Skip to main content

San Sebastian Film Festival · 2016

San Sebastian Film Festival 2016

Zabaltegi-Tabakalera

Programme

24 films · 8 reviews

Jump to a film

489 Years

Review preview for 489 Years

The film makes good use of computer generated recreations of landscape to evoke wonder at nature and capture moments of genuine terror.

Andrew Robertson · 4 out of 5
A soldier's memories play over this animated tale of Korea's demilitarised zone.

(Country: France; Year: 2016; Director: Hayun Kwon)

Full review

Short

The Disco Shines (La Disco Resplandece)

Saturday, April. Nice weather. The shadow of the mountain grows as evening falls. Five boys get ready for the evening: they have booze, a car and music. No matter if the disco shut down years ago.

(Year: 2016; Director: Chema Garcia Ibarra)

Short

Eat That Question - Frank Zappa In His Own Words

This encounter with the premier of sonic avant-garde is acidic, fun-poking, and full of rich and rare archival footage. This documentary bashes favourite Zappa targets and dashes a few myths about the man himself.

(Country: France, Germany; Year: 2016; Director: Thorsten Schütte)

El Viento Sabe Que Vuelvo A Casa

Cameras follow Chilean documentary maker Ignacio Agüero as he prepares to shoot a fiction film about a real-life couple's disappearance.

(Country: Chile; Year: 2016; Director: José Luis Torres Leiva)

Ghost Ship (Sipo Phantasma)

An hour-long cruise, the meta-filmic essay of a vampire moviemaker, a ghost film.

(Year: 2016; Director: Koldo Almandoz)

Gimme Danger

Review preview for Gimme Danger

Jim Jarmusch has always been great at extracting stories from his subjects. Here, his role is focused more on containment.

Jennie Kermode · 4.5 out of 5
The story of The Stooges.

(Country: US; Year: 2016; Director: Jim Jarmusch; Writer: Jim Jarmusch; Stars: Iggy Pop, Mike Watt, Ron Asheton, James Williamson)

Full review

The Hedonists

Drama about several unemployed Shanxi coalminers looking for work.

(Country: China; Year: 2016; Director: Jia Zhangke; Writer: Jia Zhangke, Zhao Tao ; Stars: Sanming Han, Jindong Liang, Yuan Wenqian)

Short

The Illinois Parables

Experimental documentary. Eleven parables recount events from the history of the state of Illinois: regional vignettes about faith, force, technology and exodus.

(Country: US; Year: 2016; Director: Deborah Stratman; Writer: Deborah Stratman; Stars: Raven Wolf C Felton Jennings II, Joshua Frieman, Anna Toborg, Jose Oubrerie, Daniel Verdier, David Gatten, Chris Bournea, Riley Cruttenden, Joshua Finnell, Paul Hill)

Journey Through French Cinema (Voyage à travers le cinéma français, My Journey Through French Cinema)

Review preview for Journey Through French Cinema

This film is not an encyclopedia entry but a living, breathing adventure ride into French cinema through the eyes and ears of the filmmaker.

Anne-Katrin Titze · 5 out of 5
A personal look at French cinema, the films, directors and composers.

(Country: France; Year: 2016; Director: Bertrand Tavernier)

Full review See: Bertrand Tavernier in conversation on Jacques Becker, Claude Sautet, Jean-Pierre Melville, Voyage À Travers Le Cinéma Français , Bertrand Tavernier in conversation on Voyage À Travers Le Cinéma Français , Bertrand Tavernier in conversation on A Journey Through French Cinema

Opening night film

Louise By The Shore (Louise en hiver)

On the last day of summer, an old woman realises that the last train has departed without her, leaving her abandoned in a seaside town.

(Country: France, Canada; Year: 2016; Director: Jean-François Laguionie; Writer: Jean-François Laguionie; Stars: Diane Dassigny, Dominique Frot, Antony Hickling, Jean-François Laguionie)

A Lullaby To The Sorrowful Mystery (Hele Sa Hiwagang Hapis)

The story of revolutionary Andres Bonifacio and his fight against Spanish colonial rule.

(Country: Philippines, Singapore; Year: 2016; Director: Lav Diaz; Stars: Piolo Pascual, John Lloyd Cruz, Hazel Orencio, Alessandra De Rossi, Joel Saracho)

Memory Exercises (Ejercicios De Memoria)

Documentary about Paraguay's dictatorship as seen through the eyes of the children of Agustín Goiburú - the key opponent of the Stroessner regime.

(Year: 2016; Director: Paz Encina)

Midnight Special

Review preview for Midnight Special

A sublime family thriller

Anne-Katrin Titze · 5 out of 5
A man takes his eight year old son on a special journey.

(Country: US; Year: 2015; Director: Jeff Nichols; Writer: Jeff Nichols; Stars: Michael Shannon, Joel Edgerton, Kirsten Dunst, Jaeden Lieberher, Adam Driver, Sam Shepard)

Full review See: Interview with Jaeden Lieberher, Jeff Nichols, Michael Shannon and Kirsten Dunst about Midnight Special , Interview with Michael Shannon about Midnight Special

On The Path (On The Path)

A road in the middle of nowhere. A car. A bike. Two lonely people looking for the same thing. They meet.

(Country: Spain; Year: 2016; Director: Mikel Rueda)

Short

The Ornithologist (O Ornitólogo)

Review preview for The Ornithologist

In keeping with the hagiographic tradition, Hamy keeps his performance rather flat, but this is problematic for The Ornothologist as a film; its success as a piece of art is somewhat at odds with audience appeal.

Jennie Kermode · 3.5 out of 5
An ornithologist searching for black storks is swept away by rapids and awakens in a mysterious, dark forest.

(Country: Portugal, France, Brazil; Year: 2016; Director: João Pedro Rodrigues; Writer: João Pedro Rodrigues, João Rui Guerra da Mata; Stars: Paul Hamy, Xelo Cagiao, João Pedro Rodrigues, Han Wen, Chan Suan, Juliane Elting )

Full review

Oscuro Animal

The story of three women forced to flee their homes in a war torn region in Colombia.

(Country: Argentina, Greece, Colombia; Year: 2016; Director: Felipe Guerrero; Stars: Marleyda Soto, Luisa Vides Galiano, Jocelyn Meneses)

Our Walls (Gure Hormek)

The neighbourhood of Housewives. The district of Insomniacs. The newsstand of the Unknown Mother. The underground of The Lonely Women. Our walls pay tribute to the people we love.

(Year: 2016; Director: Maria Elorza, Maider Fernandez Iriarte)

Short

A Quiet Passion

Review preview for A Quiet Passion

Davies looks at questions of the soul, family, war, creativity and how to be true to yourself - all in stunningly beautiful images.

Anne-Katrin Titze · 4 out of 5
The story of American poet Emily Dickinson.

(Country: UK, Belgium; Year: 2016; Director: Terence Davies; Writer: Terence Davies; Stars: Cynthia Nixon, Jennifer Ehle, Duncan Duff, Keith Carradine, Jodhi May, Joanna Bacon, Catherine Bailey, Emma Bell, Benjamin Wainwright, Annette Badland, Rose Williams, Noémie Schellens, Miles Richardson, Eric Loren, Stefan Menaul)

Full review See: Terence Davies in conversation on A Quiet Passion and his upcoming projects , Terence Davies in conversation on A Quiet Passion Part 2 , Terence Davies in conversation on A Quiet Passion

Sarah Winchester

An opera ballet that doesn't exist. A ghost-like piece, played in Opera Bastille and danced at Opera Garnier.

(Country: France; Year: 2016; Director: Bertrand Bonello; Writer: Bertrand Bonello; Stars: Marie-Agnès Gillot, Reda Kateb)

Short

The Stranger (El Extraño)

A set of images show the centre of Santiago at night, to retrace the steps of an absent an anonymous character.

(Country: Chile; Year: 2016; Director: Pablo Alvarez)

Short

Uncle Howard

Howard Brookner's first film, Burroughs: The Movie, captured the cultural revolution of downtown New York City in the early '80s. Twenty-five years after his promising career was cut short by AIDS, his nephew sets out to discover Howard's never-before-seen films to create a cinematic elegy about his childhood idol.

(Country: UK, US, France, Germany, Czech Republic; Year: 2016; Director: Aaron Brookner; Writer: Aaron Brookner; Stars: Madonna, Jim Jarmusch, Andy Warhol, Sara Driver, William S. Burroughs, Allen Ginsberg, Howard Brookner, John Giorno, James Grauerholz, Patti Smith)

Where I Grow Old

Francisca, a young Portuguese woman living in Brazil, welcomes Teresa, an old acquaintance she'd lost contact with, into her home. While Teresa discovers the place where she means to settle, Francisca craves for her life back in Lisbon.

(Country: Brazil, Portugal; Year: 2016; Director: Marília Rocha; Writer: João Dumans, Thais Fujinaga, Marília Rocha; Stars: Elizabete Francisca, Francisca Manuel, Paulo Nazareth, Jonnata Doll, Wanderson Dos Santos)

Wiener-Dog

Review preview for Wiener-Dog

Wiener-Dog is a Solondz film through and through – there's still no-one daring to be quite so acerbic and inhumane towards his characters while keeping them grounded in a sense of relatable experience.

David Graham · 3.5 out of 5
Portmanteau film about the owners of a dachshund.

(Country: US; Year: 2016; Director: Todd Solondz; Writer: Todd Solondz; Stars: Kieran Culkin, Danny DeVito, Greta Gerwig, Ellen Burstyn, Zosia Mamet, Julie Delpy, Tracy Letts, Michael James Shaw, Kett Turton, Devin Druid, Samrat Chakrabarti, Jen Ponton, Trey Gerrald, Bridget Brown, Scott Martin)

Full review

Zoology (Zoologiya)

Review preview for Zoology

This modern fairytale has its dark side, but it’s not as grim as something the Brothers Grimm would have concocted.

Luke Shaw · 3.5 out of 5
A quiet, middle-aged zoo employee wakes up to discover that she has grown a tail.

(Country: Russia, France, Germany; Year: 2016; Director: Ivan I Tverdovsky; Writer: Ivan I Tverdovskiy; Stars: Masha Tokareva, Natalya Pavlenkova, Aleksandr Gorchilin, Dmitriy Groshev, Anna Astashkina, Irina Chipizhenko, Zhanetta Demikhova, Yulia Pimkina, Anastasiya Baklanova, Katya Alexandrina, Ella Sanko, Nelly Vasilyeva, Valentina Popova, Ludmila Shestakova, Yuriy Vnukov)

Full review