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San Sebastian Film Festival · 2018

San Sebastian Film Festival 2018

New Directors

Programme

15 films · 3 reviews

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Breeze (Qing Feng De Wei Dao)

Having left Yunnan, his native city, Yu Zhao moved to Beijing, where he has lived for more than 30 years, when he returns to Yunnan to start a new life, things don't quite turn out as he expects.

(Country: China; Year: 2018; Director: Kun Yang)

The Chambermaid (La Camarista)

Review preview for The Chambermaid

This is a quiet movie, which never loses its focus on its central character study, while allowing points about economic and social inequalities to sound out loud and clear.

Amber Wilkinson · 4 out of 5
Character study of a maid in a Mexican hotel.

(Country: Mexico, US; Year: 2018; Director: Lila Avilés; Writer: Lila Avilés, Juan Carlos Marquéz; Stars: Gabriela Cartol, Teresa Sánchez, Gabriela Cartol, Teresa Sánchez)

Full review See: Lila Avilés talks about making The Chambermaid , Interview with Gabriela Cartol about The Chambermaid

Cold November (Nëntor i Ftohtë)

Fadili who is working as an archivist has to choose between two options, being aware that both of them are wrong.

(Country: Kosovo; Year: 2018; Director: Ismet Sijarina; Writer: Arian Krasniqi, Ismet Sijarina; Stars: Emir Hadzihafizbegovic, May-Linda Kosumovic, Adriana Matoshi, Kushtrim Hoxha, Labinot Lajçi, Gordana Boban, Kushtrim Sheremeti, Bislim Muçaj, Dukagjin Podrimaj, Fatmir Spahiu, Aurita Agushi, Vesa Konjufca, Nata Zeqiri Berisha, Lum Veseli, Guri Sijarina)

Core Of The World (Serdtse Mira)

A vet finds his life's fragile balance crumbling after animal rights activists arrive at his place of work.

(Country: Russia; Year: 2018; Director: Natalia Meschaninova; Writer: Natalia Meschaninova; Stars: Stepan Devonin, Dmitriy Podnozov, Jana Sekste)

A Decent Man (Un Om La Locul Lui)

Petru is a drilling engineer living in a community of oil industry workers. He is quite conflicted. On one hand he is about to get married to his pregnant girlfriend Laura, on the other he is involved with the wife of one of his colleagues.

(Country: Romania; Year: 2018; Director: Hadrian Marcu; Writer: Hadrian Marcu; Stars: Bogdan Dumitrache, Claudia Susanu, Madalina Constantin, Ada Gales, Bogdan Dumitrache, Claudia Susanu, Madalina Constantin, Ada Gales)

The Deer (Oreina)

Khalil is a rootless young man who lives on the edge of town, where the industrial estates merge into the river and the marshes. Khalil gets by as best he can and spends his time with an old poacher, who shares a house on the riverbank with a brother who he hasn't spoken to in years. On the banks of the marshes, the tides mark the time for love and heartbreak, friendship and revenge.

(Country: Spain; Year: 2018; Director: Koldo Almandoz; Writer: Koldo Almandoz; Stars: Laulad Ahmed, Patxi Bisquert, Ramón Agirre, Iraia Elías, Erika Olaizola)

Jesus (Boku Wa Iesu-Sama Ga Kirai)

Yura is a young boy whose family leaves Tokyo to live with his grandmother in the snowy countryside. Not only must he fit in at a new school, but it's a Christian one. At first he is puzzled when he and his classmates are called to ‘worship’, but he gradually adjusts to his new environment. One day, in the middle of a prayer, he sees a very small Jesus appear before him. Each wish Yura makes to Jesus comes true, and he starts to have faith in the power of the Lord.

(Country: Japan; Year: 2018; Director: Hiroshi Okuyama; Writer: Hiroshi Okuyama; Stars: Yura Sato, Riki Okuma)

Journey To A Mother's Room (Viaje Al Cuarto De Una Madre)

Review preview for Journey To A Mother's Room

Clavellino's approach is unsentimental and all the more believable for that.

Amber Wilkinson · 3.5 out of 5
Leonor wants to leave home, but she doesn’t dare to tell her mother. Estrella doesn’t want her to leave but is unable to keep her by her side either. Mother and daughter will have to face this new stage in life in which the world they share starts to fall apart.

(Country: Spain; Year: 2018; Director: Celia Rico Clavellino; Writer: Celia Rico Clavellino; Stars: Anna Castillo, Lola Dueñas, Pedro Casablanc, Ana Mena, Susana Abaitua, Adelfa Calvo, Marisol Membrillo, Maika Barroso, Silvia Casanova, Noemí Hopper, Anna Castillo, Lola Dueñas, Pedro Casablanc, Ana Mena, Susana Abaitua)

Full review

Julia And The Fox (Julia Y El Zorro)

Julia, an ex-actress, and her daughter Emma move into a mansion in a village in Córdoba, Argentina. It is winter and Julia needs to fix up the house so she can sell it. Quite a while has gone by since the death of her husband and Emma’s father, but they are still in mourning. One night Julia meets Gaspar, a life-long friend of hers. Gaspar tries to convince Julia to take part in a theatre competition. Julia, Emma and Gaspar find a way to rebuild their lives by starting a rather uncertain project to form a new type of family.

(Country: Argentina; Year: 2018; Director: Inés María Barrionuevo; Writer: Inés María Barrionuevo; Stars: Umbra Colombo, Pablo Limarzi, Victoria Castelo Arzubialde)

Meteorites (Les Meteorites)

Nina, a 16-year-old girl, dreams of adventure. Meanwhile, she spends the summer between her village in the south of France and the theme park where she works. Just before meeting Morad, a teenage boy from an Algerian family living in the nearby council houses, Nina sees a meteorite falling from the sky which it seems only she can see... like an omen.

(Country: France; Year: 2018; Director: Romain Laguna)

Midnight Runner (Der Läufer)

Jonas Widmer is one of the best runners in Switzerland and his focus is to attend the Olympics. Besides the sport, Jonas is a successful cook and plans to move in with his girlfriend Simone. But Jonas perfect life gets disturbed by the increasing memories of his late brother. He embarks on a tragic double life

(Country: Switzerland; Year: 2018; Director: Hannes Baumgartner; Writer: Hannes Baumgartner, Stefan Staub; Stars: Max Hubacher, Luna Wedler, Caspar Kaeser, Lara Marian, Sylvia Rohrer, Annina Euling, Saladin Dellers, Christophe Sermet, Markus Amrein, Max Hubacher, Luna Wedler, Caspar Kaeser, Lara Marian, Sylvia Rohrer, Annina Euling)

Neon Heart

A story about three people chasing life and each other. Laura is on her way to a porn film casting. Niklas is trying to take care of two men with Down’s syndrome, and Frederik is out to gain respect as a hooligan.

(Country: Denmark; Year: 2018; Director: Laurits Flensted-Jensen; Stars: Victoria Carmen Sonne, Niklas Herskind, Noah Skovgaard Skands, Victoria Carmen Sonne, Niklas Herskind, Noah Skovgaard Skands)

Notes For A Heist Film (Apuntes Para Una Pelicula De Atracos)

Elías is a film director who dreamed of making a heist movie. During the summer of 2013 he reads a news story about the arrest of 'The Vallecas Robin Hood', the leader of 'the sewers gang'. He then feels that he has found the opportunity to make his dream come true. He sends a letter to the prison where he is serving his sentence. Against all odds, Elías receives a reply three weeks later. Robin Hood agrees for him to come and visit him in prison.

(Country: Spain; Year: 2018; Director: León Siminiani)

The Third Wife

Review preview for The Third Wife

Mayfair treats her scenes of sex and desire with restraint, using juxtaposition to evoke mood.

Amber Wilkinson · 4 out of 5
The story of a 14-year-old who becomes the third wife of a much older man in 19th Century Vietnam.

(Country: Vietnam; Year: 2018; Director: Ash Mayfair; Writer: Ash Mayfair; Stars: Trần Nữ Yên Khê, Mai Thu Hường, Nguyễn Phương Trà My, Nguyễn Như Quỳnh)

Full review

To War (Para La Guerra)

Documentary exploring the memory and loneliness of a Cuban former internationalist soldier by observing his body and (extra)ordinary gestures. This is a bloodless war film without any shooting; a film about a wound that 'Sledgehammer', ' El Rayado', Andrés, has, a special forces veteran who tries to find his colleagues from the commando who survived their last mission 30 years ago.

(Country: Argentina, Spain; Year: 2018; Director: Francisco Marisé)