RTVE will hold two film Galas at the 71st San Sebastian Festival, bringing a preview of two of the films with RTVE participation: La Ternura, by Vicente Villanueva, and Chinas, by Arantxa Echevarría, both of which will have their cinema release in the coming months. RTVE will also come to the event with three competing titles in the Official Competition, and another thee films, including Cerrar los ojos / Close Your Eyes, the latest project from Víctor Erice, who will receive a Donostia Award in San Sebastian.
‘La Ternura’ and ‘Chinas’, premieres at the RTVE Galas
RTVE will present Chinas, the latest film from Arantxa Echevarría (Carmen y Lola), narrating the story of two Chinese girls in Madrid with a cast including Leonor Watling, Pablo Molinero and Carolina Yuste. The preview, to be attended by the film team, will take place on 27 September in the Kursaal 2. The film will have its cinema release on 6 October.
The second RTVE Gala at this edition of the Festival will be to present La Ternura, by Vicente Villanueva (Sevillanas de Brooklyn), an adaptation of Alfredo Sanzol’s hit play. An entertaining romcom telling the tale of a witch-like queen and her two princess daughters who travel with the West Indies Fleet to wed in marriages arranged by the king. Outstanding on the cast are Emma Suárez, Gonzalo de Castro, Alexandra Jiménez, Fernando Guallar, Anna Moliner and Carlos Cuevas. The team will attend the preview to take place on 28 September in the Victoria Eugenia Theatre, only a day before its release in cinemas.
Films with RTVE participation in San Sebastian
Competing for the Golden Shell in the Official Selection are three films with the participation of the RTVE Corporation.
Un amor is the latest film from Isabel Coixet, adaptation of Sara Mesa’s novel and starring Laia Costa. Completing the cast are Hovik Keuchkerian, Hugo Silva, Luis Bermejo, Ingrid García-Jonsson and Francesco Carril. The film can be seen in cinemas from 10 November.
El sueño de la sultana / Sultana’s Dream is the first animated movie from Isabel Herguera, and adapts the novel by Rokeya Hossain about an Indian writer’s dream of equality. The film will have its cinema release on 17 November.
Finally, O corno / The Rye Horn, by Jaione Camborda, is a drama starring Janet Novás, Diego Anido and Julia Gómez, set in the rural Galicia of the 70s, and which have its cinema release on 11 October.
Also in the Official Selection, although this time out of competition, will be a special screening of the animated film They Shot The Piano Player, the latest work from Fernando Trueba and Javier Mariscal following the huge success of Chico & Rita. The film will have its cinema release on 6 October.
The New Directors section will see the premiere of Javier Macipe’s La estrella azul / The Blue Star, a Spanish-Argentinian co-production inspired by the life of the musician Mauricio Aznar.
Lastly, San Sebastian will roll out the red carpet for Cerrar los ojos / Close Your Eyes coinciding with its release in cinemas on 29 September, and will give its director, Víctor Erice, a Donostia Award. Thirty years down the line, the famous moviemaker has once again taken up his position behind the camera to direct this tale of a disappearance, while also addressing subjects such as identity and memory, and which comes with a cast headed by Manolo Solo, José Coronado and Ana Torrent, alongside María León, Mario Pardo, Petra Martínez and José Mª Pou. The film had its world premiere in Cannes and is the only Spanish representative selected for the prestigious New York International Festival. Its international trajectory also includes a showing at Toronto Film Festival and having been pre-selected for the European Film Awards.
The tale of two 9-year-old Chinese girls told parallel to one another. The two start school in Madrid: they look alike, but they are very different: Lucia is the daughter of immigrants. She feels Spanish, she wants to fit in, but her parents don't speak Spanish and they work all day long. They don't even want her to celebrate her birthday at Burger King. Xiang is adopted. She attracts attention wherever she goes with her Spanish parents. She feels neither Chinese nor accepted by the children at school.
La Ternura tells the tale of a witch-like queen and her two princess daughters who travel with the Invincible Armada, obliged by Philip II to wed English noblemen in arranged marriages once the invasion of England is done and dusted. Queen Esmeralda hates men because they have always ruled her life and deprived her of her freedom and she is determined that her daughters will not share the same fate. When the Armada passes alongside an island that the Queen believes to be deserted, she whips up a storm that sinks their ship. The plan is to stay on the island forever with her daughters so that they will never have to see another man as long as they live.