02/10/2023 - The 10th edition of the festival hosted by the Basque city is unspooling between 2 and 8 October, offering up 10 feature films in competition

Matria by Álvaro Gago

Dedicated to first and second feature films, the Saint-Jean-de-Luz International Film Festival has carved out an appealing niche in the panorama of film festivals unfolding in France, shining a light on highly promising talent who are in serious need of visibility at a time of abundant audiovisual offerings in cinemas and elsewhere. And the 10th edition of the Basque event, unfolding 2 to 8 October, won’t be deviating from this brief, primarily offering up a competition of 10 feature films screening in French premieres, to be assessed by a jury led by Agnès Jaoui (and further composed of William Lebghil, Guillaume de Tonquedec, Sarah Suco and Alysson Paradis).

Battling it out for the Grand Prize 2023, we’ll see Matria [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Álvaro Gago
film profile] by Spain’s Álvaro Gago (unveiled in the Berlinale’s Panorama line-up), Through the Night [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Delphine Girard
film profile] by Belgium’s Delphine Girard (the winner of the Audience Award in Venice’s Giornate degli Autori event), Rossosperanza [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] by Italy’s Annarita Zambrano (discovered in competition in Locarno), Dormitory [+see also:
film review
interview: Nehir Tuna
film profile] by Turkey’s Nehir Tuna (well-received in Venice’s Orizzonti line-up), Back to Alexandria by Swiss-Egyptian director Tamer Ruggli, French movies The Dreamer [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Anaïs Tellenne
film profile] by Anaïs Tellenne (presented in Venice’s Orizzonti Extra section), La nouvelle femme [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] by Léa Todorov and The Fantastic Three by Michaël Dichter, Canadian title Dissidente by Pier-Philippe Chevigny, and The Burdened by Yemeni director Amr Gamal (the runner up for the 2023 Audience Award in the Berlinale’s Panorama line-up).

Jostling alongside a variety of short film programmes are another ten feature films, screening out of competition, notably French films in the form of Rachel's Game by Thierry Klifa, which is opening the festival today, La vie de ma mère [+see also:
film review
film profile] by Julien Carpentier, selected for the closing slot, Soudain seuls [+see also:
film review
interview: Thomas Bidegain
film profile] by Thomas Bidegain (who’ll also be delivering a Film Masterclass), Under the Rainbow by Bryan Marciano, Je ne suis pas un héros by Rudy Milstein, Nouveau monde by Vincent Cappello and Paternel by Ronan Tronchot. Likewise worth a mention are The (Ex)perience of Love [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Ann Sirot & Raphael Balboni
film profile] by Belgian duo Ann Sirot and Raphaël Balboni and Bizkarsoro by Spain’s Josu Martinez (a Basque-language film co-produced by France).

(Translated from French)