Grand Piano to open Sitges

Spain’s Sitges Festival (October 11-20) has unveiled a selection of titles for its 46th edition.

Grand Piano, the new film by Eugenio Mira (Agnosia) with an international cast led by Elijah Wood, John Cusack and Alex Winter, will open the festival.

A production by Adrián Guerra and Rodrigo Cortés (Buried), the real-time thriller tells the story of a retired piano player who finally goes back to work under threat of death by a mysterious killer if he misses one note.

The festival has also named other titles in its official section including Nicolas Winding Refn’s Only God Forgives; Jim Jarmusch’s Only Lovers Left Alive; Roman Coppola’s A Glimpse Inside the Mind of Charles Swann III and Ari Folman’s The Congress.

“When things work out there is no need for dramatic changes”, Sitges festival director Angel Sala told Screen. “The festival is in a very good position right now as a landmark event for fantastic films. The fact we have more talent scouts from the US every years is proof that we are on the right path”.

Despite suffering budget cuts, Sala is confident that the reputation and skills of the festival organizers will keep it in good shape.

“We have been lucky to support a new generation of Spanish film makers such as Bayona, Guillem Morales or Jaume Balagueró that have had a great international impact and have tight bonds with the festival. We have a reputation of finding new interesting voices”.

The New Faces of Evil will be the concept of this years festival. Asian film maker Takashi Miike will attend as well as Johnnie To, who will screen his two last films, Drug War and Blind Detective.

The festival will also focus on new markets and low cost productions to investigate the ways in which the industry is surviving the economic crisis and new models of distribution and marketing.

“The industry factor is essential for a festival like Sitges,” added Sala. “There is not an official market section but we provide delegates with a number of meeting points where they can discuss new projects and do business. We are very proud of the fact that Sitges is such an important date on an international level for everybody related to fantastic”.