The 56th San Sebastián Festival rounded its final bend Friday blessed with sunshine, with seemingly a few less buyers from outside Spain, and a sweap of across-the board-business.

Of industry events, acquisitions execs warmed especially to this year’s Films in Progress Latin American showcase, a vintage year, even by the section’s high standards, said several.

The Basque resport fest, the biggest in the Spanish-speaking World, also served for sales announcements, as sales agents position films for a possible prize at San Sebastián, or ongoing fall business.

On Courtney Hunt’s Frozen River, one of San Sebastián’s best-received Competition players, Gallic sales company Rezo Films confirmed a bevy of sales, the latest to Switzerland’s Xenix Film Distribution, Poland’s Kino Swiat and Spain’s Sagrera TV.

Germany’s Bavaria Film Intl. has sold another competition player, Daniel Burman’s The Empty Nest, playing today at San Sebastián, to Switzerland’s Trigon Film and is “very close to a U.S. deal which we’ll close in the next 10 days,” said BFI sales head Stefanie Zeitler.

On the Mathieu Kassowitz- produced Belgian comedy Louise-Michel, another Competition screener which played to hoots of laughter at San Sebastián, France’s Funny Balloons has closed Germany with Kool Film Distribution, Australia/New Zealand with Vendetta Films, Austria with Pony Films, Switzerland (Columbus Films), India (UTV), Hungary (Cirko Films), Romania (Independenta), Russia and Baltic States (Maywin Media).

“Sometimes when you have a film which is a little bito f-beat and audience friendly, it’s better to be in a festival with less films like San Sebastian where there’s more focus on your film,” said Funny Balloons’ Peter Danner.

Golem closed Spain on Hirokazu Kore-eda’s Competition player Still Walking from Celluloid Dreams in a deal announced during San Sebastian. Wanda Vision took Michael Winterbottom’s Genova off the table for Spain just befote proceeedings began.

These deals attest to the power of San Sebastian to drive all-rights deals for Spain, a tough market to crack.

“The first priority of a sales agent bringing a film to San Sebastián is to clinch a Spanish deal,” said Rezo head of world sales Sebastien Chesneau.

Niche Spanish distribution house Karma Films has taken Spanish rights on competitor “Pandora’s Box” from The Match Factory.

Karma founder Miguel Angel Perez also announced at San Sebastián that Karma has picked up Jan Sverak’s Czech comedy Empties from U.K.’s Fandango Portobello Sales.

Empties is Karma’s first joint acquisition for Spain and France, where Perez bowed distributor Medula Films last year.

Deals on some of the fest’s highest­profile hits also look likely to go down in the upcoming weeks.

Anais Clanet at Paris-based Wide Management said she’d received offers, both theatrical and TV, on Christian Poveda’s El Salvador Mara gang docu­feature La vida loca, a standout in San Sebastián’s Horizontes Latinos.

Miami-based sales agent Ondamax Films has received offers for Gasolina from French, North American and Latin American distributors, Ondamax CEO Eric Mathis confirmed at San Sebastián.

Miami-based Venevision Intl. signed U.S. DVD, VOD and pay TV rights on a four-film package with Spanish sales agent DeAPlaneta Intl.

Deal includes Jose Enrique March’s urban tale Escuchando a Gabriel. Venevision has also negotiated an eight-TV movie package with DeAPlaneta.

In a separate move, DeAPlaneta announced at San Sebastián that it has taken international rights on weddings comedy A Fiance for Yasmina, helmed by Irene Cardona, and a Spanish-Morocco co-production.

In production news at San Sebastián, Sao Paulo-based Bossa Nova Films inked with Galicia’s Keltia Produccions and Catalonia’s Fenix P.C. to co-produce an as-yet-untitled music documentary portraying Galician bagpiper Carlos Nunez.

It narrates Nunez’s experiences in Brasil, particularly the burial place of his great-grandfather. Fenix’s Francisco Lazaro exec produces; Robert Bellsola directs part of the documentary. Nunez’s Keltia majority co-produces, aiming for a late 2009 delivery.
Emiliano DE PABLOS
John HOPEWELL