San Sebastian Film Festival

Latest reviews

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  Giraffe

  Review preview for Giraffe

  Remnants of bygone ways of life are beautifully shot in Giraffe.

  A Danish summer: A tunnel is being built to connect Denmark and Germany. An ethnologist comes to the island of Lolland to study its inhabitants and record their traditions and objects.
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  Waiting For The Barbarians

  Review preview for Waiting For The Barbarians

  Rylance is superb throughout in a role perfectly suited to his talents.

  A magistrate in a colonial town suffers a crisis of conscience about the regime he works for.
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  Ema

  Review preview for Ema

  Di Girolamo has a compelling intensity in the role but it's still hard to believe that everyone would fall quite so hard and fast for Ema's devil may care charms and unpredictability, especially with so much on the line.

  A dancer and her choreographer husband find themselves trying to stop their lives falling apart after an adoption goes awry.
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  Ghost Town Anthology

  Review preview for Ghost Town Anthology

  The bleak chill of the Quebecois winter seeps into the very bones of Denis Côté's latest film, giving a sense of aching longing to the action.

  After a man dies in a car accident, time seems to lose all meaning for the residents of a small town... and then strangers begin to appear.
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  Fire Will Come

  Review preview for Fire Will Come

  In terms of basic plotting, there might not seem to be much here, but emotions crackle beneath the surface and the mood burns deep.

  A convicted arsonist returns to his rural home.
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  The Truth

  Review preview for The Truth

  In less sensitive hands than Kore-eda's, it could have come across as cloyingly introverted but instead there is wit and warmth in the observed relationship between the two women.

  A reunion between a French cinema star and her daughter descends into confrontation.
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  The Other Lamb

  Review preview for The Other Lamb

  The way ahead may be a little pre-destined but the director let's the tension drip through every beautifully shot moment by cinematographer Michal Englert - with the sort of imagery that could see her film achieve its own cult appeal.

  A young girl begins to question her place in the religious community she was born into.
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  The Sleepwalkers

  Review preview for The Sleepwalkers

  Nothing here is as peaceful as the various characters are trying to make it seem.

  A mother and her daughter are pushed to their emotional limit during a family celebration.
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  Proxima

  Review preview for Proxima

  The narrative manages to balance the personal with the wider world of space exploration while dealing with the issues of domesticity and family demands and the conflicts of pursuing a demanding work arc.

  A female astronaut finds the demands of work take their toll on her single-mum relationship with her young daughter.
• 
  The Moneychanger

  Review preview for The Moneychanger

  Looking at the colours, the entire film could be taking place inside a mushroom. Cigarette smoke penetrates almost every scene.

  A money launderer sees the Uruguayan dictatorship as an opportunity to make a killing.

A–Z of San Sebastian Film Festival 2019 reviews →

Features

• Looking for justice
  Jayro Bustamante in conversation on justice, Guatemala and the women in La Llorona
• A Mayan princess
  Jayro Bustamante on seeing a legend differently in La Llorona
• Inside view of musical discord
  Director Ina Weisse talks about a protegé under pressure in The Audition
• How Binoche seduced Deneuve
  Two stars finally rub along famously in The Truth
• Energy and the soul
  François Girard on the energy of actors and Howard Shore’s score for The Song Of Names
• Composing for history
  Composer Howard Shore on The Song Of Names, The Aviator and A Dangerous Method
• Diversity Rocks
  Sarah Gavron and Theresa Ikoko on capturing the teenage spirit and pushing the industry forward
• The making of a hybrid
  Bertrand Bonello on histories and Zombi Child
• Celebrating sisterhood
  Theresa Ikoko and Sarah Gavron on developing Rocks
• A world of friendship
  Nichola Burley and Roxanne Scrimshaw talk about living the dream and creating characters in Lynn + Lucy
• Social insecurity
  Director Fyzal Boulifa on capturing a working-class world in Lynn + Lucy and street casting his star
• Kisses from the baby
  Penélope Cruz, Édgar Ramírez and Olivier Assayas on baby kisses and Wasp Network
• Storytelling childhood
  Anna Pniowsky on Casey Affleck, storytelling, the script and the haircut for Light Of My Life

News

• Pacified takes Golden Shell
  The Endless Trench also a big winner in San Sebastian
• Child's play and food for thought at San Sebastian
  Animation for kids and culinary section announced
• Roma takes FIPRESCI Grand Prix
  Cuarón's film to receive accolade in San Sebastian
• Donald Sutherland to receive Donostia
  San Sebastian also announces The Song Of Names will close festival
• 19 titles compete in San Sebastian's Zabaltegi-Tabakalera
  Diop, Miike, Bonello join line-up
• Six titles join San Sebastian competition
  British director Sarah Gavron among those added
• San Sebastian adds to Pearls
  Kore-eda, Eggers and Soderberg among 10 titles added to line-up
• Costa-Gavras to be honoured at San Sebastian
  Filmmaker will receive Donostia Award
• Blackbird to open San Sebastian
  Roger Michell's Slent Heart remake stars Sarandon and Winslet
• San Sebastian announces Spanish titles
  Amenábar and Flowers filmmaking trio return to competition
• Parasite joins Pearls
  San Sebastian announces first titles in Audience Award contest
• Cruz to receive Donostia
  San Sebastian plans to honour Spanish star
• Roberto Gavaldón retrospective
  San Sebastian to celebrate Mexican director at 67th edition