San Sebastian unveils Zabaltegi titles

The 62nd San Sebastian Festival has unveiled the titles for its Zabaltegi section, a non-competitive strand featuring a variety of films, documentaries, shorts and television.

This year’s line-up will include world premieres of four features made in Spain: Virginia García del Pino’s Basilio Martín Patino. The Tenth Letter; Borja Cobeaga’s Negotiator; Francisco Sánchez Varela’s Paco De Lucía: La Búsqueda; and Pedro González Bermúdez’s documentary When Bette Davis Bids Farewell.

The strand will also include the Spanish premieres of the latest works by Ulrich Seidl and Kazuyoshi Kumakiri as well as a screening of Bruno Dumont’s TV series Lil´Quinquin.

In addition, Danis Tanovic’s Tigers will compete in the Official Selection, while the Pearls section has added Ned Benson’s relationship drama The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby, starring Jessica Chastain and James McAvoy.

Based on a true story, Tigers is an India-France-UK co-production about a young salesman who takes on a multinational corporation when he discovers the effects of the infant formula he’s peddling,

San Sebastian 2014: Zabaltegi

Basilio Martín Patino. La Décima Carta (Basilio Martín Patino. The Tenth Letter)
Virginia García del Pino (Spain)

In 1966, Basilio Martín Patino sent nine letters to Berta. Almost 50 years later, Virginia García del Pino tries to write the tenth. A letter written by herself and Basilio Martín Patino, the portrait of a fleeing identity that investigates, obeying the rule established by Patino himself, to “forget all rules of what you are supposed to do”, what’s left of that rebellious student who wrote to Berta in 1966, the beginning of a brilliant career as a filmmaker.

Challat Tunes / Challat Of Tunis
Kaouther Ben Hania  (Tunisia - France - UAE)

Following its participation in the Cinema in Motion section of the San Sebastian Festival in 2012, this film by the director Kaouther Ben Hania competed at the Dubai Festival. A moped rider, razor blade in hand, prowls the streets of Tunis, slashing the sexiest female buttocks he can find. Challat of Tunis tells of the intrigue behind a news story that has become an urban legend and portrays a Tunisian society in turmoil, where men are struggling to find their place and the women’s body is a political issue.

Felice Chi È Diverso / Happy To Be Different
Gianni Amelio  (Italy)

Gianni Amelio presented in the Panorama section of the Berlin Festival this look at a century long struggle for happiness and equally that continues today. A hidden Italy never revealed on camera that wants to explore reality rather than fiction: Gay Italy as it was lived in the 20th century.

Finding Fela
Alex Gibney  (US)

Oscar-winning director Alex Gibney once again explores in his new documentary the figure of Fela Anikulapo Kuti, creator of the Afrobeat music movement. The film looks at his life, music and political importance in advocating for the rights of all oppressed people. His influence helped bring a change towards democracy in Nigeria and promoted Pan Africanist policy to the world. 

Im Keller / In The Basement
Urich Seidl  (Austria)

UIrich Seidl will present his latest work at the Venice Festival, a film which seeks to depict Austrians’ relationship with their basements and to define the specificities of Austrian basements - and in fact if such specificities exist.

Negociador (Negotiator)
Borja Cobeaga  (Spain)

Borja Cobeaga’s new comedy stars Manu Aranguren, a Basque politician who acts as a mediator for the Spanish government in its negotiations with ETA. Far from being a solemn, calculated occasion, unexpected occurrences, slip-ups or misunderstandings soon kick in to influence the dialogue. Ramón Barea, Carlos Areces and Josean Bengoetxea headline the cast.

P’tit Quinquin / Li’l Quinquin
Bruno Dumont  (France)

Complete screening of this television series directed by Bruno Dumont. The story of an improbable and eccentric police investigation focussed on strange crimes committed in a small coastal town in the Boulonnais region fallen prey to evil and to a band of young scoundrels led by P’tit Quinquin and his beloved Eve. 

Paco De Lucía: La Búsqueda
Francisco Sánchez Varela  (Spain)

A documentary that is not only a physical record of a tour by Paco de Lucía, but a voyage to his soul: to his memories, to the things that torment him, interest him or make him laugh openly. By means of flashbacks and with himself as the sole narrator, Paco de Lucía takes a chronological look at his life from childhood until his last days in Mallorca, where he completed the final arrangements for his posthumous CD.

Le Paradoxe De John Malkovich / The John Malkovich Paradox
Pierre-François Limbosch  (France)

Some 22 years after playing in the Stephen Frears’s movie, John Malkovich directed Dangerous Liaisons at the Théâtre de l’Atelier in Paris. His work with the young actors is not only about theatre, it is also a life lesson.

Red Army
Gabe Polsky (US - Russia)

Selected in Cannes, Moscow and Toronto Film Festivals, a feature documentary about the Soviet Union and the most successful dynasty in sports history: the Red Army hockey team. Told from the perspective of its captain Slava Fetisov, the story portrays his transformation from national hero to political enemy. A story about the Cold War played out on the ice rink, and a man who paved the way for change for generations of Russians.

Rocks In My Pockets
Signe Baumane  (US - Latvia)

Renowned animator Signe Baumane recalls the personal story about the women from her family, including herself, and their battles with madness. The film is packed with visual metaphors, surreal images and her twisted sense of humour and was awarded with the FIPRESCI Prize at Karlovy Vary Festival.

Simindis Kunzuli (Corn Island)
George Ovashvili  (Georgia - Germany - France - Czech Republic - Kazakhstan - Hungary)

The Grand Prix winning film at the Karlovy Vary Festival is the tale of an old Abkhazian man and his young granddaughter who decide to grow corn on an island created by the high waters of the River Enguri. But Georgian soldiers pass nearby.

El Último Adiós De Bette Davis (When Bette Davis Bid Farewell)
Pedro González Bermúdez  (Spain)

A documentary that reconstructs the actress’s visit to the San Sebastian Festival to receive the Donostia Award in 1989: how she got ready to take her leave and the mark she left on all those who had some kind of contact with her.

Violent
Andrew Huculiak  (Canada)

Driven by the visuals of the Norwegian landscape and an original score, Andrew Huculiak’s first feature centres on a Dagny, a young woman vividly recalling the memories of the people who loved her most.

Watashi No Otoko / My Man
Kazuyoshi Kumakiri  (Japan)

Winner at the Moscow Festival of Best Film and Best Actor for its leading character, Tadanobu Asano, the latest film from Kazuyoshi Kumakiri adapts a bestseller by Kazuki Sakuraba. After losing everything in a tsunami disaster, 10-year-old Hana is taken in by 26-year-old distant relative Jungo Kusarino. The pair begin living together as father and daughter while sharing a profound sense of loss. Amidst the deep snows of Hokkaido, Jungo and Hana both desire to fill their empty, love-starved hearts as they set foot into a forbidden world.

Yume To Kyoki No Okoku / The Kingdom Of Dreams And Madness
Mami Sunada  (Japan)

A theatrical documentary feature about the famed Studio Ghibli. With near-unfettered access inside the animation studio, Mami Sunada follows the key personnel at Ghibli (director Hayao Miyazaki, producer Toshio Suzuki and the elusive “other” director, Isao Takahata) over the course of approximately one year as the studio rushes to complete their two highly anticipated new films, Miyazaki’s The Wind Rises and Takahata’s The Tale of Princess Kaguya. The result is a glimpse into the inner workings of one of the most celebrated animation studios in the world, and a portrait of their dreams, passion and dedication that borders on madness.

Hubert Le Blonen Azken Hegaldia / The Last Flight Of Hubert Le Blon (short)
Koldo Almandoz  (Spain)

Soroa (The Field) (short)
Asier Altuna  (Spain)

Zarautzen Erosi Zuen (She Bought It In Zarautz) (short)
Aitor Arregi  (Spain)