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San Sebastian Film Festival · 2015

San Sebastian Film Festival 2015

New Directors

Programme

14 films · 3 reviews

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After Eden

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.

(Country: Canada; Year: 2015; Director: Hans Christian Berger; Writer: Hans Christian Berger; Stars: Alyssa Reece, Cameron Crosby, David Roncin, Theo Kim, Joseph John Coleman, Coleman Davie, Collin Kortschak, Jeff Lewis, Brandon Jason Miller, Tobias Graa Winblad, Natasha Stoesz, Tyler Burrows, Josh Collins, Miles Ellis, Ryan Rutherford)

Barash

Naama Barash, 17, 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.

(Country: Israel; Year: 2015; Director: Michal Vinik)

Drifters (Tjuvheder)

An intense social drama about a woman's struggle for survival on the margins of society.

(Country: Sweden; Year: 2015; Director: Peter Grönlund; Writer: Peter Grönlund; Stars: Malin Levanon, Peter Viitanen, Kalled Mustonen, Ulf Stenberg, Lo Kauppi, Tomasz Neuman)

Family Film (Rodinny Film)

Review preview for Family Film

Omerzu's observational, unsentimental style and the cool, stripped back lensing from Lukas Milota means that increasingly outlandish unfortunate events unfold with an acidic humour rather than melodrama.

Amber Wilkinson · 3 out of 5
A family starts to disintegrate after the mother and father leave the children home alone.

(Country: Czech Republic, Germany, Slovakia, Slovenia, France; Year: 2015; Director: Olmo Omerzu; Writer: Olmo Omerzu, Nebojsa Pop Tasic; Stars: Karel Roden, Jenovéfa Boková, Martin Pechlát)

Full review

Granny's Dancing On The Table

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.

(Country: Sweden; Year: 2015; Director: Hanna Sköld; Writer: Hanna Sköld; Stars: Blanca Engström, Lennart Jähkel, Karin Bertling)

Iona

Review preview for Iona

Director Graham is fantastic at allowing the underlying relational strain to simmer for most of the film, in quiet, unspoken Scots Calvinist passive-aggression.

Robert Munro · 4.5 out of 5
A woman and her teenage son return to the place she was born to seek refuge from a violent gang.

(Country: UK; Year: 2015; Director: Scott Graham; Writer: Scott Graham; Stars: Ruth Negga, Douglas Henshall, Tom Brooke, Michelle Duncan, Jim Sturgeon, Matthew Zajac, Ben Gallagher, Sorcha Groundsell)

Full review See: Interview with Scott Graham about Iona

The New Kid (Le Nouveau)

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...

(Country: France; Year: 2015; Director: Rudi Rosenberg; Writer: Igor Gotesman, Bruno Muschio, Rudi Rosenberg; Stars: Raphaël Ghrenassia, Joshua Raccah, Géraldine Martineau, Guillaume Cloud-Roussel, Johanna Lindstedt, Max Boublil, Eythan Chiche, Gabriel Nahum, Ismaël Mandile, Arthur Grégoire, Iléana Courbey, Yiling Luo, Pauline Leblond, Samuel Jami, Zélie Pouyanne)

One Of Us (Einer Von Uns)

Julian, a 14-year old teenager, dies surrounded by the colorful products of a huge supermarket. The film is based on a true story.

(Year: 2015; Director: Stephan Richter )

Parasol

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.

(Country: Belgium; Year: 2015; Director: Valéry Rosier)

Paula

Young Paula lives and works for 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.

(Country: Argentina; Year: 2015; Director: Eugenio Canevari; Writer: Eugenio Canevari; Stars: Carolina Herrera, Bernardo Calabia, Meme Santoro, Nazareno Gerde, Amelia Carricart, Pablo Bocanera, Denise Labbate, Justo Carricart, Maria Jose Sharry, Estefania Blaiotta)

Pikadero

Review preview for Pikadero

A fine, observant comedy from a young director who takes chances that pay off and who, like his two main characters, has plenty of potential.

Amber Wilkinson · 3.5 out of 5
A couple's fledgling relationship comes under pressure as they struggle to find time alone.

(Country: UK, Spain; Year: 2015; Director: Ben Sharrock; Writer: Ben Sharrock; Stars: Bárbara Goenaga, Lander Otaola, Itziar Lazkano, Zorion Eguileor, Ylenia Baglietto, Joseba Usabiaga, Galder Pérez, Peio Arnáez)

Full review See: Location, dislocation and sexual frustration: Ben Sharrock on shooting Pikadero

Sex Life Of Plants (Vida sexual de las plantas)

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.

(Country: Chile; Year: 2016; Director: Sebastián Brahm; Writer: Sebastián Brahm; Stars: Mario Horton, Cristián Jiménez, Francisca Lewin)

Stay With Me (Ul-bo)

Leeseop is new in class, where he meets troublemaker Hayun. The two become friends, influencing and changing each other's lives little by little.

(Country: South Korea; Year: 2015; Director: Jin-woo Rhee; Writer: Jin-woo Rhee; Stars: Yoo-sang Jang, Yoon-kyeong Ha, Seo-jun Lee)

Thirst (Jajda)

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.

(Country: Bulgaria; Year: 2015; Director: Svetla Tsotsorkova; Writer: Svetoslav Ovcharov, Svetla Tsotsorkova, Ventsislav Vasilev; Stars: Monika Naydenova, Alexander Benev, Svetlana Yancheva)