Eight European filmmakers vie for the New Directors award
- Films by Scott Graham, Ben Sharrock and Olmo Omerzu, among others, to screen in San Sebastián’s parallel section
After unveiling the Spanish contingent of this year’s edition (read the news here), the 63rd San Sebastián International Film Festival (18-26 September) has announced the line-up of first or second films in the New Directors section. Festival director José Luis Rebordinos and Kutxabank’s wholesale banking director Ander Aizpurua revealed the titles of the thirteen films set to compete for the Kutxabank-New Directors award, a prize that has become a launch pad for emerging filmmakers. Last year’s winner was The Lesson [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Kristina Grozeva, Petar Val…
interview: Margita Gosheva
film profile], by Katarina Grozeva and Petar Valchanov- one of the most successful films in the European festival circuit and one of the finalists for the European Parliament’s LUX Prize.
This year, the competition will welcome back writer-director Scott Graham (Shell [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile]) with his new drama, Iona [+see also:
trailer
film profile] (United Kingdom/Germany), about the return of a young mother and her child to the island where she was born. It will also feature Ben Sharrock’s debut, Pikadero [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Ben Sharrock
film profile] (Spain/United Kingdom), a dramedy about a penniless couple starring Bárbara Goenaga, as well as the second film by Olmo Omerzu (A Night Too Young [+see also:
trailer
interview: Jiří Konečný
film profile]), titled Family Film [+see also:
film review
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interview: Olmo Omerzu
film profile] (Czech Republic/Germany/Slovenia/France/Slovakia – read the news here), which tackles the subjects of family, freedom, loneliness and hope.
The rest of the section is comprised of Stephan Richter’s One of Us [+see also:
film review
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interview: Stephan Richter
film profile] (Austria), about the rebellion by local youth against the bleak life of suburbia; Hanna Sköld’s Granny’s Dancing on the Table [+see also:
trailer
film profile] (Sweden/Denmark), about a young girl growing up isolated from “evil” society by her father; Svetla Tsotsorkova’s Thirst [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Svetla Tsotsorkova
film profile] (Bulgaria), the tale of a poor family that comes in contact with a water diviner; Rudi Rosenberg’s The New Kid [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Rudi Rosenberg
film profile] (France), tackling the teens from the point of view of a 14 year-old who changes schools; Valéry Rosier’s Parasol [+see also:
film review
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film profile] (Belgium), involving a revelatory holiday on a Mediterranean island; and Eugenio Canevari’s Paula [+see also:
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film profile] (Argentina/Spain), about a young woman working for a middle-class family whose life takes an unexpected turn after discovering she’s pregnant. Hans Christian Berger’s Eden (Canada), Michael Vinik’s Barash (Israel), Jinwoo Rhee’s Stay With Me (South Korea) and Sebastián Brahm’s Sex Life of Plants (Chile) round off the selection.
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