email print share on Facebook share on Twitter share on LinkedIn share on reddit pin on Pinterest

SAN SEBASTIÁN 2015

Ben Wheatley, Terence Davies and Lucile Hadzihalilovic to vie for San Sebastián’s Golden Shell

by 

- The festival unveils eight new films for the official competition, where new titles by Rúnar Rúnarsson and the Larrieu brothers will also be screened

Ben Wheatley, Terence Davies and Lucile Hadzihalilovic to vie for San Sebastián’s Golden Shell
High-Rise by Ben Wheatley

As usual, the San Sebastián International Film Festival is unveiling its programme little by little. The official competition has already confirmed Spanish productions and co-productions, including new films by Marc Recha, Agustí Villaronga, Cesc Gay, Asier Altuna, Federico Veiroj and Pablo Agüero (read the news here). Now, eight films from around the world have been added to the line-up, including the pleasant surprise of three of the longest-awaited films of the year.

(The article continues below - Commercial information)

British filmmaker Ben Wheatley will present his new title High-Rise [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
, hotly tipped for every A-list festival this year, now landing at the Basque gathering. Based on J.G. Ballard’s novel of the same name, it follows Dr. Robert Laing, who moves into his new apartment seeking soulless anonymity, only to find that in order to establish his position, he has to struggle against the building's residents, resulting in the disintegration of good manners and sanity. The film stars Tom Hiddleston, Sienna Miller, Jeremy Irons, Luke Evans and Elisabeth Moss

Fellow countryman Terence Davies, one of the maestros of British cinema, will also present his new film in the festival. Sunset Song [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Terence Davies
film profile
]
, adapted from Lewis Grassic Gibbon’s novel and starring Agyness Deyn and Peter Mullan, portrays an intimate epic of hope, tragedy and love at the dawn of the Great War. The film will have its world premiere in Toronto days ahead of San Sebastián (read the news here).

French filmmaker Lucile Hadzihalilovic, who debuted with 2004 film Innocence, is also back to San Sebastián with Evolution [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
. Her latest film tackles the story of Nicolas, a teenager living on a remote island inhabited solely by women and young boys, where the later are subjected to mysterious and sinister medical treatments. 

The competition will also welcome Sparrows [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Atli Óskar Fjalarsson
interview: Rúnar Rúnarsson
film profile
]
, by Icelandic director Rúnar Rúnarsson – whose first feature film Volcano [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
made waves after being selected for Cannes’ Directors’ Forntight in 2011. His latest work is a coming-of-age story about a 16 year-old sent to live with his father in a remote Icelandic environment. French brothers Jean-Marie and Arnaud Larrieu will vie for the prize as well, with their new film 21 Nights with Pattie [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
- a story of family, friends and mysterious funerals starring Karin Viard, Isabelle Carré, Sergi López, Denis Lavant and André DussollierMoira [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
 by Georgian filmmaker Levan Tutberidze, about a poor family living in a seaside city in Georgia, will also vie for the Golden Shell. The section is rounded off by Philippe Lesage’s The Demons (Canada) and Mamoru Hosoda’s anime film The Boy and the Beast (Japan).

(The article continues below - Commercial information)

Did you enjoy reading this article? Please subscribe to our newsletter to receive more stories like this directly in your inbox.

Privacy Policy