Alejandro Amenábar’s latest film, Regression, will open the coming edition of the San Sebastian Festival. The world premiere of the film, presented in the Official Selection out of competition, will take place on September 18.
Regression has an international cast headlining Ethan Hawke, Emma Watson, David Thewlis and David Dencik. In his sixth feature film, Alejandro Amenábar, who also wrote the screenplay, returns to a psychological thriller, a genre to which he has contributed already classic titles such as The Others, Abre los Ojos (Open Your Eyes) andTesis (Thesis). The film, shot in Canada in English, is produced by Fernando Bovaira.
Minnesota, 1990. Detective Bruce Kenner (Ethan Hawke) investigates the case of young Angela (Emma Watson), who accuses her father, John Gray (David Dencik), of an unspeakable crime. When John unexpectedly and without recollection admits guilt, renowned psychologist Dr. Raines (David Thewlis) is brought in to help him relive his memories and what they discover unmasks a horrifying nationwide mystery.
Regression will open in Spain on October 2 followed by key territories, including Germany, UK, France, Italy, China and Korea later this Fall. The remaining worldwide releases will take place in the months to follow.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xNxl56_ExWYSan Sebastian International Film Festival
The San Sebastián International Film Festival is one of the most prestigious and important film festivals in the world, held annually in the Spanish city of Donostia-San Sebastián.
San Sebastian’s film program consists of some 200 films selected for six competitive sections (Official Selection, New Directors, Horizontes Latinos, Zabaltegi-Tabakalera, Perlak and Nest) and seven non-competitive sections (Culinary Zinema, Made in Spain, Zinemira, Velodrome, Movies for Kids, Retrospective and Klasikoak).
San Sebastian International Film Festival started in 1953 and takes place in Donostia-San Sebastián, Basque Country, Spain
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World Premiere of REGRESSION Starring Ethan Hawke, Emma Watson to Open San Sebastian Film Festival | TRAILER
Alejandro Amenábar’s latest film, Regression, will open the coming edition of the San Sebastian Festival. The world premiere of the film, presented in the Official Selection out of competition, will take place on September 18.
Regression has an international cast headlining Ethan Hawke, Emma Watson, David Thewlis and David Dencik. In his sixth feature film, Alejandro Amenábar, who also wrote the screenplay, returns to a psychological thriller, a genre to which he has contributed already classic titles such as The Others, Abre los Ojos (Open Your Eyes) andTesis (Thesis). The film, shot in Canada in English, is produced by Fernando Bovaira.
Minnesota, 1990. Detective Bruce Kenner (Ethan Hawke) investigates the case of young Angela (Emma Watson), who accuses her father, John Gray (David Dencik), of an unspeakable crime. When John unexpectedly and without recollection admits guilt, renowned psychologist Dr. Raines (David Thewlis) is brought in to help him relive his memories and what they discover unmasks a horrifying nationwide mystery.
Regression will open in Spain on October 2 followed by key territories, including Germany, UK, France, Italy, China and Korea later this Fall. The remaining worldwide releases will take place in the months to follow.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xNxl56_ExWY
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LONDON ROAD by Rufus Norris to Close the San Sebastian Festival | TRAILER
The 63rd San Sebastian Festival will come to a close on September 26 with the out of competition screening of the British film London Road, fresh from the Toronto Festival. Produced by BBC Films, the British Film Institute and the National Theatre and directed by Rufus Norris with a screenplay by Alecky Blythe and music by Adam Cork, the film is a big-screen adaptation of the musical of the same name hailed as a remarkable, ground-breaking work during two sell-out runs at the National Theatre.
London Road documents the events that shook Suffolk in 2006, when the quiet rural town of Ipswich was shattered by the discovery of the bodies of five women. The residents of London Road had struggled for years with frequent soliciting and curb-crawling on their street. The film follows the community who found themselves at the epicenter of the tragic events. Using their own words set to an innovative musical score, London Road tells a moving story of ordinary people coming together during the darkest of experiences.
London Road features an ensemble cast that includes Olivia Colman, Clare Burt, Rosalie Craig, Anita Dobson, James Doherty, Hal Fowler, Kate Fleetwood, Linzi Hateley, Nick Holder, Claire Moore, Michael Shaeffer, Nicola Sloane, Paul Thornley, Howard Ward, Duncan Wisbey and Tom Hardy.
LONDON ROAD
RUFUS NORRIS (UK)
A feature film adaptation of the ground-breaking work during two sell-out runs at the National Theatre that documents the events that shook Suffolk in 2006, when the quiet rural town of Ipswich was shattered by the discovery of the bodies of five women. The film follows the community who found themselves at the epicenter of the tragic events.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I8NxcsH9o4A
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Woody Allen’s new film, IRRATIONAL MAN + Major Titles to Have Spanish Premiere at 63rd San Sebastian Festival
The 63rd San Sebastian Festival will offer, as part of its Pearls section, the Spanish premiere of some of the most important films presented during the year at different international festivals.
Among the films selected are the Golden Bear-winner at the Berlin Festival, Taxi Teheran by Jafar Pahani; Me and Earl and the Dying Girl, by Alfonso Gómez-Rejón, Grand Jury Prize and Audience Award at the Sundance Film Festival; Nie yinniang / The Assassin, by Hou Hsiao-Hsien, the Jury Grand Prix-winner and Best Director Award at the Cannes Festival, Saul Fia / Son of Saul, by László Nemes. The section will similarly include works by directors such as Arnaud Desplechin, Jia Zhang-ke, Charlie Kaufman, Hirokazu Kore-eda, Nanni Moretti, Pablo Trapero and Denis Villeneuve.
Woody Allen’s new film, Irrational Man (pictured above), will also be screened out of competition in the section. The remaining Pearls will compete for the Audience Award, decided according to the votes cast by attendees of the first public screening of each film in the section. The Audience Award comes with two prizes: a First Prize for the Best Film, with €50,000, and a Second Prize for the Best European Film, with €20,000. The Audience Award goes to the distributor of the film in Spain.
ANOMALISA
CHARLIE KAUFMAN, DUKE JOHNSON (USA)
Charlie Kaufman and Duke Johnson tell the tale of a man who struggles with his inability to connect with other people. Spanish premiere following its screening at the Venice Festival.
BLACK MASS
SCOTT COOPER (USA)
Johnny Depp, Joel Edgerton and Benedict Cumberbatch star in this film presented out of competition at the Venice Festival. FBI Agent John Connolly persuades Irish mobster Jimmy Bulger to collaborate with the FBI and eliminate a common enemy: the Italian mob. This unholy alliance spirals out of control.
EL CLAN (THE CLAN)
PABLO TRAPERO (ARGENTINA – SPAIN)
Pablo Trapero’s new movie is a competitor at the Venice Festival. Argentina, in the early 80s. Behind the facade of a typical family from the upmarket San Isidro neighbourhood lurks a sinister clan that kidnaps and murders for a living.
HITCHCOCK / TRUFFAUT
KENT JONES (FRANCE – USA)
Fifty years after the publication of François Truffaut’s book “Cinema According to Hitchcock” filmmaker Kent Jones invites some of the best directors of our time (Martin Scorsese, David Fincher, Richard Linklater, Wes Anderson, James Gray, Olivier Assayas…) to share their thoughts on the master of suspense, Alfred Hitchcock.
ME AND EARL AND THE DYING GIRL
ALFONSO GÓMEZ-REJÓN (USA)
The amusing and moving tale of Greg, a student in his last year of high school who navigates the minefield of adolescent social life by steering away from all close relations. Winner of the Grand Jury Prize and Audience Award at the 2015 Sundance Film Festival.
MIA MADRE
NANNI MORETTI (ITALY – FRANCE – GERMANY)
Nanni Moretti competed at the Cannes Festival with this film about Margherita, a director shooting a film with a famous American actor, who is quite a character on set. Away from the shoot, Margherita tries to hold her life together while feeling powerless when facing her mother’s illness and her daughter’s adolescence.
NIE YINNIANG / THE ASSASSIN
HOU HSIAO-HSIEN (TAIWAN)
Hou Hsiao-Hsien won Best Director at the Cannes Festival with his latest work. China, 9th century. Nie Yinniang comes home after years in exile, now a trained vigilante. When her mistress orders her to kill her cousin, she will have to choose between the man she loves and her loyalty to the “order of the Assassins”.
SAUL FIA / SON OF SAUL
LÁSZLÓ NEMES (HUNGARY)
Winner of the Jury Grand Prix at the Cannes Festival, this debut by Hungarian moviemaker László Nemes is set in Auschwitz, 1944. Saul Auslander is a Hungarian prisoner assigned to one of the Auschwitz crematorium ovens. He tries to save the body of a young boy he believes to be his son from the flames.
SHAN HE GU REN / MOUNTAINS MAY DEPART
JIA ZHANG-KE (CHINA – FRANCE – JAPAN)
Spanish premiere of Jia Zhang-ke’s latest movie following its screening in the official competition at the Cannes Festival. China, 1999, two childhood friends court a young girl from Fenyang. One has his future mapped out for him, but not the other. The young girl’s heart is divided between the two, but she must take a decision that will mark her life, and that of her son.
SICARIO
DENIS VILLENEUVE (USA)
In the border area stretching between the U.S. and Mexico, an FBI agent is enlisted by an elite North American government task force official to aid in the escalating war against drugs. The new film by Denis Villeneuve competed in the Cannes Official Selection 2015.
TAXI TÉHÉRAN
JAFAR PANAHI (IRAN)
Golden Bear-winner at the last Berlin Festival. A yellow taxi drives through the hustling, bustling streets of Teheran. The taxi picks up all sorts of passengers, each one more colourful than the last. All talk frankly to the driver. What they don’t realise is that the person interviewing them is none other than the director Jafar Pahani, one of the biggest names in today’s Iranian cinema.
TROIS SOUVENIRS DE MA JEUNESSE / MY GOLDEN DAYS
ARNAUD DESPLECHIN (FRANCE)
Arnaud Desplechin revisits the rich emotional landscape of Comment je me suis disputé… (My Sex Life…) and Un conte de Noël (A Christmas Tale) with this film presented at the Cannes Directors’ Fortnight. Paul remembers his youth and his first, and only, true love…
UMIMACHI DIARY / OUR LITTLE SISTER
HIROKAZU KORE-EDA (JAPAN)
A film by Japanese moviemaker Hirokazu Kore-eda which competed in the Cannes Official Selection. Three sisters share a house in the city. They haven’t seen their father for 15 years. When he dies, the three travel to the countryside for his funeral. There they meet their shy teenage half-sister. It won’t be long before they grow fond of the girl.
Not in competition
IRRATIONAL MAN
WOODY ALLEN (USA)
Not in competition
Woody Allen’s new film, presented at the last Cannes Festival, is about a tormented philosophy professor who finds a will to live when he commits an existential act.
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24 Films in Zabaltegi Section of the 63rd San Sebastian Festival
The Zabaltegi program at the 63rd San Sebastian Festival showcases the Spanish premieres of the latest works by reputed filmmakers including Laurie Anderson, Jem Cohen, Anca Damian, Andrés Di Tella, Eric Khoo, Corneliu Porumboiu, Walter Salles, and Alexander Sokurov, alongside films selected for international festivals at which they have won numerous awards. Feature films, documentaries, animated movies and a short film make up a selection that reflects the vitality of contemporary cinema.
327 CUADERNOS
ANDRÉS DI TELLA (ARGENTINA – CHILE)
A documentary by Andrés Di Tella starring Ricardo Piglia, one of the great narrators in the Spanish language, who decides to closely read his intimate diary for the first time. A record of 50 years of life. 327 identical notebooks, all with black oilskin covers, stored away in 40 cardboard boxes.
ADAMA
SIMON ROUBY (FRANCE)
Premiered at Annecy Film Festival, an animated coming-of-age story. 12-year-old Adama lives in a remote West African village. One night his older brother, Samba, disappears and he decides to set off in search of him on a quest that takes him over the seas, to the North, to the frontline of the First World War.
ALLENDE MI ABUELO ALLENDE (BEYOND MY GRANDFATHER ALLENDE)
MARCIA TAMBUTTI (CHILE)
35 years after the coup d’état that overthrew her grandfather, Salvador Allende, Marcia draws a family portrait that addresses the complexities of irreparable loss and the role of memory in three generations of an iconic family. Winner of the L’Oeil d’Or award for Best Documentary at the last Cannes Festival.
COMOARA / THE TREASURE
CORNELIU PORUMBOIU (ROMANIA – FRANCE)
Corneliu Porumboiu returns with a tender black comedy, in which a father’s love transforms an unlikely treasure hunt into a fairytale. Winner of the Un Certain Talent Prize at the last Cannes Festival.
COUNTING
JEM COHEN (USA)
Fifteen distinct but interconnected chapters, shot in locations from Russia to New York City to Istanbul. Together, these build to a reckoning at the intersection of city symphony, diary, and essay film. Perhaps the most personal of Cohen’s documentary works, it measures street life, light, and time, noting not only surveillance and over-development but resistance and its phantoms as manifested in music, animals and everyday magic.
EFTERSKALV / THE HERE AFTER
MAGNUS VON HORN (POLAND – SWEDEN – FRANCE)
The feature directorial debut by Magnus von Horn was presented at the Cannes Festival Directors’ Fortnight. After having served time in prison, John’s punishment has come to an end. But he soon discovers that the real pain he needs to experience has not yet begun.
FRANCOFONIA
ALEXANDER SOKUROV (FRANCE – GERMANY – NETHERLANDS)
Paris 1940: Large armies are trampling on the heart of civilisation and cannon fire is once again taking its toll. Jacques Jaujard and Count Franziskus Wolff Metternich worked together to protect and preserve the treasure of the Louvre Museum. Alexander Sokurov tells their story. He explores the relationship between art and power, and asks what art tells us about ourselves, at the very heart of one of the most devastating conflicts the world has ever known. The film will compete in the Official Selection of the Venice Film Festival.
HEART OF A DOG
LAURIE ANDERSON (USA)
Composer and artist Laurie Anderson explores in this personal essay film themes of love death and language. The director’s voice is a constant presence as stories of her dog Lolabelle, her mother, childhood fantasies, political and philosophical theories unfurl in a seamless song like stream. The film will compete in the Official Selection at the Venice Film Festival.
IN THE ROOM
ERIC KHOO (HONG KONG – SINGAPORE) (pictured main image aboce)
Eric Khoo’s latest film is a tapestry of stories, all of which unfold in a hotel room over several decades. The common thread is sex. That hotel room is Room 27 at the Singapura Hotel, which started out as a ritzy establishment in the 1940s but has, over the decades, lost its sheen of respectability. In that time, Room 27 has felt and experienced – through the individuals who have passed through its doors and made love on its bed – all facets of the human condition: joy, love, fear, compassion, cruelty, depravity and redemption.
UNE JEUNESSE ALLEMANDE / A GERMAN YOUTH
JEAN-GABRIEL PÉRIOT (FRANCE – SWITZERLAND – GERMANY)
A chronicle of the political radicalization of a number of German youths in the late 1960s, giving rise to the Red Army Faction (RAF), a German revolutionary terrorist group founded, among others, by Andreas Baader and Ulrike Meinhof. It premiered at the Berlinale’s Dokumente Panorama section.
JIA ZHANG-KE, UM HOMEM DE FENYANG / JIA ZHANGKE, A GUY FROM FENYANG
WALTER SALLES (BRAZIL)
The portrait of a young Chinese director who has become one of the most important filmmakers of our time. The documentary, directed by Walter Salles, dwells on the question of memory (individual as well as collective) and cinema. Jia Zhang-ke returns to his birthplace, the Shanxi province in Northern China, and to the locations of his films. It premiered at the Berlinale’s Dokumente Panorama section.
KARATSI / LOSERS
IVAILO HRISTOV (BULGARIA)
Winner of the top prize at Moscow Film Festival, this film stars Elena, Koko, Patso and Gosho, high school students in a small provincial town. Koko is in love with Elena. She wants to be a singer and is excited about the upcoming concert by a famous rock band. An event that shakes up the town and gives birth to new love.
MARIPOSA
MARCO BERGER (ARGENTINA)
A butterfly’s flapping wings divides Romino and Germán’s universe into two parallel realities: in one of them they grow as siblings who conceal their desire for one another; while in the other they are two youngsters who have an unusual friendship. Winning film of the Sebastiane Latino 2015 Award.
MONTANHA
JOÃO SALAVIZA (PORTUGAL – FRANCE)
A hot summer in Lisbon. David, 14, awaits the imminent death of his grandfather but refuses to visit him, fearing this terrible loss. The void already left by his grandfather forces David to become the man of the house. He doesn’t feel ready to assume this new role, but without realizing it: the more David tries to avoid adulthood, the more he gets closer to it…Selected for Venice’s Critics’ Week.
MUNTELE MAGIC / THE MAGIC MOUNTAIN
ANCA DAMIAN (ROMANIA – FRANCE – POLAND)
The latest film by filmmaker Anca Damian (Crulic) landed a special mention at the Karlovy Vary Festival. In the form of an animated docudrama, the biography of Adam Jacek Winker, a Polish refugee in Paris, portrays a boundless life driven by the desire to change the world.
PSICONAUTAS
ALBERTO VÁZQUEZ, PEDRO RIVERO (SPAIN)
Teenagers Birdboy and Dinki have decided to escape from an island devastated by ecological catastrophe: Birdboy by shutting himself off from the world, Dinki by setting out on a dangerous voyage in the hope that Birdboy will accompany him.
THE SHOW OF SHOWS: 100 YEARS OF VAUDEVILLE, CIRCUSES AND CARNIVALS
BENEDIKT ERLINGSSON (ICELAND – UK)
Benedikt Erlingsson, winner of the Kutxa-New Directors Award in 2013 for Of Horse and Men, takes us back to the days when the most outlandish, skillful and breathtaking acts traveled the world. In this film, rarities and never-before seen footage of fairgrounds, circus entertainment, freak shows, variety performances, music hall and seaside entertainment are chronicled from the 19th and 20th century with an original score by Sigur Rós.
SWAP
REMTON ZUASOLA (PHILIPPINES)
Produced by Brillante Mendoza, Remton Zuasola’s film tells the story of a young father torn between solving a crime and committing another when his only son is kidnapped and the only way to get him back is to kidnap another child in exchange for his life.
The following titles join the Spanish productions already announced:
UN DÍA VI 10.000 ELEFANTES – Alex Guimerà, Juan Pajares
ISLA BONITA – Fernando Colomo
MI QUERIDA ESPAÑA – Mercedes Moncada
LA NOVIA – Paula Ortiz
THE PROPAGANDA GAME – Álvaro Longoria
DUELLUM (Short film) – Tucker Dávila Wood
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Eight Films Added to Official Selection of 2015 San Sebastian Festival
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)
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THE DEMONS Directed by Philippe Lesage to World Premiere at San Sebastian International Film Festival
The Demons, directed by Quebec director Philippe Lesage, will get its world premiere in official competition at the 63rd San Sebastian International Film Festival (Donostia Zinemaldia) in Spain, which runs Sept. 18 to 26. The Demons will be competing for the Concha de Oro, the festival’s top prize, awarded in the past to such luminaries as Francis Ford Coppola, Claude Chabrol, Bahman Ghobadi, François Ozon, Peter Mullan and Arturo Ripstein. “I’m very honoured and happy to see my first feature selected in official competition at the prestigious San Sebastian festival,” said Lesage. “Bravo to our entire team!”
The film’s exceptional cast is mostly made up of children and teenagers, some making their first appearance on screen. The young actors include Édouard Tremblay-Grenier, Yannick Gobeil-Dugas, Vassili Schneider, Sarah Mottet, Mathis Thomas, Théodore Pellerin and Rose-Marie Perreault. They play alongside such seasoned professionals as Laurent Lucas, Pascale Bussières, Bénédicte Décary and younger talents including Victoria Diamond and Pier-Luc Funk.
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.
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Calling All Foodies. 17 Films to Screen in Culinary Zinema Section of 2015 San Sebastian Festival
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)
PEP GATELL (SPAIN)A philosophical and ethological documentary. La Fura dels Baus reveals the motors that drive Mugaritz, the ideas behind its dishes, what it means for the team to achieve excellence and success, the suffering and the enjoyment… at the end of the day, how Mugaritz constantly creates and destroys. It highlights the constant risk, hence its title, but also the knowhow drawn from the effort and work of the many people past, present and future at Mugaritz; a place where culinary purpose has been surpassed by the creative process and its potential variables. Closing Night Film COOKING UP A TRIBUTE LUIS GONZÁLEZ, ANDREA GÓMEZ (SPAIN)
The tale of an unprecedented voyage when one of the best restaurants in the world closes its doors for five weeks to set out and travel. Making its way through four American countries, the team from El Celler de Can Roca pays homage to the cuisines of Mexico, Peru and Colombia, personally reinterpreting their ingredients and traditions.ADN DU CEVICHEORLANDO ARRIAGADA (CANADA)
A gastronomic voyage revealing the cultural and historical wealth of Peru guided by one of its favourite dishes: ceviche!THE BIRTH OF SAKÉERIK SHIRAI (USA – JAPAN)
A beautiful and immersive portrait of life at the 144-year old Yoshida Brewery, a producer of world class sake. With changing times ahead and new regime led by the 6th generation heir, this is a rarified look at the personal and professional intensity needed to create a revered product and the artisans behind it.KAMPAI! FOR THE LOVE OF SAKEMIRAI KONISHI (JAPAN)In this fascinating look at the universe of sake, three outsiders; a British sake brewer with 25 years experience in Japan, an American journalist who has published multiple guidebooks on sake, and the young president of a centuries -old Japanese sake brewery who wants to make changes to his family legacy, join together to explore the mysterious world of sake illustrating how these unique individuals each have a role to play in the rich, complex, and spectacular world of sake.LITTLE FOREST – WINTER/SPRINGJUNICHI MORI (JAPAN)Ichiko lives in Komori, a tiny village in northeastern Japan. She moved out to the city once, but felt lost there and returned. With no supermarkets or convenience stores nearby, living in Komori is like living off the land. She grows her own rice, works the farm, and makes meals out of seasonal foods gathered from the neighboring mountains and fields…NOMA, MY PERFECT STORMPIERRE DESCHAMPS (UK – DENMARK)
How did Redzepi manage to revolutionize the entire world of gastronomy, inventing the alphabet and vocabulary that would infuse newfound pedigree to Nordic cuisine and establish a new edible world while radically changing the image of the modern chef? His story has the feel of a classic fairy tale: the ugly duckling transformed into a majestic swan, who now reigns over the realm of modern gourmet cuisine. But beneath the polished surface, cracks appear in the form of old wounds.SERGIO HERMAN – FUCKING PERFECTWILLEMIEK KLUIJFHOUT (NETHERLANDS)
At the height of his culinary career, Master chef Sergio Herman feels he needs to let go of his 3-star restaurant Oud Sluis in order to fulfill his dreams. A revealing documentary about perfection, ambition and sacrifice.WANTON MEEERIC KHOO (SINGAPORE)After finding out that his home is slated to be demolished, Koh Chun Feng, a middle-aged food critic whose career is starting to wear away at him decides to explore his life and the progress of Singapore through local food. NOT IN COMPETITIONCOCINANDO EN EL FIN DEL MUNDO (COOKING AT THE WORLD’S END)ALBERTO BAAMONDE BELLO (SPAIN)Galician nouvelle cuisine has the peculiar trait of a love for exploring the past, for recovering the flavours left behind by the modern world, for lending dignity to products considered inferior. The Nove Group is an association of chefs who reach beyond the clichés to promote this cuisine of the future. A realistic portrayal of Galicia taking gastronomy as its vehicle in the endeavour to unravel the delicate balance between tradition and modernity in a land of contrasts.CHEF’S TABLE “MASSIMO BOTTURA”DAVID GELB (USA)A documentary which features six of the world’s most renowned international chefs, and offers viewers the opportunity to go inside the lives and kitchens of these culinary talents. The chefs featured include Massimo Bottura (Osteria Francescana in Modena, Italy), Dan Barber (Blue Hill Restaurant at Stone Barns and in New York City, USA), Francis Mallmann (El Restaurante Patagonia Sur in Buenos Aires, Argentina), Niki Nakayama (N/Naka Restaurant in Los Angeles, CA, USA), Ben Shewry (Attica Restaurant in Melbourne, Australia) and Magnus Nilsson (Fäviken in Järpen Sweden).SAGARDOA BIDEGILE (CIDER STORIES)BEGO ZUBIA GALLASTEGI (SPAIN)The Basques have been drinking cider for centuries, but in the Basque Country cider is more than just fermented apple juice. The documentary takes us on a journey, a cultural, gastronomic, scientific and historical adventure. It’s leading character: cider.SNACKS, BOCADOS DE UNA REVOLUCIÓNVERÓNICA ESCUER, CRISTINA JOLONCH (SPAIN)
A documentary portraying the origin, evolution, current status and future of Spanish gastronomy, conceived as a movement that established creative and conceptual freedom as the ground rule of the game all over the globe. Short filmsBRASA (HOT COAL)Short filmXABI GUTIÉRREZ MÁRQUEZ (SPAIN)Four artists from different disciplines: chef Xabier Gutiérrez, painter Juan Vich, musician Ander Fernández and producer Pello Gutiérrez. Each lends a new slant to a concept based on a single premise: charcoal embers. All four set about exposing their individual takes on the materials, colours, sound, sensations.COMER CONOCIMIENTO (KNOWLEDGE-EATING)Short filmLUIS GERMANÓ (SPAIN)Ferran Adrià dons his chef’s jacket once again, to take up a new challenge: cooking without cooking and reformulating the conference format, turning it into content to explain the creative process that led him to make his restaurant one of the great temples of 20th creativity, a feat that would forever change the history of gastronomy.THE PERFECT PROTEINShort filmCATERINA BARJAU DACHS, RAFAEL JORGE MARTÍNEZ PARDO (SPAIN)While the sea is being ransacked as never before, more than 90% of the fish captured is controlled by only 30 countries. The NGO Oceana and the globe’s top chefs suggest ways to curb overfishing that would provide food for much of the world.EL SUEÑO DE SONIA (SONIA’S DREAM)Short filmDIEGO SARMIENTO PAGÁN (PERU)
Sonia Mamani lives in Capachica, a peninsula of Lake Titicaca (Puno, Peru). She learned to cook at the age of fifteen and has been travelling ever since, teaching women not only how to prepare traditional dishes but also to appreciate their customs and identity.
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13 Films to Compete for 2015 Kutxabank-New Directors Award at San Sebastian Festival
The San Sebastian Festival revealed the titles of the thirteen films to compete for the 2015 Kutxabank-New Directors Award, decided by a specific international jury and carrying €50,000. Last year’s prize was won by Urok / The Lesson, directed by Kristina Grozeva and Petar Valchanov. Following its world premiere at the Toronto Festival and its European premiere in the New Directors section, the film has been distributed all over the world, winning awards at numerous international festivals, such as Gothenburg, Thessaloniki, Tokyo, Warsaw, Varna, Vilnius, Sofia and Transylvania. Urok / The Lesson is also one of the three finalist films for the European Parliament Lux Prize.
AFTER EDEN
HANS CHRISTIAN BERGER (CANADA) (pictured above)
A tale of love and temptation in the age of Internet pornography. A reclusive university student tracks down his favourite porn star in the real world and becomes her anonymous follower – until he finds the courage to connect in person.
BARASH
MICHAL VINIK (ISRAEL)
17 year old Naama Barash enjoys alcohol, drugs and hanging out with like-minded friends. Her activities are an escape from a home where her parents always fight, and a rebellious, army-enrolled sister, who, one day, disappears. As a new girl shows up at school, Barash falls deep in love for the first time, and the intensity of the experience at once confuses her and gives her life new meaning.
EINER VON UNS / ONE OF US
STEPHAN RICHTER (AUSTRIA)
Julian, a 14-year old teenager, dies surrounded by the colorful products of a huge supermarket. The film is based on a true story and shows the rebellion of the local youth against the bleak life of suburbia.
GRANNY’S DANCING ON THE TABLE
HANNA SKÖLD (SWEDEN – DENMARK)
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.
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Un otoño sin Berlín (An Autumn Without Berlin) to World Premiere at Basque Film Gala at 2015 San Sebastian International Film Festival
Un otoño sin Berlín (An Autumn without Berlin) directed by Lara Izagirre will have its premiere at the 2015 San Sebastian International Film Festival, in the Basque Film Gala on September 21st in the Victoria Eugenia Theatre.
Un otoño sin Berlín is programmed as part of the Festival’s Zinemira section and competes for the Irizar Basque Film Award, which goes to the best Basque film presented as a world premiere.
The film stars Irene Escolar, Tamar Novas, Ramón Barea and Lier Quesada. It tells the story of June, a young girl who comes back the town of her birth by surprise after spending time abroad. The return home will be painful: her family and her first love, Diego, have changed. She too has changed, and repairing the broken ties won’t be easy. But just like the autumn wind, June will take the place by storm.
Un otoño sin Berlín is the feature film debut of Lara Izagirre (Amorebieta, 1985). A graduate in Audiovisual Communication from the University of the Basque Country, she continued her film studies at the New York Film School. In Barcelona, she completed her master’s degree in screenwriting at the Escuela Superior de Cine y Audiovisuales de Cataluña (ESCAC). It was there that she started writing the screenplay of Un otoño sin Berlín, for which she received a grant from the Basque Government for its development. In 2010 she founded the production company Gariza Produkzioak, with which she produced and directed several shorts: Bicycle Poem(2010), KEA (2011), Next Stop Greenland (2012) and Larroxa (2013). Her short film Sormenaren Bide Ezkutuak(2013) was premiered as part of the Culinary Zinema section at the 61st edition of the San Sebastian Festival.
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MAGICAL GIRL Wins Top Awards for Best Film and Best Director at 2014 San Sebastian Festival
MAGICAL GIRLMAGICAL 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.