20/08/2024 - This strand reserved for first and second features is set to host works by filmmakers hailing from eight countries, which will be vying for a €50,000 prize

UPDATE (20 August): Two new films have been added to the selection: the second movie by Swiss director Piet Baumgartner (The Driven Ones [+see also:
film review
film profile]), entitled Bagger Drama [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Piet Baumgartner
film profile], and the debut from Danish filmmaker Sylvia Le Fanu, My Eternal Summer [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Sylvia Le Fanu
film profile].

-

The San Sebastián International Film Festival has announced the titles of the ten films that will be locking horns for the Kutxabank-New Directors Award, endowed with €50,000, at the 72nd edition of the Basque gathering, which will take place from 20-28 September. Over the next few days, the organisers are expected to announce one or two more titles to top off the selection. All of the movies that have been chosen will also be duking it out for the DAMA Youth Award.

A few days ago, we found out the identities of the four debut films that will be included in the section, all of which are Spanish (see the news). They are La guitarra flamenca de Yerai Cortés [+see also:
film review
interview: Antón Álvarez
film profile] by Antón Álvarez (aka C Tangana) and As Silence Passes By [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Sandra Romero
film profile] by Sandra Romero, both of which are feature debuts. The Spanish contingent in this section is rounded off by two sophomore features: Surfacing [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] by Cecilia Atán and Valeria Pivato, and Azken erromantikoak (Los últimos románticos) [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] by David Pérez Sañudo.

Turkish filmmaker Belkis Bayrak will be heading to San Sebastián with Gülizar [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Belkıs Bayrak and Bekir Beh…
film profile], her feature debut and a production involving Turkey and Kosovo that revolves around a young woman who is a victim of sexual assault. Another feature debut is Winter in Sokcho [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Koya Kamura
film profile], which examines how the arrival of a French artist alters the life of a young Korean woman. It is a French-Korean co-production helmed by French-Japanese director Koya Kamura.

Hailing from Thailand is Sivaroj Kongsakul’s Regretfully at Dawn, his second film, in which he portrays how the fates of a girl, an old man and a soldier intertwine. In the Name of Blood [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Akaki Popkhadze
film profile] is a co-production involving France, Belgium and Germany and is another feature debut, this time by Georgia’s Akaki Popkhadze. The movie is set in Nice and focuses on the death of a prominent member of the Georgian community.

The selection so far (which, again, is open to further additions in the coming weeks) is rounded off by two sophomore features. The first is Turn Me On, which marks the return of US director Michael Tyburski after the successful Sound of Silence. On this occasion, the helmer offers up a romantic comedy set in a new-age community that rejects human emotion. After he partook in IFFR with his feature debut, China’s Yongkang Tang is jetting off to San Sebastián with Stars and the Moon, his second outing, this time centring on a boy in search of aliens in the sky over his tiny mountain village.

Here is the full list:

New Directors

La guitarra flamenca de Yerai Cortés [+see also:
film review
interview: Antón Álvarez
film profile] – Antón Álvarez (Spain)
Surfacing [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] – Cecilia Atán and Valeria Pivato (Spain/Argentina)
Bagger Drama [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Piet Baumgartner
film profile] - Piet Baumgartner (Switzerland)
Gülizar [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Belkıs Bayrak and Bekir Beh…
film profile] – Belkis Bayrak (Turkey/Kosovo)
My Eternal Summer [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Sylvia Le Fanu
film profile] - Sylvia Le Fanu (Denmark)
Winter in Sokcho [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Koya Kamura
film profile] – Koya Kamura (France/South Korea)
Regretfully at Dawn – Sivaroj Kongsakul (Thailand)
Azken erromantikoak (Los últimos románticos) [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] – David Pérez Sañudo (Spain)
In the Name of Blood [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Akaki Popkhadze
film profile] – Akaki Popkhadze (France/Belgium/Germany)
As Silence Passes By [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Sandra Romero
film profile] – Sandra Romero (Spain)
Stars and the Moon – Yongkang Tang (China)
Turn Me On – Michael Tyburski (USA)

(Translated from Spanish)