European Films

The Donostia - San Sebastian Film Festival unveiled its Official Selection, which includes 16 In Competition titles as well as two non-competitive films, including the new Lars von Trier Direktøren for det hele (The Boss of it All). The 54th edition of the festival will take place in the Basque city from September 21 through September 30. European titles include new work from documentarian Heddy Honigman as well as directors Nick Broomfield, Rakjo Grlić, John Boorman, Marion Hänsel and Martial Fougeron. Local titles from Víctor García León (Vete de mí), Javier Rebollo (Lo que sé de Lola/What I Know About Lola)  and Antonio Chavarrías (Las vidas de Celia/Celia's Lives) had been previously announced.

The documentary Forever from Dutch filmmaker Heddy Honingman is the first Dutch film to show in the Official Selection at San Sebastian for a few years and looks at the Parisian Père Lachaise cemetery. British director Nick Broomfield (Kurt and Courtney) straddles the line between fiction and documentary through a telling the story of the Chinese immigrant Ai Qin that stars Ai Qin as himself in Ghosts. Also from Britain comes the new John Boorman film The Tiger's Tale with Brendan Gleeson. The film follows a successful businessman who tries to prevent a replica of himself to take his place.

 

French cinema stars Nathalie Baye and Olivier Gourmet (the latter actually a Belgian) headline the film Mon fils à moi (lit. My Son) from Martial Fougeron. The winner of last year's Best Actress César (for Le petit Lieutenant/The Young Lieutenant) plays the mother of a young adolescent whom she showers with love, especially because her husband neglects her, which makes the son uneasy to say the least. The French literary best-seller Chamelle from Marc Durin-Valois has been adapted by French filmmaker Marion Hänsel as the Franco-Belgian co-production Si le vent soulève les sables (lit. If The Wind Picks Up The Sands), a road movie by camel set in an unspecified African country. Zagreb-born director Rajko Grlić will present his Bosnian film Karaula (Border Post), already a huge hit at home which presents a tragicomic story set during the unrest on the Balcans in 1987, when it was rumoured that Albania was preparing to  invade Yugoslavia.

 

The local films participating in the Official Competition are three: Javier Rebollo will premiere his feature film debut Lo que sé de Lola (What I Know About Lola), which stars Lola Dueñas in the title role; Víctor García León will present Vete de mí, his second film which looks at an aging vaudeville actor and his ne'er-do-well son, and Antonio Chavarrías' Las vidas de Celia (lit. Celia's Lives), which tries to unravel the story of Celia (Najwa Nimri, from 20 Centímetros) through the eyes of a policeman with his own problems (Luis Tosar, from Te doy mis ojos/Take My Eyes).  A fourth Spanish film,  Joaquín Jordá's documentary Más allá del espejo (lit. Beyond the Mirror) will screen as part of the non-competitive Official Selection.

 

The Official Selection also includes the following non-European films: Bobcat Goldthwait's Sleeping Dogs Lie from the USA, Im Sang-Soo's Korean Orae Doin Jung Won (The Old Garden), Niveh Mong (Half Moon) from 2004 Golden Shell winner Bahman Ghobadi from Iran, Japanese director Hirozaku Kore-eda's Hana, the Argintinian El camino de San Diego from Carlos Sorin, Tom DiCillo's American indie Delirious with Michael Pitt and Steve Buscemi and the American-English-Hungarian co-production Copying Beethoven from Agnieszka Holland, with Ed Harris and Diane Kruger.