72nd San Sebastian Festival - 20/28 September 2023
71SSIFF - 22/30 September 2023
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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).
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Agenda
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Official Selection
Films
Films
Official Selection
Official Selection
Juan Vera
Argentina
129 min.
After 25 years of marriage, Marcos and Ana question themselves deeply on the subject of love, the nature of desire and faithfulness, making a decision that will change their lives forever.
Drew Goddard
USA
140 min.
Seven strangers, each with a secret to bury, meet at Lake Tahoe's El Royale, a rundown hotel with a dark past. Over the course of one fateful night, everyone will have a last shot at redemption... before everything goes to hell. Jeff Bridges, Chris Hemsworth, Jon Hamm, Dakota Johnson and Cynthia Erivo lead an all-star cast in Bad Times at the El Royale.
Not in competition
Brillante Mendoza
Philippines
94 min.
Set against the backdrop of the Philippines Government's crackdown on illegal drugs, a SWAT-led police force launches an operation to arrest Abel, one of the biggest druglords in Manila. Police Officer Espino and Elijah, a small-time pusher turned informant, provide the intelligence for the operation, which quickly escalates into a violent and heavely-armed confrontation in the slums between the SWAT and Abel's gang. Before the investigators arrive at the crime scene, Espino and Elijah walk off with Abel's backpack full of money and methamphetamine. This gesture of survival for one and corruption for the other will soon set off a dangerous series of events, both of them risking their reputations, families and lives in the process.
Markus Schleinzer
Austria - Luxembourg
111 min.
The story of Angelo, an African born in the 18th century and brought to Europe at the age of 10. Now a servant in the court of enlightened nobility, he skilfully employs his otherness to become an appreciated guest and attraction for the members of high society. Being close to the emperor, he decides to marry Magdalena, a young maidservant with whom he falls in love. On doing so, Angelo is inevitably shunned by the court. At the height of his prestige, he realizes that his otherness will never disappear, that he will never lead a normal life, and that he will always be an outsider. Based on true events.
Liu Jie
China
96 min.
Born 19 years ago in Nanjing with the VACTERL syndrome, Jiang Meng was abandoned by her parents. With the help of her foster mother and Director Wang, today Jiang works in a hospital as cleaner. One day, Jiang encounters a man coming into the hospital with a newborn baby. She learns that the baby is a girl who also has the VACTERL syndrome, and that the father has decided not to give her treatment.
Felix Van Groeningen
USA
120 min.
Based on the bestselling memoirs by father and son David and Nic Sheff, Felix van Groeningen's film chronicles the heartbreaking and inspiring experience of survival, relapse and recovery in a family which has been coping with addiction for years.
Tuva Novotny
Norway
102 min.
Blind Spot centres on a mother as she struggles to understand her teenage daughter's crisis, when tragedy strikes the whole family.
Simon Jaquemet
Switzerland - Germany
114 min.
Ruth works in a neuroscience research lab, despite coming from an extremely traditionalist and conservative Christian family. She suddenly finds herself facing her past when her former lover reemerges after twenty years in jail, prompting her to question her feelings, her life and eventually even her faith.
Rodrigo Sorogoyen
Spain - France
131 min.
Manuel, an influential deputy secretary of a regional government who has everything going his way for making the leap into national politics, sees how his perfect life falls to pieces after news leaks of his involvement in a corruption ring with Paco, one of his best friends. While the media starts reporting the extent of the scandal, the party closes ranks and only Paco comes out unscathed. Manuel is expelled from the kingdom, singled out by public opinion and betrayed by those who had been his friends until only a few hours ago. Although the party wants him to bear full responsibility, Manuel refuses to fall alone. With the sole backing of his wife and his daughter, and caught in a spiral to survive, Manuel will see himself forced to fight against the machinery of corruption which has been well greased for years and against a party system in which the kings fall, but the kingdoms continue.
Isaki Lacuesta
Spain
136 min.
Isra and Cheíto are two Roma brothers: Isra was sent to prison for drug dealing and Cheíto signed up for the Marines. When Isra is released from prison and Cheíto returns from a long mission, they return to San Fernando. The reunion between the siblings brings memories of their father’s violent death when they were only boys. Twelve years have passed since La Leyenda del tiempo (The Legend of Time), Lacuesta’s film when Isra and Cheíto were teenagers. Now Isra returns to San Fernando to recover his wife and kids. But will he manage to go straight in a place with the highest unemployment rate in Spain? Their search for redemption, their need to sort out their lives and to find reconciliation between them unites Isra and Cheíto once again.
Claire Denis
France - Germany - UK - Poland - USA
110 min.
Deep space. Beyond our solar system. Monte and his daughter Willow live together on board a spacecraft, in complete isolation. A solitary man, who uses his strict self-discipline as protection against desire (his own and that of others), Monte fathered the girl against his will. His sperm was used to inseminate Boyse, the young woman who gave birth to the girl. They were members of a crew of prisoners: space convicts, death row inmates. Guinea pigs sent on a mission to the black hole closest to Earth. Now only Monte and Willow remain. And Monte is no longer the same. Through his daughter, for the first time, he experiences the birth of an all-powerful love. Willow grows, first of all into a young girl and then into a young woman.
Kim Jee-woon
South Korea
139 min.
In 2029, after the governments of North and South Korea announce a 5-year plan to reunify the country, strong sanctions by the world's most powerful nations cripple the economy and lead to a hellish period of chaos. With the appearance of an armed anti-government terrorist group called The Sect which opposes reunification, the President creates a new police division called the Special Unit which amasses significant political power. However, seeing its own influence drop, the Public Security intelligence service hatches a plot to do away with the Special Unit. Amidst the bloody struggle between two ultra-powerful institutions, rumours emerge of a secret "Wolf Brigade" taking shape within the Special Unit. Human weapons who go by the name of wolves, "Illang" (The Wolf Brigade).
Peter Strickland
UK
118 min.
In Fabric is set against the backdrop of a busy winter sales period in a department store and follows the life of a cursed dress as it passes from person to person, with devastating consequences.
Louis Garrel
France
75 min.
Marianne leaves Abel for Paul, his best friend and the father of her unborn child. Eight years later, Paul dies. Abel and Marianne get back together, arousing feelings of jealousy in both Marianne's son, Joseph, and Paul's sister, Eva, who has secretly loved Abel since childhood.
Valeria Sarmiento
France - Portugal
103 min.
This is the story of the late eighteenth-century adventures of a singular couple formed by a little orphan with mysterious origins and his young Italian nurse of similarly uncertain birth. They lead us in their wake, from Rome to Paris, from Lisbon to London, from Parma to Venice. Always followed in the shadows, for reasons we don't know, by a suspicious-looking Calabrian and a disturbing cardinal, they prompt us to explore the dark intrigues of the Vatican, the pangs of a fatal passion, a gruesome duel, banter at the court of Versailles and the convulsions of the French Revolution.
Carlos Vermut
Spain - France
124 min.
Lila Cassen was the most successful Spanish singer of the nineties until she mysteriously vanished from one day to the next. Ten years later Lila is preparing her triumphant stage comeback; however, shortly before the long-awaited date she is involved in an accident and loses her memory. Violeta’s life is dominated by her conflictive daughter Marta. Every night she finds escape from her reality by doing the only thing that makes her happy: imitating Lila Cassen at the karaoke joint where she works. One day Violeta receives a fascinating offer: to teach Lila Cassen how to be Lila Cassen again.
Benjamín Naishtat
Argentina - Belgium - Brazil - Germany - France - Switzerland
109 min.
In the mid-70s, a stranger arrives in a quiet provincial town. In a restaurant, for no apparent reason, he sets about attacking Claudio, a well-known lawyer. The community supports the lawyer, humiliates the stranger and throws him out. Later, on the way home, Claudio and his wife Susana are once again intercepted by the stranger, who is determined to wreak his terrible revenge on Claudio. The lawyer embarks on a road of no-return, of death, secrets and silences.
Naomi Kawase
Japan - France
109 min.
Jeanne leaves for Japan in search of a rare medicinal plant. During the trip, she meets Tomo, a forest ranger, who accompanies her on her quest and guides her through the traces of her past. 20 years ago, in the forests of Yoshino, Jeanne lived her first love.
Icíar Bollaín
Spain - Cuba - UK - Germany
109 min.
Yuli tells the story of the Cuban dancer Carlos Acosta (who plays himself), from his beginnings in a poor neighbourhood of Havana until becoming the star of one of the biggest ballet companies in the world. Yuli (Carlos's nickname) is a gifted boy who doesn't want to be a dancer but who, forced by his father Pedro, and tutored by the professor and director of the Cuban National School of Ballet, Cherry, will become one of the best dancers of his generation, breaking taboos on becoming the first black dancer to play Romeo at the Royal Ballet in London, where he forged his stellar career and his legend for 17 years. Yuli is a film about roots, about the relationship between Carlos and his father, with his family, with Cuba. Yuli is about art, about the sacrifice of dedicating one's life to that art and, above all, about what we are.
Enrique Urbizu, Jorge Dorado
Spain
107 min.
For decades the Guerrero brothers have controlled the flow of drugs from the peninsula to the rest of Europe. Now they're faced with one of the most crucial moments in their history. The eldest brother, Daniel, is released from jail after fifteen years, eager to recover his place in the family. The world Daniel left behind no longer exists. His father Abraham is sick, his brother Clemente has disappeared and now his middle brother, Tomás, holds the reins of the family business. The Guerrero brothers' worst enemy will be found at home, among themselves: the education they received from their father to fight like a pack of hounds to survive, no matter what the means, with no moral limits, like Giants. A war between siblings fought to the bitter end. Presentation of the first two episodes of the new Movistar+ series.
Not in competition
Telmo Esnal
Spain
98 min.
The storm breaks after a hard day's work in the fields. When the rain eases off life springs up from the previously barren land. Fruit grows and ripens, survives disease and becomes the apples which give life to cider. Then comes the time to harvest, offer toasts and celebrate love. A story about the cycle of life and death, the fight for survival. Where the passage of time is marked by the course of nature. And dance is the language chosen to tell its tale. Music accompanies daily routines: Life is rhythm! Universal themes, dressed here with particular symbology. Symbology which shows the hypnotic universe of traditional dance. A poetic song to tradition, the land, its people, myths and customs. A tale about the miracle of existence.
Special Screenings
José Luis Cuerda
Spain - Portugal
95 min.
In 9177, give or take a thousand years (there's no point in being finicky about these details) the whole world, and, according to some authors, the universe too, has been reduced to a single Representative Building and squalid suburbs inhabited by all of the out-of-work and hungry in the cosmos. One of the down and outs, José María, decides that by facing up to the difficulties and selling his delicious homemade lemonade in the Representative Building, another world is possible.
Special Screenings
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Opening hours
Monday to Thursday: 09:00h - 15:00h
Friday: 10:00h - 14:00h
Monday to Thursday: 09:00h - 15:00h
Friday: 10:00h - 14:00h
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