18/11/2021 - The Spanish festival, which kicks off its 59th edition on 19 November, will offer both national and international titles in its various sections, ever buzzing with energy and temerity

As well as being able to enjoy a slew of international films (with a major European presence) and Spanish titles of the likes of Maixabel [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Icíar Bollaín
film profile] by Icíar Bollaín, Mighty Flash [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Ainhoa Rodríguez
film profile] by Ainhoa Rodríguez and Who’s Stopping Us [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Jonás Trueba
film profile] by Jonás Trueba, audiences at the Gijón Film Festival (19-27 November) will get the chance to visit theatres to see the world premieres of the latest documentary by David Valero, Un cielo impasible, and Welcome to ma maison [+see also:
interview: Andrés Goteira
film profile], a feature directed by Andrés Goteira, for example, both showing in the Tierres en trance section.

These are just some of the 40 national movies set to unspool at the gathering, which has been headed up since 2017 by Alejandro Díaz Castaño, and which is screening, for its Spanish premiere, El Planeta [+see also:
film review
interview: Amalia Ulman
film profile], a film by Amalia Ulman that was presented at the most recent Sundance and was shot – in black and white – in the stunning city that hosts this festival. It’s an event that, despite being held virtually at the end of the intense autumn season of film gatherings, always has a surprise or two up its sleeve.

Asturian helmer Luis Argeo will also present the world premiere of Empatía, a film that revolves around Spanish emigration to the United States. The Esbilla section will save room for D’ombres by Joan Tisminetzky, which teeters between essay and tribute, master class and portrait. These are joined by the Spanish co-productions Disturbed Earth [+see also:
trailer
interview: Kumjana Novakova, Guillermo…
film profile] (Bosnia and Herzegovina/Spain/North Macedonia) by Kumjana Novakova and Guillermo Carreras-Candi, a poetic essay on present-day Srebrenica; Shooting for Mirza (Spain/Bosnia and Herzegovina) by Juan Gautier, with a screenplay by Asturian scribe Yayo Herrero, which reconstructs the story of legendary basketball player Mirza Delibašić; and the German production Inside the Uffizi by Corinna Belz and Enrique Sánchez Lansch, a film about how the Medici family’s treasure trove is reinventing itself in order to continue to draw in the public.

On the other hand, the official section will host European titles of the calibre of Romania’s Immaculate [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Monica Stan, George Chiper-…
film profile] by Monica Stan and George Chiper-Lillemark (the big winner in the Giornate degli Autori and the recipient of the Lion of the Future for a Debut Film at Venice), Norway’s Ninjababy [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Kristine Kujath Thorp
interview: Yngvild Sve Flikke
film profile] by Yngvild Sve Flikke (nominated for the European Film Award for European Comedy), plus the Cannes-awarded Olga [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Elie Grappe
film profile] by Elie Grappe and Zero Fucks Given [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Emmanuel Marre and Julie Le…
film profile] by Emmanuel Marre and Julie Lecoustre, in the Retueyos section, dedicated to new talents. France [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Bruno Dumont
film profile] and Intregalde [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Radu Muntean
film profile], the new outings by France’s Bruno Dumont and Romania’s Radu Muntean, respectively, and the Berlinale-awarded documentary Mr Bachmann and His Class [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] by Maria Speth will get an airing in the Albar section, which spotlights more well-established talents.

Finally, it is worth mentioning that in the Special Screenings strand, in the presence of the masterful Gonzalo Suárez, the festival will dig out and show Don Juan in Hell (1991) and will also present his latest work, Alas de tiniebla (Spain), a delicate short featuring illustrations by Pablo Auladell, which takes a story by his daughter, Anne-Hélène Suárez, as its starting point.

Focuses dedicated to visionary French filmmaker Sandrine Veyseet, Portugal’s Joao Rosas and Romania’s Radu Jude (whose surprising Bad Luck Banging or Loony Porn [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Radu Jude
film profile] will be on show) are just some of the myriad other enticing strands of this festival, which will be brought to a close by the French musical Tralala [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] by Arnaud and Jean Marie Larrieu, and will offer some of its titles on the Filmin platform. More details of the Gijón Film Festival’s various activities and sections can be found here.

(Translated from Spanish)