The 22^nd edition of REC – Tarragona International Film Festival (30 November-7 December) will screen ten of the best feature debuts of recent times, showcasing a clutch of emerging international talents. One of its centrepieces will be the Spanish flick Suro [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Mikel Gurrea
scheda film], a movie directed by Basque helmer Mikel Gurrea that took part in the 2021 RECLab, which just goes to show how much of a boost this festival’s professional sidebar is able to give new productions.

In addition, REC 2022 is lining up offerings such as Saint Omer [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Alice Diop
intervista: Kayije Kagame
scheda film] by Alice Diop, which recently triumphed at the Seville Film Festival and is the French hopeful for the 2023 Oscars. Audiences can also see the Austrian production Sonne [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Kurdwin Ayub
scheda film] by Kurdwin Ayub, crowned with the Best Feature Debut Award at the Berlin Film Festival, and taking a hard-hitting and critical look at the world of online influencers.

Two of the most award-festooned productions of the year will also get an airing at REC: I Have Electric Dreams [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Valentina Maurel
scheda film] (Belgium/France/Costa Rica) by Valentina Maurel, which has just scooped the Best Film Award at Thessaloniki, after emerging victorious at the Locarno Film Festival and at San Sebastián (in the Horizontes Latinos section); and Aftersun [+leggi anche:
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scheda film], a co-production between the USA and the UK by Charlotte Wells, which hinges on how personal relationships develop over time.

Other notable highlights at this edition are the German film The Ordinaries [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Sophie Linnenbaum
scheda film] by Sophie Linnenbaum, which, following its premiere at the Karlovy Vary Film Festival, will come to REC accompanied by its director; and 21 Paraíso [+leggi anche:
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scheda film] by Néstor Ruiz Medina, a Spanish movie that portrays the conflict between the things we reveal and the things we conceal about our private lives in a virtual environment.

In the Feature Debut section, audiences will also be able to sample Delta [+leggi anche:
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scheda film] by Michele Vannucci, an Italian production that explains how climate change is having an effect on societal changes. South Korean filmmaker Park Sang-min will be another name visiting Tarragona to introduce I Haven’t Done Anything, which broaches how we communicate with one another and what constitutes news, through a story of some YouTubers. This section is rounded off by the US flick The Year Between by Alex Heller, an entertaining ode to (post-)adolescence, fatherhood, friendship and the emotional roller-coaster that is living with a family in disarray.

In addition to programming these indie cinema gems, at this year’s edition, REC will screen the winning films from the Cannes Film Festival (Triangle of Sadness [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Ruben Östlund
intervista: Ruben Östlund
scheda film] by Ruben Östlund), Locarno (Rule 34 [+leggi anche:
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scheda film] by Júlia Murat) and San Sebastián (The Kings of the World [+leggi anche:
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scheda film] by Laura Mora). The latter will bring this year’s REC to a close, after it has hosted a number of special screenings – for example, that of The Yellow Ceiling [+leggi anche:
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scheda film], a documentary by Isabel Coixet, among others.

The REC line-up will be enhanced by film-and-aperitif sessions, concerts and talks, but among the novelties this year, we should mention the increased significance of the offerings, activities and sessions taking place at RECLab, which is unfolding for longer than ever before. This professional strand will take place from 1-4 December, rustling up a programme that includes a professional workshop, Primer Test, which is a space for the development and trial screenings of film projects that are currently in post-production and are seeking expert advice (the list of projects taking part can be found here).