MAGICAL GIRL
MAGICAL GIRL, the new film from Carlos Vermut (Diamond Flash), won the GOLDEN SHELL FOR BEST FILM at the 62 San Sebastian Festival. Director Carlos Vermut also took the award SILVER SHELL FOR BEST DIRECTOR. MAGICAL GIRL is described as a tale of crossed destinies starring José Sacristán, Bárbara Lennie and Luis Bermejo. Alicia, an ailing child who dreams of the dress in the Japanese series Magical Girl Yukiko; Luis, her father, who will do anything he can to make her dream come true; Bárbara, a pretty young girl with psychological issues; and Damián, a teacher who has retired from everything except his stormy past. All will be trapped in a net of obscure blackmailing where instincts and reason spar with one another in a tragic struggle.
62 San Sebastian Festival awards list
GOLDEN SHELL FOR BEST FILM
MAGICAL GIRL
CARLOS VERMUT (SPAIN – FRANCE)
The new film from Carlos Vermut (Diamond Flash) is a tale of crossed destinies starring José Sacristán, Bárbara Lennie and Luis Bermejo. Alicia, an ailing child who dreams of the dress in the Japanese series Magical Girl Yukiko; Luis, her father, who will do anything he can to make her dream come true; Bárbara, a pretty young girl with psycholgical issues; and Damián, a teacher who has retired from everything except his stormy past. All will be trapped in a net of obscure blackmailing where instincts and reason spar with one another in a tragic struggle.
SPECIAL JURY PRIZE
VIE SAUVAGE / WILD LIFE
CÉDRIC KAHN (FRANCE)
The new film by French director Cédric Kahn focusses on Philippe Fournier, a man who lives with his 2 sons, having decided not to give them back to their mother after she won custody of the children. The children Okyesa and Tsali must grow up in the shadow, hunted by the police but always free and on the move.
SILVER SHELL FOR BEST DIRECTOR – CARLOS VERMUT
MAGICAL GIRL
CARLOS VERMUT (SPAIN – FRANCE)
The new film from Carlos Vermut (Diamond Flash) is a tale of crossed destinies starring José Sacristán, Bárbara Lennie and Luis Bermejo. Alicia, an ailing child who dreams of the dress in the Japanese series Magical Girl Yukiko; Luis, her father, who will do anything he can to make her dream come true; Bárbara, a pretty young girl with psycholgical issues; and Damián, a teacher who has retired from everything except his stormy past. All will be trapped in a net of obscure blackmailing where instincts and reason spar with one another in a tragic struggle.
SILVER SHELL FOR BEST ACTRESS – PAPRIKA STEEN
STILLE HJERTE / SILENT HEART
BILLE AUGUST (DENMARK)
The prestigious Danish filmmaker Bille August, winner of an Academy Award and two Palme d’Or in Cannes, returns with a highly personal drama. Three generations of a family gather over a weekend. The sisters Sanne and Heidi have accepted their terminally-ill mother’s desire to die before her disease worsens; but, as the weekend progresses, their mother’s decision becomes harder and harder to deal with, and old conflicts come to the surface.
SILVER SHELL FOR BEST ACTOR – JAVIER GUTIÉRREZ
LA ISLA MÍNIMA (MARSHLAND)
ALBERTO RODRÍGUEZ (SPAIN)
Alberto Rodríguez (Grupo 7) returns to film noir with this thriller starring Raúl Arévalo, Javier Gutiérrez and Antonio de la Torre. Two cops, ideologically miles apart, are reprimanded and sent as punishment to a remote town in the swamps to investigate the disappearance of two teenagers. There they will measure their wits against a savage killer in a community anchored to the past.
JURY PRIZE FOR BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY – ALEX CATALÁN
LA ISLA MÍNIMA (MARSHLAND)
ALBERTO RODRÍGUEZ (SPAIN)
Alberto Rodríguez (Grupo 7) returns to film noir with this thriller starring Raúl Arévalo, Javier Gutiérrez and Antonio de la Torre. Two cops, ideologically miles apart, are reprimanded and sent as punishment to a remote town in the swamps to investigate the disappearance of two teenagers. There they will measure their wits against a savage killer in a community anchored to the past.
JURY PRIZE FOR BEST SCREENPLAY – DENNIS LEHANE
THE DROP
MICHAËL R. ROSKAM (USA)
In his Hollywood debut, Belgian filmmaker Michaël R. Roskam (Bullhead) adapts a novel by Dennis Lehane in a film starring Tom Hardy, Noomi Rapace and James Gandolfini in his last role for the cinema.The Drop takes an inside look at organized crime’s use of local New York City bars as money-laundering “drops”. When lonely Brooklyn bartender Bob Saginowski uncovers a drop of a different sort in the form of a battered pit bull puppy that he rescues from certain death, he comes into contact with Nadia, a mysterious woman hiding a dark past.
KUTXA-NEW DIRECTORS AWARD
UROK / THE LESSON
KRISTINA GROZEVA, PETAR VALCHANOV (BULGARIA – GREECE)
In a small Bulgarian town, Nadezhda, a young teacher, tries to find out which of her students is stealing in class, so that she can teach them the difference between right and wrong. But when she finds herself in debt to moneylenders, will she know the right road to take? What happens when an honest person turns into a criminal?
SPECIAL MENTION
MODRIS
JURIS KURSIETIS (LATVIA – GREECE – GERMANY)
Unable to deal with her teenage son, the boy’s mother turns him in for a small crime. But a teenager’s life cannot handle police probation. Based on true events.
HORIZONTES AWARD
GÜEROS
ALONSO RUIZPALACIOS (MEXICO)
A road movie and coming of age comedy which pays homage to the French new wave, winner of Panorama’s First Feature Award in Berlin Film Festival and of Best Cinematography Award and Special Jury Mention in Tribeca Festival. Since the teenager Tomás is clearly too much of a handful for his mother, she packs him off to stay with his big brother who is studying in Mexico City.Tomás has brought a cassette along with him; the tape is part of his father’s legacy and contains the music of Epigmenio Cruz. When the trio learns that their idol is in hospital fading fast and alone, they set off in their rusty heap of a car to pay their last respects to this one-time rock star.
SPECIAL MENTION
CIENCIAS NATURALES (NATURAL SCIENCES)
MATÍAS LUCCHESI (ARGENTINA – FRANCE)
Presented in the Generation section of the Berlin Festival and winner of the Award for Best Ibero-American Film at the Guadalajara Festival, the first film by Matías Luchesi revolves around a girl who, starting to become a woman, feels the profound need to discover her true identity. She does not know who her father is and she is determined to find him.
GENTE DE BIEN
FRANCO LOLLI (FRANCE – COLOMBIA)
The feature film debut of Franco Lolli, following several short films to have won awards at several festivals, was presented in the Critics’ Week at Cannes. Ten year-old Eric finds himself almost overnight living with Gabriel, his father, who he barely knows. Maria Isabel, the woman Gabriel works for as a carpenter, decides to help and invites them both to the country to spend Christmas with her and her family. However, she fails to foresee all the consequences of taking the child under her wing.
IRIZAR BASQUE FILM AWARD
NEGOCIADOR (NEGOTIATOR)
BORJA COBEAGA (SPAIN)
Borja Cobeaga’s new comedy stars Manu Aranguren, a Basque politician who acts as a mediator for the Spanish government in its negotiations with ETA. Far from being a solemn, calculated occasion, unexpected occurrences, slip-ups or misunderstandings soon kick in to influence the dialogue. Ramón Barea, Carlos Areces and Josean Bengoetxea headline the cast.
TVE – ANOTHER LOOK AWARD
BANDE DE FILLES (GIRLHOOD)
CÉLINE SCIAMMA (FRANCE)
Céline Sciamma (Tomboy) presented this film at the Directors’ Fortnight in Cannes. Oppressed by her family setting, dead-end school prospects and the boys law in the neighborhood, Marieme starts a new life after meeting a group of 3 free-spirited girls. She changes her name, her dress code, and quits school to be accepted in the gang, hoping that this will be a way to freedom.
SPECIAL MENTION
GETT, THE TRIAL OF VIVIANE AMSALEM
RONIT ELKABETZ, SHLOMI ELKABETZ (ISRAEL – FRANCE – GERMANY)
Civil marriages don’t exist in Israel; only religious law is legitimate, under which divorce is only possible with the husband’s full consent. A film about a woman’s struggle to obtain what she considers to be a right. Presented at the Directors’ Fortnight in Cannes.
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Eight films have been added to the competition for the Golden Shell at the upcoming 2015 San Sebastian Festival, running from September 18 to 26. Films include French directors Jean-Marie and Arnaud Larrieu’s new film 21 NUITS AVEC PATTIE / 21 NIGHTS WITH PATTIE, which tells the story of Caroline, a woman who cuts her vacation short to organize the funeral of her mother, Isabelle, who has died suddenly at her house in the Pyrenees.
21 NUITS AVEC PATTIE / 21 NIGHTS WITH PATTIE
JEAN-MARIE LARRIEU, ARNAUD LARRIEU (FRANCE) (pictured above)
French directors Jean-Marie and Arnaud Larrieu’s new film tells the story of Caroline, a woman who cuts her vacation short to organise the funeral of her mother, Isabelle, who has died suddenly at her house in the Pyrenees. She befriends Pattie who looks after her mother’s house. But her funeral preparations take an unexpected twist when her mother’s body mysteriously disappears.
BAKEMONO NO KO / THE BOY AND THE BEAST
MAMORU HOSODA (JAPAN)
The latest film from the master of anime, Mamoru Hosoda is the first animatied film to compete at the San Sebastian Film Festival Official Selection. Kyuta is a solitary boy who lives in Tokyo, and Kumatetsu is a supernatural creature isolated in an imaginary world. One day the boy crosses the border into the imaginary world and makes friends with Kumatetsu, who becomes his friend and spiritual guide. The encounter opens the way to all sorts of adventures.
LES DÉMONS / THE DEMONS
PHILIPPE LESAGE (CANADA)
While a series of kidnappings of young boys is raging in Montreal, Felix, 10, finished school in Old Longueuil, an ordinary suburb of peaceful appearance. Imaginative and sensitive, Felix, like many children, is afraid of everything. Little by little, the childhood imaginary demons mix with demons of a disturbing reality.
EVOLUTION
LUCILE HADZIHALILOVIC (FRANCE – BELGIUM – SPAIN)
After winning the New Directors award in 2004 with Innocence, Lucile Hadzihalilovic returns to the San Sebastian Festival with her new film. On a remote island inhabited solely by women and young boys, Nicolas and the other boys are subjected to mysterious and sinister medical treatments.
HIGH-RISE
BEN WHEATLEY (UK)
British director Ben Wheatley presents his last work, based on J.G. Ballard’s novel of the same name. Dr. Robert Laing moves into his new apartment seeking soulless anonymity, only to find that the building’s residents have no intention of leaving him alone. As he struggles to establish his position, Laing’s good manners and sanity disintegrate along with the building.
MOIRA
LEVAN TUTBERIDZE (GEORGIA)
This is a dramatic story of the family living in the seaside city. After Mamuka is released from prison, he tries to rescue his family from poverty. His mother is working abroad, his father is wheelchair-ridden, and his unemployed younger brother appears to be attracted by criminals. Mamuka takes a loan and buys a small fishing boat. But fate is often blind and merciless
SPARROWS
RÚNAR RÚNARSSON (ICELAND – DENMARK – CROATIA)
A coming-of-age story about the 16-year old boy Ari, who has been living with his mother in Reykjavik and is suddenly sent back to the remote Westfjords to live with his father Gunnar. There, he has to navigate a difficult relationship with his father, and he finds his childhood friends changed. In these hopeless and declining surroundings, Ari has to step up and find his way.
SUNSET SONG
TERENCE DAVIES (UK – LUXEMBOURG)
An intimate epic of hope, tragedy and love at the dawning of the Great War, adapted from the Scottish novel by Lewis Grassic Gibbon and directed by Terence Davies.
These titles join the Official Selection to the Spanish productions already announced:
AMAMA (Amama: When a tree falls) – Asier Altuna
EL APÓSTATA (The Apostate) – Federico Veiroj
UN DIA PERFECTE PER VOLAR – Marc Recha
EVA NO DUERME (Eva doesn´t sleep) – Pablo Agüero
EL REY DE LA HABANA (The king of Havana) – Agustí Villaronga
TRUMAN – Cesc Gay
MI GRAN NOCHE – Álex de la Iglesia (Not in competition)
LEJOS DEL MAR (Far from the sea) – Imanol Uribe (Special screenings)
NO ESTAMOS SOLOS – Pere Joan Ventura (Special screenings)
With the city of Montreal shaken by a series of kidnappings of young boys, a sensitive 10-year-old named Félix lets his imagination run wild as he comes to the end of his school year. Nothing much ever seems to happen in the quiet suburbs where he lives, but Félix is afraid of everything: his parents’ impending divorce, the maniacs who target little boys, his weird neighbours, even the AIDS epidemic. Slowly but surely, the child’s imaginary demons begin to resemble those of the real, disturbing world around him.
Before venturing into fiction, Philippe Lesage made four feature-length documentaries: Pourrons-nous vivre ensemble ? (2007), Comment savoir si les petits poissons sont heureux ? (2009), Ce cœur qui bat (2010) andLaylou (2011). Centred on life in a Montreal hospital, Ce cœur qui bat won the prize for best Canadian film and most promising Canadian film at the 2010 Rencontres internationales du documentaire de Montréal (RIDM), as well as the prize for best feature documentary at the 2012 Jutras. In 2011, Lepage was honoured with a retrospective of his works at the Cinémathèque Québécoise called Découvrir Lesage, giving the public a chance to see his early films. Between his many projects, Lesage also taught filmmaking at the European Film College in Denmark. His first two feature dramas – Copenhague A Love Story and The Demons – have been selected at a number of festivals and will open in cinemas in 2015 and 2016. His next feature, Genèse, is now in pre-production, with shooting slated to begin in the summer of 2016.
Produced by Galilé Marion-Gauvin and Philippe Lesage for Les Films de l’Autre in collaboration with Unité Centrale, The Demons is written and directed by Philippe Lesage (2012 Jutra for best documentary, Ce cœur qui bat). The crew includes Dominique Noujeim, associate producer; Nicolas Canniccioni, director of photography; Marjorie Rhéaume, artistic director; Marcel Chouinard and Pascal Van Strydonck, sound (with overall design by Olivier Calvert); and Mathieu Bouchard Malo, editing. The Demons received funding from the SODEC, Téléfilm Canada, the CALQ, Super Écran and La Société Radio-Canada , as well as federal and Quebec tax credits.
The film is distributed in Canada by Funfilm Distribution and will open in Quebec cinemas on Oct. 30.
The 2015 San Sebastian Festival announced the 17 films selected to screen in the program of the “Culinary Zinema” section. The five years of collaboration between the San Sebastian Festival, the Berlin Festival and the Basque Culinary Center have given rise to what the festival describes as one of the most highly appreciated sections by Festival spectators and to a must-attend rendezvous for local gastronomy lovers in an event that combines an internationally prestigious film festival with the culinary wealth of one of the regions with the highest concentration of Michelin stars in the world.
This fifth edition increases the selection of titles to 17, consisting of 4 short films and 13 feature films, including 9 in competition and 4 not in competition. The screening of seven of the films will be accompanied by themed dinners by chefs of international prestige.
The section opens with the documentary CAMPO A TRAVÉS. MUGARITZ, INTUYENDO UN CAMINO (OFF-ROAD. MUGARITZ, FEELING A WAY) directed by Pep Gatell and closes with COOKING UP A TRIBUTE directed by Luis Gonzalez.
FILMS IN COMPETITION
Opening Night Film
CAMPO A TRAVÉS. MUGARITZ, INTUYENDO UN CAMINO (OFF-ROAD. MUGARITZ, FEELING A WAY) (pictured above)
The San Sebastian Festival revealed the titles of the thirteen films to compete for the 
Eini grows up isolated from society with her father, a man afraid of the world. His biggest fear is to be left alone and to be left by Eini. He does everything he can to make her believe that the world outside and the people out there are evil, and that all that has to do with sexuality and adulthood is dangerous.
IONA
SCOTT GRAHAM (UK – GERMANY)
Three years after competing at the New Directors Section with Shell, Scottish director Scott Graham comes back to the San Sebastian Festival with this drama. Iona and her teenage son Bull seek refuge from a violent crime on the island where she was born. Iona’s return exposes Bull to a way of life she rejected as a teenager and sends a shock wave through the family she left behind.
JAJDA / THIRST
TSOTSORKOVA SVETLA (BULGARIA)
A couple and their teenage son eke out a living on a hilltop, doing the laundry for local hotels, despite the intermittent water supply. Their simple life is overturned by the arrival of a father-and-daughter team of diviner and well-digger.
LE NOUVEAU / THE NEW KID
RUDI ROSENBERG (FRANCE)
Benoit, 14 years old, leaves the country-side for Paris. His first day at school turns out to be more difficult than expected, and he quickly becomes isolated. Until one day a new girl arrives in class…
PARASOL
VALÉRY ROSIER (BELGIUM)
Holiday time, a Mediterranean island. Three wanderings at summer’s end. The determination, no matter the cost, to make things change. Nostalgia for a past that never existed.
PAULA
EUGENIO CANEVARI (ARGENTINA – SPAIN)
Young Paula lives and works at the pile of a middle-class family caring for their children. Her life takes an unexpected turn on discovering that she’s pregnant by a young man who refuses to accept his fatherhood. Directorial debut by Eugenio Canevari, who participated in the International Film Students Meeting at San Sebastian in 2013 with his short film, Gorila baila.
PIKADERO
BEN SHARROCK (SPAIN – UK)
A penniless, young couple have trouble consummating their fledgling relationship in their parents’ homes, forcing their relationship into question as they try to break free from the shackles of a crumbling economy. Barbara Goenaga and Joseba Usabiaga star in this romantic comedy.
RODINNY FILM / FAMILY FILM
OLMO OMERZU (CZECH REP. – GERMANY – SLOVENIA – FRANCE – SLOVAKIA)
Husband and wife set sail across the ocean, leaving their two children to explore the freedom of being home alone. The boat goes under, and so does the family. A dog, stuck on a desert island, is their only hope.
STAY WITH ME
JINWOO RHEE (SOUTH KOREA)
Scholar Leeseop is new in class, where troublemaker Hayun is in. The two become friends, influencing and changing each other’s lives little by little. A drama that thoughtfully explores teenage life.
VIDA SEXUAL DE LAS PLANTAS (SEX LIFE OF PLANTS)
SEBASTIÁN BRAHM (CHILE)
After an accident turns the love of Barbara’s life into a dimwit stranger, she gets involved with a man who can offer her stability, minus the passion. She tries to adapt to her new fate, but the memory of lost love continues to hound her. Until she realises that what really matters isn’t lost.
Un otoño sin Berlín (An Autumn without Berlin) directed by Lara Izagirre will have its premiere at the