Tasos Gerakini’s A Simple Man, Pelin Esmer’s Queen Learand Ignas Jonyna’s Invisible compose the pixinpost selection for San Sebastian’s Glocal in Progress.

Greek director Tasos Gerakinis will attend with his feature debut, a GreeceFrance coproduction following a convict who flees prison, reaches a neighboring country where he holes up at a farm, taking a winegrower hostage. The relationship between the winegrower, his daughter and the convict evolve in divergent directions.

Turkish director Pelin Esmer has previously participated in San Sebastián’s main competition with 10 to 11, a Special Jury Prize winner at the 2009 Istanbul Festival. She also made New Directors with her feature debut The Play, turning on three women aiming to stage a play in a small village. That feature earned kudos at Tribeca in 2006. Queen Lear is a follow up to The Play, exploring the impact that theater had on the lives of those women that now host Shakespeare’s plays in mountain villages. Esmer’s second feature, Watchtower, was sold to Film Movement for U.S. distribution.

Lithuanian helmer Ignas Jonynas also presented his debut The Gambler at New Directors. His sophomore outing tells the story of a man faking blindness in order to participate in a TV dance contest. There he meets Saule, his dancing partner: They become the most popular participants on the show. The project is a coproduction between Lithuania, Latvia and Ukraine.Two completed features from the Glocal in Progress showcase last year, Tesmo Esnal’s Dantzaand Hadrian Marcu’s A Decent Man, return to the Festival this year. Dantzareceives a Special Screening, Man participates in New Directors.

The first edition of Glocal in Progress was launched last year with the aim of giving a greater visibility to workinprogress productions shot in none of the mostspoken languages – Spanish, German, French, English, Italian and Russian– in Europe. In 2017, Basquelanguage The Giant directed by Aitor Arregi and Jon Garaño, took the Special Jury Prize and Bogdan Dumitrache snagged Silver Shell for best actor in Constantin Popescu’s Pororoca.

Glocal in Progress selected films will compete for the Glocal in Progress Industry Award granted by Ad Hoc Studios, BTeam Pictures, Deluxe Spain, Dolby Iberia, Laserfilm Cine y Video, Nephilim Producciones and No problem Sonido. This is in addition to the Glocal in Progress Award of €10,000 ($11,380 USD), going to the lead producer of the Glocal in Progress Industry Award winner.

Glocal in Progress will take place Sept. 2426, running parallel to the festival’s 34th Films in Progress and the 7th EuropeLatin America Coproduction Forum.

Emilio Mayorga