SAN SEBASTIÁN 2019 Competition / Out of Competition / New Directors / Zabaltegi-Tabakalera

Alejandro Amenábar and Belén Funes to duke it out for the Golden Shell

18/07/2019 - Standing out among the Spanish titles in the official section presented this morning in Madrid are the acclaimed director’s While at War and the first-timer’s A Thief’s Daughter

While at War by Alejandro Amenábar

The 67^th San Sebastián International Film Festival is revving its engines: this morning, its director, José Luis Rebordinos, announced the first batch of titles in the gathering’s official section which, from 20-28 September, will be battling it out for the event’s coveted top prize, the Golden Shell. As they all happened to be Spanish (some of which in co-production with Europe or Latin America), what better place for the unveiling than the Madrilenian HQ of the Spanish Film Academy? There, attendees were informed that the much-awaited new period movie by Alejandro Amenábar, While at War [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Alejandro Amenábar
film profile], will be locking horns with other titles such as A Thief’s Daughter [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Belén Funes
film profile], the feature debut by Belén Funes, a drama that has also been generating a huge buzz, starring real-life (as well as fictional) father and daughter Greta Fernández and Eduard Fernández (who will be vying for the Best Actor Award, coincidentally going up against himself, as he also has a major role in Amenábar’s movie). Also set to compete in this strand are some of the gathering’s regulars, Jose Mari Goenaga, Jon Garaño and Aitor Arregi, a Basque team of directors who scooped the Special Jury Prize two years ago with Giant [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Aitor Arregi and Jon Garaño
film profile] and who will now attempt to outdo themselves with the Antonio de la Torre starrer La trinchera infinita [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Aitor Arregi, Jon Garaño an…
film profile], a chronicle of the hardships endured by a victim of a political reprisal who hid himself away for too long during the ill-fated Franco regime.

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In the official section, albeit out of competition, audiences will be able to enjoy Diecisiete [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Daniel Sánchez Arévalo
film profile], the new outing by Daniel Sánchez-Arévalo, and, in the special screenings, the Spanish-Argentinian co-production Heroic Losers [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] by Sebastián Borensztein, an adaptation of the brilliant novel The Night of the Heroic Losers penned by Eduardo Sacheri (The Secret in Their Eyes [+see also:
trailer
making of
Interview Juan José Campanella [IT]
Interview Ricardo Darín [IT]
Interview Soledad Villemin [IT]
film profile]), starring and funded by father and son Ricardo and Chino Darín.

Other hotly anticipated debuts that will be screened at San Sebastián include The Innocence [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Lucía Alemany
film profile] by Lucía Alemany, which is a product of the ECAM’s The Screen programme (see the news), and Las letras de Jordi by Maider Fernández, a project developed as part of the Ikusmira Berriak residency programme, which scooped the REC Grabaketa Estudioa Post-production Award in 2017. Both movies will be taking part in the New Directors section.

Finally, Turu, the Wacky Hen [+see also:
trailer
film profile], an animated film by directorial duo Víctor Monigote and Eduardo Gondell, a co-production between Argentina and Spain, should go down a treat with families in the Velodrome; and Adiós, Paco Cabezas’ return to Spanish cinema after his mainstream success in Hollywood, toplined by Natalia de Molina and Mario Casas, will get an airing as a RTVE Gala.

Here is the list of films announced so far:

Competition

A Thief’s Daughter [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Belén Funes
film profile] – Belén Funes (Spain)
While at War [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Alejandro Amenábar
film profile] – Alejandro Amenábar (Argentina/Spain)
La trinchera infinita [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Aitor Arregi, Jon Garaño an…
film profile] – Aitor Arregi, Jon Garaño and Jose Mari Goenaga (Spain/France)

Out of competition

Diecisiete [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Daniel Sánchez Arévalo
film profile] – Daniel Sánchez Arévalo (Spain)

Special Screenings

Heroic Losers [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] – Sebastián Borensztein (Argentina/Spain)

New Directors

The Innocence [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Lucía Alemany
film profile] – Lucía Alemany (Spain)
Jordi's Letters [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Maider Fernández Iriarte
film profile] – Maider Fernández (Spain)

Zabaltegi-Tabakalera

El fiscal, la presidenta y el espía – Justin Webster (Germany/Spain) (TV series)
The Golden Legend – Ion de Sosa, Chema García Ibarra (Spain) (short film)
Escenas de vida – Izibene Oñederra (Spain) (short film)
Urpean Lurra – Maddi Barber (Spain) (medium-length film)

Velodrome

Turu, the Wacky Hen [+see also:
trailer
film profile] – Víctor Monigote and Eduardo Gondell (Argentina/Spain)
Perfect Life [+see also:
series review
trailer
series profile] (TV series) – Leticia Dolera (Spain)