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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Horizontes Selection
Films
Films
Horizontes Selection
Horizontes Selection
Álvaro Buela
Uruguay - Canada
100 min.
Pamela is 34 years old, works in a supermarket in Montevideo and has never known a man. She is obsessed with a mysterious divine calling that has chosen her to bring a potential saviour of the next millennium into the world. How can she bear the responsibility for such a mission? An atypical melodrama that alternates between farce and mysterious sequences, it shows the healthy state of current Uruguayan cinema and comes to the Festival after being shown in Films in Progress last year.
Marcelo Gomes
Brazil
99 min.
In 1942 Johann, a young German, drives his truck along the desert roads of North-East Brazil, carrying two strange products inside: large amounts of aspirin, an unknown medicine as a pain reliever in those parts, and a film projector to fuel the dreams of the audience. An unusual road movie that was presented last year in the Films in Progress section and shown with great success in the "Un certain regard" section at the latest Cannes Film Festival.
Inés de Oliveira Cézar
Argentina
99 min.
The way that a day goes by in a typical family: the father goes off to the beach with his son to play, go for a walk and chat with the fishermen. The mother takes the grandmother out of the old-peoples home where she is spending the end of her life to go for a walk and relive some memories. The hours in this film go by in a serene, peaceful, unhurried and rather melancholy way. An intimist poem in which the dialogues are spoken quietly so they don't get in the way of the sounds of nature, with camera-work that is attentive but distant, as if it were overcome by an overpowering sense of modesty.
Marcelo Mangone
Argentina
80 min.
So, the age-old factory has closed down? It doesn't matter; the model employee heads off to work each morning as if nothing had happened. The demolition crew have turned up? Oh dear! That's quite a different kettle of fish, but nothing is impossible in this rather surreal black comedy, that was a revelation at Films in Progress 7.
Albertina Carri
Argentina - France
85 min.
A bourgeois family with two parents, three children and a grandmother who turns up at just the wrong moment. One of the sons comes back from Spain, where he has got married to Montse. The other two sons, Jere and Meme, profess a love for each other that is more intense than is usually the case between brother and sister. Second full-length film by the director of Los rubios (2003), well-received at many festivals, which deals with a quite common subject among certain filmmakers in recent Argentine cinema: the rottenness hidden behind the apparently innocent nature of bourgeois families.
Georgina Garcia Riedel
USA
128 min.
Grandma is determined to buy a second-hand car and learn to drive with the help of the gardener next door. Mum needs to satisfy her sexual needs at all costs since she got divorced. Her daughter discovers love for the first time with a boy her own age. Three female characters portrayed by another woman who is on very familiar ground, is highly attentive to details and pays special attention to the production. The film is rounded off by splendid performances from the three actresses in the leading roles.
Mercedes Moncada Rodríguez
Nicaragua - Mexico - Spain
78 min.
The Rivero family recall the period when three brothers were forced to fight for the Contra while another brother, the twin of one of those who was recruited by the Contra, joined the Sandinistas and the trauma that these divisions still cause them. The documentary shows the misfortunes that many families are still suffering, years after the end of the conflict that devastated Nicaragua, and also analyses the dangers inherent to religious fanaticism.
Luis Ortega
Argentina - Holland
83 min.
Perla is 60 and is suffering from a terminal illness that means she needs constant blood transfusions. She lives in a derelict building, with her uncommunicative daughter and a godmother who provides a breath of fresh air. When the latter pretends she's won a trip to Brazil in a competition, mother and daughter feel abandoned. A claustrophobic film in which the beauty of its images stand out, it is the second film by the director of Caja negra, shown at San Sebastian three years ago, and was selected to take part in Films in Progress in March this year at Toulouse.
Mark Becker
USA
80 min.
Carmelo is a Mexican illegal immigrant. He is nearly 60 years old, and struggles to make ends meet in San Francisco by singing Rancheras at weddings, anniversaries, christenings and even funerals. He goes back to Mexico when his mother is dying and can't decide whether to stay in his home town or try and get back illegally into the USA. The main character in this story acts in a disarmingly unassuming way to reveal his innermost thoughts, and pervades the film with overwhelming sadness.
Sebastián Campos
Chile
99 min.
A family of architects, a reserved girl and a couple of gays spend the days from Good Friday to Easter Sunday relaxing in houses by the sea. When Sofía, the son's girlfriend, shows up, her bohemian appearance and provocative eroticism starts causing trouble. A modern revision of the mystery of the Passion and earthly paradise, shot with a hand-held camera and with numerous meticulous shots, that reveal a very personal style. Another film from last year's Films in Progress.
Amat Escalante
Mexico
90 min.
A (more or less) inconspicuous couple lead a (more or less) undistinguished life until a daughter unexpectedly bursts in and opens a Pandora's box. A new Mexican filmmaker, who was Carlos Reygadas's assistant director on Batalla en el cielo, and a revelation at Films in Progress 7, Amat Escalante re-passed the test with flying colours at the prestigious Cannes Film Festival.
Carlos Armella, Pedro González Rubio
Mexico
87 min.
A charismatic native bullfighter who risks his life for a pittance experiences his moments of glory in makeshift bullrings during saint's days fiestas... An angel face that also has a much less attractive dark side. This documentary has made a deep impression on Alejandro González Iñárritu, Alfonso Cuarón and Guillermo del Toro.
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Friday: 10:00h - 14:00h
Monday to Thursday: 09:00h - 15:00h
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