Z365" or "Festival all year round" is the new strategic point of the Festival in which converge investigation, accompaniment and development of new talents (Ikusmira Berriak, Nest); training and cinematic knowledge transfer (Elías Querejeta Zine Eskola, Zinemaldia + Plus, Filmmakers' dialogue); and investigation, disclosure and cinematic thought (Z70 project, Thought and Discussion and Research and publications).
Carlos Serrano Azcona’s “El Arbol” and Santiago Loza’s “Artico” feature in this year’s San Sebastian Films in Progress, one of the Spanish confab’s key industry showcases.
Progress runs Tuesday through Wednesday.
It also boasts a strong Chilean showing, a sign of the country’s building film production muscle.
Serrano Azcona’s redemption family drama “El arbol” teams two illustrious left-of-field film-makers, Mexico’s Carlos Reygadas (“Silent Light”) and Spain’s Jaime Rosales (“Solitary Fragments”) as producers; Jaime Romandia’s Mantarraya also produces. Expect a stylized, but realist art film, somewhat in Reygadas’ line.
“I admire Reygadas’ films a lot. ‘El Arbol,’ uses non-professional actors and some extended shots, as in his films,” said Serrano Azcona.
Argentina’s Loza is admired for two hangdog features, the Rotterdam Tigerwinning “Strange” (2003) and “4 Women, Barefoot” (2005). Here, Loza, leaves their marvellously drab industrial sprawl, for a road movie, set in border city suburb lanscapes.
Chile contributes two films: “Ilusiones opticas,” Cristian Jimenez’s feature deb, a three-part cross-cutter set in a rainy Valdivia winter; and “La nana,” a portrait, shot with exacting realism, of the neoserf-like existence of a housemaid, directed by faux naif graphic artist and musician turned film-maker, Sebastian Silva.
Films in Progress this year is rounded up by two more Mexican entries. “Norteado,” helmed by Rigoberto Perezcano, is a docu-style drama tracking a boy’s attempts to cross the U.S. border. Co-financed by Mexico’s IMCINE Film Institute and Article 226 film tax coin, “Norteado” attempts to show a positive side to Tijuana, where it shot, according to producer Edgar San Juan.
Florence Jaugey’s “La Yuma” charts an across-the-tracks love tale set in Nicaragua’s Managua between a poor burb girl and middle-class student.
Recent Progress players include “Acne” and “Tony Manero.” two Cannes Directors’ Fortnight standouts this year. “Acne,” from Federico Veiroj, a knowing, deadpan portrait of adolescence, played to applause at San Sebasian over its first weekend.
J.H.