Constantin Popescu’s Principles Of Life, Hao Jie’s Single Man, Sophie Schoukens’ Marieke, Mariekeand Mikkel Munch-Fals’ Nothing’s All Bad are among the titles to world premiere in the New Directors section at San Sebastian.

In total 15 films from 17 countries will compete in this year’s line-up of titles from first or second time directors, which haven’t appeared in any other international festival competitions.

Romanian director Popescu’s second feature film Principles Of Life sees a father (played by Vlad Ivanov from 4 Months, 3 Weeks, Two Days) disconnected from his family over a 24-hour period. Popescu’s previous film Portrait Of The Fighter As A Young Man screened in Berlin last year, and the director also contributed a segment to Tales From The Golden Age.

Hao Jie’s Single Man tells the story of four bachelors’ lives in a remote Chinese mountain village; Sophie Schoukens’ Belgian-German drama Marieke, Marieke is about a 20-year-old living with her mother who discovers the devastating truth about how her father died; and Danish director Munch-Fal’s ensemble drama Nothing’s All Bad, about loneliness. 

The remaining world premieres are Niles Atallah’s feature debut Lucia about a young girl coping with life in Santiago, Chile after the death of the dictator General Pinochet; Carlos Cesar Arbelaez’ football drama Los Colores De La Montaña from Colombia and Peru; and two local Spanish dramas, Mikel Rueda’s Izarren Argia (Estrellas Que Alcanzar) about a mother who loses her son in the Spanish Civil War and Elena Trape’s Blog about a group of emotionally charged 15-year-olds.

The other titles competing for the $120,000 (€90,000) prize will be Shawn Ku’s harrowing drama Beautiful Boy, starring Michael Sheen and Maria Bello as a couple whose son commits a mass killing at his school; Marcin Wrona’s Polish film Chrzest about a seemingly happy man with a troubled past; Bulgarian director Dragomir Sholev’s Shelter about a young boy who turns to punk, Hanro Smitsman’s Dutch film Dusk about a group of high school kids affected  by the death of their friend; French director Frederic Pelle’s Elsewhere about one man’s attempted journey; Julio Hernandez Cordon’s Guatamalan-French- Mexican drama Las Marimbas Del Infierno about a couple of unorthodox musicians combining with great effect, and finally Federico Veiroj’s La Vida Util about a bored cinema projectionist, which picked up the top prizes at last year’s Films In Progress section at San Sebastian.

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