'China Sea'

Source: San Sebastian

‘China Sea’

Turkish-Italian filmmaker Seyhmus Altun, Georgia’s Nino Akhvlediani, Lithuanian Jurgis Matulevicius and Germany’s Sarah Miro Fischer are the four filmmakers who have been selected for San Sebastian’s WIP Europa line-up.

WIP Europa showcases films that are majority European, at post-production stage. The four films will screen to industry figures including producers, distributors, sales agents and programmers. They compete for the WIP Europa Industry Award, which assists with post-production, and the WIP Europa Award, worth €10,000 for the main production company of the film winning the WIP Europa Industry Award.

Altun present his debut Memento Non Mori, in which a fire at a chemical factory drastically changes the fate of a family who have now lost their livelihood.

Akhvlediani’s third feature, In A Grove, tells the tale of a student who makes a surprise return visit to Georgia from Germany to try and shed light on the circumstances of his older brother’s death.

China Sea is the second film from Matulevicius, nominated for the European Film Academy’s European Discovery - Prix Fipresci award with his debut feature Isaac in 2020. A martial arts champion is left out of his country’s team for aggressive behaviour and so holes up in a restaurant owned by his only friend, planning to start a new life.

Blue Marks (working title) is the debut feature from Miro Fischer, about a woman who must grapple with accusations of sexual aggression being made against her brother.