Edward Berger’s “Ballad of a Small Player,” Claire Denis’ “The Fence” and James Vanderbilt’s “Nuremberg,” are set to play in main competition at September’s San Sebastian Film Festival.
The 73th edition of San Sebastian, the biggest film event in the Spanish-speaking world, takes place over Sept. 19-27.
Also vying for the Golden Shell, San Sebastián’s top prize, the festival unveiled Tuesday an eclectic mix of films with Dolores Fonzi, Joachim Lafosse, Olmo Omerzu and Xiaoyu Qin rounding out the section.
Juliette Binoche’s directing debut, documentary “In-I in Motion,” revisiting her 2007 stage collaboration with choreographer Akram Khan, and Japanese Junji Sakamoto’s “Climbing for Life,” a biopic of trailblazing mountaineer Junko Tabei, will be shown as Special Screenings out of competition.
The seven titles added to San Sebastián’s main competition lineup join previously announced films from Agnieszka Holland, Alice Winocour, José Luis Guerin and Alberto Rodríguez, building an Official Selection that blends high-profile European auteurs with emerging voices from Latin America and Asia.
San Sebastian Main Competition: Newly Announced Titles
“Ballad of a Small Player,” (Edward Berger, U.K.)
After competing for last year’s Golden Shell with “Conclave,” a winner amongst other accolades of the Academy Award for best adapted screenplay, Berger directs Colin Farrell in an adaptation of Lawrence Osborne’s Macau-set novel. Farrell stars as a gambler on a losing streak, joined by Tilda Swinton and Fala Chen. Berger’s “All Quiet on the Western Front” (2022) snagged four Oscars, including best international film.
“The Fence,” (“Le cri des gardes,” Claire Denis, France)
San Sebastián has become a recurring platform for Denis, who scored the Fipresci Prize there with “High Life.” In 2022, she won a Berlin Silver Bear with “Both Sides of the Blade.” An adaptation of a Bernard-Marie Koltès’ play in a drama of colonial violence and survival, “The Fence” stars Isaach de Bankolé, Matt Dillon and Mia McKenna-Bruce.
“Belén,” (Dolores Fonzi, Argentina)
Argentine actor, writer and director Fonzi’s sophomore feature behind the camera tells the story of a young woman imprisoned in Tucumán after a miscarriage, highlighting injustice and reproductive rights battles. She also stars alongside Camila Plaate and Laura Paredes. The film marks her helming return to San Sebastian after “Blondi” (2023). In the Official Selection Fonzi has also participated with “El aura,” directed by Fabián Bielinsky, “Truman,” by Cesc Gay, and Claudia Llosa’s “Fever Dream.”
“Six Days in Spring,” (“Six jours ce printemps-là,” Joachim Lafosse, Belgium, France, Luxembourg)
A family drama set on the French Riviera, where an accident destabilizes fragile family ties, represents the third participation by the Belgian filmmaker in main competition, where he won the Silver Shell for best director with “The White Knights” (2015). He returned with “A Silence” in 2023.
“Ungrateful Beings,” (Olmo Omerzu, Slovenia, Czech Republic, Poland, Slovakia, Croatia, France)
A family drama where a vacation exposes deep-rooted generational conflict, Omerzu featured at San Sebastian’s New Directors sidebar with “Family Film” in 2015 and won best director award at Karlovy Vary with “Winter Flies” (2018), his third film.
“Her Heart Beats in Its Cage,” (“Jianyu Laide Mama,” Xiaoyu Qin, China)
China’s Qin makes his fiction debut with a drama inspired by the true story of a woman who reunites with her 10-year-old son after spending ten years in prison for killing her husband. With “The Verse of Us” (2015) Xiaoyu Qin won the best documentary award at the Shanghai Festival.
“Nuremberg,” (James Vanderbilt, U.S.)
Rami Malek plays as the real-life character Douglas Kelley, a North American psychiatrist who, on the eve of the Nuremberg trials, assessed 22 Nazis, among them Hitler’s right-hand man, Hermann Göring, played by Russell Crowe. Screenwriter of “Zodiac” and “The Amazing Spider-Man,” Vanderbilt adapts here Jack El-Hai’s book “The Nazi and the Psychiatrist.”
Special Screenings – Out of Competition:
“In-I in Motion,” (Juliette Binoche, France)
A non-fiction film looking back at the experience of “In-I,” the hybrid dance and theatre show produced by Binoche alongside the dancer and choreographer Akram Khan. Binoche won an Academy Award for best supporting actress for her role in “The English Patient” (1996), as well as acting awards at Cannes, Berlin and Venice, in addition to the Donostia Award for career achievement, won in 2022.
“Climbing for Life,” (“Teppen no mukou ni anata ga iru,” Junji Sakamoto, Japan)
The story of great Japanese mountaineer Junko Tabei, the first woman to reach the summit of Mount Everest. Sakamoto’s “Face” (2000) won a best director prize bestowed by the Japanese Academy after competing in San Sebastián’s Official Selection, where it garnered the Youth Award.
