24/08/2023 - Paul B Preciado, Bas Devos, Damien Manivel, Éléonore Saintagnan and the late Jean-Luc Godard are some of the European filmmakers who will be competing in this sidebar that knows no bounds

In Zabaltegi-Tabakalera, the most uninhibited competitive section of the San Sebastián Film Festival (which celebrates its 71^st edition between 22 and 30 September), where no limits are imposed in terms of style or duration, Ion de Sosa, Andrés Di Tella, Ashmita Guha Neogi, Kohei Igarashi and Rati Oneli will be showing off their new works as world premieres, flanked by a number of renowned filmmakers. In total, 25 titles will take part in this strand: 15 features, eight shorts and two medium-length films.

The opening will fall to Remembering Every Night by Japan’s Yui Kiyohara and will also take in Jean-Luc Godard’s posthumous short that premiered at Cannes, Trailer of the Film That Will Never Exist: 'Phony Wars'. The honour of closing the gathering will be given to Buenos Aires-born Ulises de la Orden, who will show The Trial [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile], a non-fiction film that was first unveiled in the Berlinale Panorama.

Among the other European titles that audiences will get to enjoy is the award winner from the Encounters section of the Berlinale Orlando, My Political Biography [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Paul B Preciado
film profile], which picked up four prizes, including the Special Jury Award: in his feature debut, Spanish author, philosopher and queer activist Paul B Preciado uses the Virginia Woolf novel as a starting point to tackle issues such as gender and non-binary bodies. Also set to get an airing is the winner of the Award for Best Film in the same section of Berlin, Here [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Bas Devos
film profile], in which Belgium’s Bas Devos follows a migrant whose return home is postponed by the possibility of romance.

Likewise, the new effort by France’s Damien Manivel will be screened: The Island [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile], a story of friendship and the transition to adulthood, scooped a Special Mention in the French competition of FIDMarseile. With this film, he is taking part in Zabaltegi-Tabakalera for the third time, after having presented The Night I Swam [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Damien Manivel, Kohei Igara…
film profile] (co-directed with Kohei Igarashi) there in 2017 and Isadora’s Children [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Damien Manivel
film profile] in 2019. Also partaking in this section is the feature-length directorial debut by France’s Éléonore Saintagnan, Camping du Lac [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Éléonore Saintagnan
film profile], which recently participated in the Cineasti del presente section of the Locarno Film Festival, where it pocketed the Special Jury Prize.

The selection also includes La Palisiada [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Philip Sotnychenko
film profile], a feature debut that earned Ukraine’s Philip Sotnychenko the FIPRESCI Award in IFFR’s Tiger Competition, and whose lead characters are two friends, a police detective and a forensic psychiatrist, embroiled in a murder inquiry. La Palisiada is joined by Through the Night [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Delphine Girard
film profile], a co-production involving Belgium, Canada and France directed by Delphine Girard, which will be premiered beforehand in Venice’s Giornate degli Autori; and Grace [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] by Ilya Povolotsky (Russia), which was first screened in the Cannes Directors’ Fortnight.

Lastly, the European co-productions The Delinquents [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Rodrigo Moreno
film profile] by Rodrigo Moreno and The Human Surge 3 [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] by Eduardo Williams will be shown alongside four titles with Spanish producers on board, which were announced previously (see the news).

All of the movies in Zabaltegi-Tabakalera, a section organised by the San Sebastián Film Festival and Tabakalera – International Centre for Contemporary Culture, will be vying for the Zabaltegi-Tabakalera Award, worth €20,000.

Here is the list of selected titles:

Trailer of the Film That Will Never Exist: 'Phony Wars' - Jean-Luc Godard (France/Switzerland) (short film) (opening film)
Remembering Every Night - Yui Kiyohara (Japan) (opening film)
Single Light - Shaylee Atary (Israel) (short film)
Here [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Bas Devos
film profile] - Bas Devos (Belgium)
Mixtape La Pampa - Andrés Di Tella (Argentina)
Aunque es de noche - Guillermo García López (Spain) (short film)
Through the Night [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Delphine Girard
film profile] - Delphine Girard (Belgium/Canada/France)
Contadores - Irati Gorostidi (Spain) (short film)
Oyu - Atsushi Hirai (France) (short film)
Two of Us - Kohei Igarashi (Japan/France) (short film)
The Island [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] - Damien Manivel (France)
Nights Gone By [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Alberto Martín Menacho
film profile] - Alberto Martín Menacho (Switzerland/Spain)
The Delinquents [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Rodrigo Moreno
film profile] - Rodrigo Moreno (Argentina/Luxembourg/Chile/Brazil)
Sīlan - Ashmita Guha Neogi (France) (medium-length film)
We Are the Hollow Men - Rati Oneli (Georgia) (short film)
Grace [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] - Ilya Povolotsky (Russia)
Orlando, My Political Biography [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Paul B Preciado
film profile] - Paul B Preciado (France)
Camping du Lac [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Éléonore Saintagnan
film profile] - Éléonore Saintagnan (Belgium/France)
Mamántula - Ion de Sosa (Germany/Spain) (medium-length film)
La Palisiada [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Philip Sotnychenko
film profile] - Philip Sotnychenko (Ukraine)
Inside the Yellow Cocoon Shell [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] – Thien An Pham (Vietnam/Spain/Singapore/France)
The Human Surge 3 [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] - Eduardo Williams (Argentina/Portugal/Netherlands/Taiwan/Brazil/Hong Kong/Sri Lanka/Peru)
Absence - Wu Lang (China)
Short Story - Wu Lang (China) (short film)
The Trial [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] - Ulises de la Orden (Argentina/Italy/France/Norway) (closing film)

(Translated from Spanish)