02/08/2019 - James Franco, who won the Golden Shell 2 years ago, will be vying for the prize once again, going head to head with filmmakers such as France’s Guillaume Nicloux and German actress-director Ina Weisse

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 also:
film review
trailer
interview: Aitor Arregi and Jon Garaño
film profile] (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 [+see also:
trailer
film profile]), with her second feature, The Audition [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Ina Weisse
interview: Ina Weisse
film profile], a French-German picture starring the ubiquitous Nina Hoss (Barbara [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Christian Petzold
film profile]). Another prominent name on the list of new competitors is France’s Guillaume Nicloux, who, in Thalasso [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile], has once again got author Michel Houellebecq to play himself, as he did in 2014’s The Kidnapping of Michel Houellebecq [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile]. 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 [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile], 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 [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Adilkhan Yerzhanov
film profile]); and Death Will Come and Shall Have Your Eyes [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] 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 (US)
Thalasso [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] – Guillaume Nicloux (France)
Death Will Come and Shall Have Your Eyes [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] – José Luis Torres Leiva (Chile/Argentina/Germany)
The Audition [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Ina Weisse
interview: Ina Weisse
film profile] – Ina Weisse (Germany/France)
A Dark-Dark Man [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] – Adilkhan Yerzhanov (Kazakhstan/France)
Workforce – David Zonana (Mexico)

(Translated from Spanish)