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SAN SEBASTIÁN 2018 Competition

The first contenders for San Sebastián’s Golden Shell revealed

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- Seven of the films that will be taking part in the Official Section of the Basque gathering have been announced, including efforts by Europeans Claire Denis, Markus Schleinzer and Simon Jaquemet

The first contenders for San Sebastián’s Golden Shell revealed
High Life by Claire Denis

Yesterday, the 66th San Sebastián International Film Festival announced the identities of 13 titles that will be taking part in its New Directors section, which, as its name suggests, is dedicated to emerging talents presenting their first or second features (see the news). Today, it did likewise for the first seven titles in its premier league: the Official Section, whose top prize, the Golden Shell, will be handed out to one of the contenders at the end of the gathering, on 29 September. One of the directors vying for it, among others, will be Claire Denis with her eagerly awaited High Life [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Claire Denis
film profile
]
, a science-fiction film (co-produced by France, the USA, Poland, the UK and Germany) starring her fellow countrywoman Juliette Binoche (who performed in her previous, magnificent feature Bright Sunshine In [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
) and British thesp Robert Pattinson. Two other contenders are Vienna-born Markus Schleinzer with his second outing, Angelo [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Markus Schleinzer
film profile
]
 (Austria/Luxembourg), a period piece based on a true story, which ponders the rejection of that which is different; and Zurich-born Simon Jaquemet (who previously took part in this very same festival, in the New Directors section, with his feature debut, Chrieg [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Simon Jaquemet
film profile
]
), who will also be bringing along his sophomore film, The Innocent [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Simon Jaquemet
film profile
]
(Switzerland/Germany), a movie that broaches the crises of faith that a scientist from a deeply religious family goes through when she is faced with life’s professional and emotional ups and downs.

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Other renowned filmmakers who will be making their way to the Kursaal Congress Centre in the Basque city will be Chile’s Valeria Sarmiento, who will be duking it out for the Golden Shell with the Portuguese-French co-production The Black Book [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Valeria Sarmiento
film profile
]
, based on the novel Livro Negro de Padre Dinis by Camilo Castelo Branco, which is set in the 18th century and features a highly peculiar lead couple; and much-lauded Japanese director Naomi Kawase, who will be bringing Juliette Binoche to San Sebastián again, as she stars in Vision [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
 (Japan/France), a film in which she plays a journalist who arrives in the Asian country in search of the titular ghostly, curative herb.

Another co-production that will be screened in the Official Section of the 66th San Sebastián Film Festival is Rojo [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Benjamín Naishtat
film profile
]
 (Argentina/Germany/Netherlands/Brazil/France), directed by Buenos Aires-born helmer Benjamín Naishtat (whose History of Fear [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
 took part in the 24th Films in Progress and Horizontes Latinos sidebars of this very same gathering). The film, set in his home country in the 1970s, just before the installation of the ill-fated dictatorship, is toplined by Darío Grandinetti and Alfredo Castro. Finally, among the titles announced so far in the Official Section (more will be unveiled next week, particularly Spanish ones), we should also mention Illang: The Wolf Brigade, a South Korean film helmed by Kim Jee-Woon, which is a remake of Jin-Roh, an anime written by Mamoru Oshii (Ghost in the Shell). The movie revolves around the Kerberos Panzer Cops, an extremely violent police force.

Here is a list of the titles announced so far:

Competition

Angelo [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Markus Schleinzer
film profile
]
Markus Schleinzer (Austria/Luxembourg) 
The Innocent [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Simon Jaquemet
film profile
]
 – Simon Jaquemet (Switzerland/Germany) 
High Life [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Claire Denis
film profile
]
 – Claire Denis (France/USA/Germany/Poland/UK)
Illang: The Wolf Brigade Kim Jee-Woon (South Korea)
The Black Book [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Valeria Sarmiento
film profile
]
Valeria Sarmiento (Portugal/France)
Rojo [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Benjamín Naishtat
film profile
]
Benjamín Naishtat (Argentina/Germany/Netherlands/Brazil/France)
Vision [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
Naomi Kawase (Japan/France)

(The article continues below - Commercial information)

(Translated from Spanish)

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