: India
Cast: Abhinav Jha, Tanaya Khan Jha, Dheeraj Kumar

Sumit and Priyanka, an eloped couple, return to their hometown, due to the financial hardships caused by the lockdown. As Priyanka seeks to leave Sumit and return to her conservative father’s home, Sumit, oblivious to this, wastes his time away. Debut film.

SECADEROS / TOBACCO BARNS
ROCÍO MESA (SPAIN)
Country(ies) of production: Spain – USA
Cast: Vera Centenera, Ada Mar Lupiáñez, Tamara Arias, Cristina Eugenia Segura Molina, José Sáez Conejero

A tiny rural village is a paradise for a city girl and a prison for a local teenager. Two parallel stories take place among tobacco drying rooms during a summer full of magic realism. Second feature film by its director.