15/09/2016 - Bercot, des Pallières and Bonello are in competition, Jérôme Salle will close the gathering, and Morgan Simon and Jean-Gabriel Périot have secured a place in New Directors

With 31 features in the Basque showcase (13 majority productions and 18 minority ones), France stands proud on the line-up of the 64^th San Sebastián Film Festival (16-24 September 2016) and has secured some first-rate spots, as the gathering will be opened in competition tomorrow by 150 Milligrams [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] by Emmanuelle Bercot (toplined by Danish actress Sidse Babett Knudsen – produced by Haut et Court, which will distribute the movie in France from 23 November – sales by Wild Bunch) and will be closed out of competition by The Odyssey [+see also:
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film profile] by Jérôme Salle (produced by Pan Européenne, Curiosa Films and Moana Films, co-produced by Belgian outfit Versus – also being sold by Wild Bunch, which will release the movie in French theatres on 12 October).

Three additional majority French productions are in the running for the 2016 Golden Shell: the excellent Orphan [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Arnaud des Pallières
film profile] by Arnaud des Pallières (produced by Les Films Hatari, co-produced by Les Films d'Ici, Arte France Cinéma and Rhône-Alpes Cinéma, sold overseas by Le Pacte, which will distribute it in France from 5 April 2017), Nocturama [+see also:
film review
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interview: Bertrand Bonello
film profile] by Bertrand Bonello (produced by Rectangle, co-produced by Pandora, Scope Pictures and Arte France Cinéma – sold by Wild Bunch, which brought the film out in France on 31 August) and Jesús [+see also:
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film profile] by Fernando Guzzoni (executive-produced by Paris-based outfit JBA together with Chile, Germany and Greece – sales by Premium Films).

Also featuring among the 17 titles in the main competition is a minority French co-production, with The Winter [+see also:
film review
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film profile] by Emiliano Torres (co-produced with Argentina by Cité Films – which is also in charge of the sales – and Orange Studio), and Paris-based company Indie Sales is selling The Giant [+see also:
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interview: Johannes Nyholm
film profile] by Swedish director Johannes Niholm. Lastly, we should point out that Wild Bunch is selling Snowden [+see also:
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interview: Oliver Stone
film profile] by US director Oliver Stone, which will be screened out of competition in the official selection. 

In the competitive New Directors section, audiences will be able to discover A Taste of Ink [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Morgan Simon
film profile] by Morgan Simon (a feature debut produced by Kazak, which will come out in France on 1 February 2017, courtesy of Rezo Films, and is being sold by Versatile) and Summer Lights [+see also:
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film profile] by Jean-Gabriel Périot (produced by Local Films – sold by MPM Film – a fiction feature, following the filmmaker’s head-turning documentary A German Youth [+see also:
trailer
film profile]). Also of note in this section are two minority French films, with the doc In Between [+see also:
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interview: Maysaloun Hamoud
film profile] by Maysaloun Hamoud (co-produced by En Compagnie des Lamas with Israel) and Porto [+see also:
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interview: Gabe Klinger
film profile] by Gabe Klinger (co-produced by Gladys Glover with Portugal and the United States), in addition to three other features being sold by French sales agents: Le Ciel flamand [+see also:
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interview: Peter Monsaert
film profile] by Belgium’s Peter Monsaert (sold by UDI), Pretenders [+see also:
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film profile] by Estonia’s Vallo Toomla (sold by Wide Management) and Park [+see also:
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interview: Sofia Exarchou
film profile] by Greece’s Sofia Exarchou (sold by Stray Dogs).

The rest of the programme of this edition of San Sebastián is brimming with French productions. On the line-up of the Pearls section we find Frantz [+see also:
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Q&A: François Ozon
film profile] by François Ozon, Things to Come [+see also:
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Q&A: Mia Hansen-Løve
film profile] by Mia Hansen-Love, Elle [+see also:
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film profile] by Dutch director Paul Verhoeven and the animated title The Red Turtle [+see also:
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film profile] by his fellow countryman Michael Dudok de Wit and, among the minority French productions, My Life as a Courgette [+see also:
film review
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interview: Claude Barras
film profile] by Swiss filmmaker Claude Barras, Palme d'Or winner I, Daniel Blake [+see also:
film review
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film profile] by British director Ken Loach, Berlinale Golden Bear winner Fire at Sea [+see also:
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interview: Gianfranco Rosi
film profile] by Italy’s Gianfranco Rosi, Sieranevada [+see also:
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Q&A: Cristi Puiu
film profile] by Romania’s Cristi Puiu, After Love [+see also:
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interview: Joachim Lafosse
film profile] by Belgium’s Joachim Lafosse and Neruda [+see also:
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film profile] by Chile’s Pablo Larrain.

The competitive Zabaltegi section includes the documentary Journey Through French Cinema [+see also:
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film profile] by Bertrand Tavernier, the animated film Louise by the Shore [+see also:
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film profile] by Jean-François Laguionie and four minority co-productions (The Ornithologist [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: João Pedro Rodrigues
film profile] by Joao Pedro Rodrigues, Zoology [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Ivan I Tverdovsky
film profile] by Russia’s Ivan I Tverdovsky, and the docs Eat That Question – Frank Zappa in His Own Words [+see also:
trailer
film profile] by Germany’s Thorsten Schūtte and Memory Exercises [+see also:
trailer
film profile] by Paraguay’s Paz Encina). Lastly, featuring on the menu in Horizontes Latinos are five minority French films: The Untamed [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] by Mexico’s Amat Escalante, The Blind Christ [+see also:
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film profile] by Chile’s Christopher Murray (co-produced with Chile by Ciné-Sud Promotion), Much Ado About Nothing [+see also:
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film profile] by his fellow countryman Alejandro Fernandes Almendras, Santa & Andres [+see also:
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film profile] by Cuba’s Carlos Lechuga and The Cambridge Squatter [+see also:
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film profile] by Brazil’s Eliane Caffé.

(Translated from French)