Once again the Made in Spain section will be providing an overview of Spanish cinema with a selection of 19 films that showcase the best of the latest films to come out of Spain. Some have already been screened in cinemas, so the Festival offers an excellent platform for their international launch, while others still haven’t been released here.

The line-up includes a varied range of titles: the big winner at the Goya Awards, some box-office hits, some promising debut films by young directors, films that have already taken part in international festivals, as well as some films for minority audiences and nonfictional
documentaries. What they all have in common is that they highlight the extraordinary diversity and vitality of the Spanish cinema being screened in this section.

The selection includes recent works by established directors including Julio Medem’s romantic drama (Habitación en Roma (Room in Rome),Dunia Ayaso and Félix Sabroso’s (La isla interior (The Island Inside), Miguel Albadalejo’s (Nacidas para sufrir (Born to Suffer),Jaume Balagueró and Paco Plaza’s horror sequel ([REC] 2) and Daniel Monzón’s prison drama (Celda 211 (Cell 211).

Directors who are bringing out their very first features will also be strongly represented in Made in Spain with films by Emilio Aragón (Pájaros de papel (Paper Birds); Lluís Galter (Caracremada); Lilian Rosado González (Donde el olor del mar no llega (Where the Smell of the Sea Doesn’t Reach, and Oskar Santos El mal ajeno (For the Good of Others).

Made in Spain also reflects the importance that non-fiction films now have in contemporary Spanish cinema, with examples such as Félix Fernández de Castro’sMaría y yo (Maria and I),Jo Sol’s Fake Orgasm, Anna Sanmarti’s La terra habitada (The Inhabited Land), Adán Alíaga and Juanjo Jiménez’s Esquivar y pegar (Dodge and Hit); Jordi Ferrer and Pablo Vidal ‘s El problema – testimonio del pueblo saharaui (The Problem, Testimony of the Saharawi People) and renowned producer Elías Querejeta’s Cerca de tus ojos.

The section is rounded off by Sigrid Monléon’s El Consul de Sodoma (The Consul of Sodom) about the life and work of the great Catalan poet, Jaime Gil de Biedma; Adán Aliaga’s Estigmas (Stigmata); Sebastián Cordero’s Rabia, (Rage), and Nacho G.Velilla’s comedy Que Se Mueran los Feos,(To Hell with the Ugly), which has very well at the box office in Spain.

Of course, Made in Spain is not the only place you can see Spanish cinema in San Sebastían. It neatly complements several other Spanish films that are being screened in the Official Selection and Zabaltegi.

Allan OWEN