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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Román Chalbaud
Films
Films
Roman Chalbaud
Venezuela
95 min.
A young married couple. Two beautiful children and a house in the suburbs. Behind this appearance of harmony hides a reality that is much harsher: the deep crisis in the relationship of the couple. The television set near the bed cannot conceal the vast emptiness felt. But one night they attend the theatre. There Gustavo falls for Laura, one of the actresses. With her he carries on a romance while Esther lets herself go and takes to drink. The moment arrives when Gustavo has to decide between the woman with whom he has shared seven year of matrimony or the other woman, who has dusted off his libido and who is expecting his child.
Roman Chalbaud
Venezuela
130 min.
Recent arrivals from the Venezuelan countryside, Juana and her only son, Juan, have come to live on a hillside among the many who form the belt of misery around Caracas, 1957. Juan manages to find a job in a workshop where one of his fellow workers is Matías. It takes little time for the latter to introduce the boy to his group of friends. With them he discovers night life and the juvenile slang at the time. Meanwhile, Juana spends most of her time shut up in their humble quarters where she is visited for time to time by an ederly woman hwo lives abandoned on a near by ranch. One night the two of them go to the amusement park, Coney Island, and there Juana meets Antonio, who approaches her attracted by her simplicity. They talk about themselves, about their solitude, but circumstances keep them apart.Juan continues going out with his friends. One night they go to a dance hall. The other dance. Juan gets drunk and declares his love to Carmen, a girl previously romantically involved with Matías. Naively, Juan proposes marriage to her. He later learns she's pregnant with Matías' child. Back at home, Juana receives an unexpected visit. It is Encarnación, a black man, who, on the run form justice, seeks refuge in the woman's house. When Juan comes home he finds the black figure of Encarnación to whom his mother has surrendered herself. The relationship between mother and son reachs a critical point. At the same time the love between Juan and Carmen grows ever stronger. Carmen, disgusted by what she is carrying inside her, goes to Encarnación and screams her pleas for him to clean out her womb for Juan.
Roman Chalbaud
Venezuela
102 min.
The youngest son of a well-to-do Caracas family is kidnapped and murdered. All clues point towards a gang of drug traffickers, composed of boys from "good" families. While the police attempt to pinpoint the identity of the murderers, certain powerful politicians try to have the matter swept under the rug. The successive events tending to obstruct the judicial process lead detective Martínez to the conclusion that heh is faced with another "cangrejo" (crab), which is the name police slang gives to a case especially difficult to resolve. The outcome of the case provokes bitterness in a number of people who had believed in the justice system.
Roman Chalbaud
Venezuela
98 min.
Citizen safety has become an alarming problem. In an area near the capital a woman is raped and murdered. The victim is the sister of a priest, so the concerned clergy decides to take a hand in the matter. The bishop goes to the Minister of Justice, who in turn insists that the Chief of Police puts his best men to work on the case. The inquiries begin and the police run into various obscure elements: there are no signs of violence in the house, the murderer attacked only the victim, robbery is discarded as a motive an no neighbour heard the slightest noise on the night of the crime. The chief inspector concludes that the victim and murderer knew one another. People are investigated in terms of whether or not they might have a disease suffered byt hte victim, and perhaps the murderer, and contact is made with the boyfriend of the victim and with a former lover. Through interrogation an interesting fact is learnt about the dead woman's brother: Father Cuzati, a violent and aggresive man who had a strange relationship with his sister. Little by little suspicions will give way to a clearer reality. The contradictions in the priet's first statements lead chief inspector Leon to the assumption that the guilty party is cuzati. From this results a confrontation between the judicial and the ecclesiastical powers.
Roman Chalbaud
Venezuela
102 min.
Carmen, a lovely girl from La Guaira, is the manager of a shop serving as a place for smugglers to meet and clandestinely pass on their goods. One morning she wounds a retailer of smuggled goos and is arrested by Sergeant José Navarro. But on the way to headquarters she seduces the man into letting her escape, fixing with him a lated rendezvous. From this point on, José tends increasingly to forget his engagement to Micaela, his long time fiancée, as well as his fine record as a national guard. For Carmen, it is impossible to think of living without him. She confesses to him that she is the wife of El Tuerto, the leader of the gang of smugglers she belongs to, who is now in jail. Moved by her new-found passion and by the desire to leave El Tuerto, Carmen convinces José to join the gang and make himself its new leadre. From this moment on, there follows an explosion of jealousies, desires for freedom, rebellion and possessiveness, which are, in the final analysis, the elements of a myth: Carmen.
Roman Chalbaud
Venezuela
20 min.
Short film
A Baroque description of the atmosphere of hands on Caracas, without dialogue or effects. The description uses two elements: Beethoven and his symphony Wellington Sieg Bei Vittoria, and Chévere, a young man wandering through the streets of Caracas. Shop windows, towering buildings, looks, beggars and the footsteps of Chévere, who does not hesitate to steal the wallets of a homosexual and an elegant lady, both of whom are attracted by his looks. Yet what is important is not the loot stolen but the wits required to survive in a complex city, and above all, just live, without more, feeling the grass under one's back and the money moving, outside one's self, directionless.
Roman Chalbaud
Venezuela
100 min.
First story: La historia del Hombre BravoSordiness. Covering the holes in the walls ater pieces of a tin and old car license plates. On the bed the Brave Man and his wife, the fat Luisa. In the cradle, curled up, sobbing, eunice, the couple's daugther. She is a place and rickety child. The Brave Man gets up. He goes to the factory. He stands before his machine, enormous and metallic. At midday his wife tells him that to save their daugther they must move, as the doctor has advised. The Brave Man goes back to work. He is told that a fellow worker was able to buy a house with what they gave him after he lost a hand in an accident. The Brave Man looks at the knife. He looks at his hand and thinks of his daugther. Second story: La falsa oficina del SupenumerarioA congressional supernumerary has a strange adventure one morning: first he is mistaken for a representative of the people, later iwth another representative, then with an extremely popular deputy, and in the end is lifted up on the shoulders od countrymen, workers, beggars, women and children. Third story: Los Ángeles del RitmoThe Rithm Angels are five boys united bu the same common condition: that of having nothing. "Chamito", "Mocorroy", "Mi Pana", "El Tigre" and "El Chivo" form a musical group, with tins and utensils, that pours itself into songs full of life, love and hope, In a world in which it is possible to barted a piece of cheese for a piece of dream. On the outside, the other world goes on ignorant of the madness, the daring, of those who want to live life till they drop. "Only the insane, children and lovers are saved", says one of the story's characters as he goes off, forgetful of his poverty, transported to a world where peace and happiness reign.
Roman Chalbaud
Venezuela
120 min.
Tragedy and passion are the twin threads that more "El pez que fuma", an enormous brothel on the outskirts of Caracas. The throne of this kingdom of prostitution is occupied by "La Garza", who lives under the protection of Dimas, pimp and professional criminal. Dimas has followed Tobías in his job as a favorite, the latter in prison now due to information provided by the former. The change has been good for business and Dimas acquire a firmer grip on power until the arrival one day of a fairly young boy with an air of the naive outcast about him. The boy's name is Jairo. His arrival will shake up the dark world of "El pez que fuma".
Roman Chalbaud
Venezuela
96 min.
The action takes place in the school attended by the children of the destitute, who are, in general, immigrants from the interior of Venezuela. Paula, a literature professor, takes notice of a rebellious gesture by Ingrid, who is in the end expelled. Paula decides to inquire into Ingrid's life. She tries to help her but Ingrid refuses to talk about the recent death of her mother and the constant attentions of Asdrúbal, her mother's last lover. Ingrid will not talk. She invents a fantasy wherein she writes a continuous letter to her mother, describing a lovely world. Reality is quite different, as the girl has given in to Asdrúbal. On another plane, Paula has begun to feel that education has reached a crisis point. She considers resigning and saving her marriage. But the rains come and along with them floods and the school is converted into a gigantic community dwelling. Maths and history classes acquire a new dimension when they take place within the communal atmosphere that reigns in the school. Problems arise when the educational authorities refuse to accept the new formula.
Roman Chalbaud
Venezuela
97 min.
A soty of love between Víctor, a married man, and Rosario, a prostitute. The former, unable to buy the feelings of the woman he loves, becomes more and more obsessed by her. He leaves home and tries to convince Rosario to leave "La gata borracha", the brothel where she works. The two of them together would start a new life. But Rosario rejects this proposal and the man falls prey to his obsession and comes back to try again and again until he loses control. It is a day during Carnival. He is with her at the beach. His powerlessness is overwhelming and he kills her. Her corpse appears the following day, still wearing its costume.
Roman Chalbaud
Venezuela
98 min.
Carmona is a guard at a branch of the Banco Metropolitano in Caracas who is killed during a hold-up of the bank. Inmmediately the radio provides details of the event which reach the ears of one Doctor Herrera, well-connected at the highest levels of the judicial process. Herrera attempts to combat public indifference to this death and proposses a "Carmona" campaign at a national level with a view to sensitising public opinion.It is later discovered that the murdered policeman had formerly been a common criminal, but the campaign is in its advanced stages and the image of the police cannot be placed in jeopardy.
Roman Chalbaud
Venezuela
124 min.
Adonay Flores, a famous TV producer and writer, lives in a luxurious penthouse with his beautiful dog, Marilyn. One who falls in love easily, Adonay lives surrounded by images of his idol, Marilyn Monroe, until one day he runs across a live woman. Her name is Belén Helena, a girl with the air of a hippie, daring, who he winds up turning into a model. But the girl is inconstant, and disappears more and more frequently, until the despairing Adonay has to take to drink. The hero's self-pity reaches its zenith when, after receiving the prize for the "Producer of the Year", he takes his car and smashes it up at 75 mph. When he comes out of hospital, Flores discovers that Belén, with the aid of a pal, has been distributing drugs at schools using one of his cars. Totally wised-up, the man can only find some solace by going back to his neighborhood and his people. One these subjects he has long wanted to write a novel, the title of which would be: "Ratón en ferretería".
Roman Chalbaud
Venezuela
128 min.
Pedro Zamora, an ex-guerrila-figther, returns to Caracas after ten years of absence, deliberately taking up lodging in the boarding house Hecce Homo (sic). His goal is to seek revenge against Diego Sánchez, former chief of the political police who murdered, with the help of his agents, several of Zamora's fellow figthers. Diego Sánchez is now the owner of the boarding house. The clandestine organisation no longer exists. Zamora's revenge is, after so long, of no political consequence. Yet nothing can dissuade him from his idea, neither Angela's love not the affection of the eccentric individuals who live in the boarding house. A final meeting between the two men seems inevitable.
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