This morning, the 67th San Sebastián International Film Festival, which will unspool in the beautiful Basque city between 20 and 28 September this year, announced a slew of new titles. These films have thus been added to those included in the announcements made a few days ago, such as the latest outings by Alejandro Aménabar and the trio behind Giant [+] (see the news). Standing out among the new additions is US actor-director James Franco, who won the Golden Shell in 2017 with The Disaster Artist. He is back with Zeroville, a movie about the tumultuous 1960s in Hollywood, starring the director himself together with his usual posse of actors, headed up by his brother Dave Franco and Seth Rogen. Going up against this – at first glance – solid contender in the main section of the Basque gathering are Berlin-born actress-director Ina Weisse (The Architect [+]), with her second feature, The Audition, a French-German picture starring the ubiquitous Nina Hoss (Barbara [+]). Another prominent name on the list of new competitors is France’s Guillaume Nicloux, who, in Thalasso [+], has once again got author Michel Houellebecqto play himself, as he did in 2014’s The Kidnapping of Michel Houellebecq [+]. Here, he gauges the extent of his egotism together with another “genius”, Gérard Depardieu.
Another couple of European co-productions will also get an airing at San Sebastián in September: A Dark-Dark Man (Kazakhstan/France), a thriller about an inquiry into the murky killing of a child in a rural setting, directed by Adilkhan Yerzhanov (The Gentle Indifference of the World [+]); and Vendrá la muerte y tendrá tus ojos (Chile/Argentina/Germany) by José Luis Torres Leiva, a profound lesbian drama that took part in the Europe-Latin America Co-Production Forum at the 2016 edition.
This list of films in the Official Section of San Sebastián 2019 is rounded off – although it is still open to more additions – by the Canadian production And the Birds Rained Down, an adaptation of Jocelyne Saucier’s novel of the same name by filmmaker Louise Archambault; and the Mexican title Workforce, the feature debut by David Zonana, which addresses job insecurity and stars non-professional actors.
Cineuropa will be sure to keep you up to date with the rest of the titles selected for the festival, which will be unveiled gradually over the coming weeks.
Here is the list of the titles announced today:
Competition
And the Birds Rained Down – Louise Archambault (Canada)
Zeroville – James Franco (USA)
Thalasso [+] – Guillaume Nicloux (France)
Vendrá la muerte y tendrá tus ojos – José Luis Torres Leiva (Chile/Argentina/Germany)
The Audition – Ina Weisse (Germany/France)
A Dark-Dark Man – Adilkhan Yerzhanov (Kazakhstan/France)
Workforce – David Zonana (Mexico)
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