Isaki Lacuesta, Lee Chang-dong, Jane Schoenbrun films among San Sebastian Zabaltegi-Tabakalera lineup

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Flamenco Sketches

Source: SIFF

‘Flamenco Sketches’

World premieres from Isaki Lacuesta, María Alché and Benjamín Naishtat will play alongside new films by Lee Chang-dong and Jane Schoenbrun in San Sebastian International Film Festival’s (September 18-26) competitive Zabaltegi-Tabakalera strand.

The Zabaltegi-Tabakalera section, which has no restrictions on length or format, comprises 13 features, seven shorts, one medium-length film and, for the first time, an audiovisual performance. Five titles are world premieres. All but the audiovisual performance compete for the €20,000 Zabaltegi-Tabakalera award, split between the filmmaker and the Spanish distributor.

Argentinian filmmakers Alché and Naishtat will open with the world premiere of Pedro In The Land. The documentary charts the life of diplomat and writer Pedro Catella against the backdrop of half a century of Latin American upheaval. The pair last competed at San Sebastian with Puan, which won best screenplay and a shared best leading performance prize in 2023.

Two-time Golden Shell winner Lacuesta closes the section with world premiere Flamenco Sketches, an archive-driven history connecting flamenco with politics, popular culture and modernity. Four other titles with Spanish production involvement were previously announced: Oskar Alegria Suescun’s Hamalau Gau (Fourteen Nights); Meritxell Colell Aparicio’s Far From The Trees; Bruno Dumont’s Red Rocks; and Tsai Ming-liang’s Dust.

Lee’s Possible Love, which arrives after playing at Venice and Toronto, stars Jeon Do-yeon, Sul Kyung-gu, Zo In-sung and Cho Yeo-jeong in a drama about two married couples whose contrasting lives begin to converge.

Schoenbrun’s Teenage Sex And Death At Camp Miasma won the Queer Palm after premiering in Cannes’ Un Certain Regard.

The feature selection also takes in Tizza Covi and Rainer Frimmel’s Berlinale special mention The Loneliest Man In Town; Angelica Ruffier’s Rotterdam prize-winner La Belle Année; Tobias Nölle and Loran Bonnardot’s Berlinale premiere Tristan Forever; and Giornate degli Autori titles The Phantom, by David Lamelas and Ignacio Masllorens, and Sometimes Sadness, Sometimes Rebellion, by María Aparicio.

Among the shorts are Radu Jude and Adrian Cioflâncă’s Shot Reverse Shot, Federico Luis’s Cannes Palme d’Or winner For The Opponents and Marie-Rose Osta’s Berlinale Golden Bear winner Someday A Child. Bojina Panayotova contributes medium-length title With Love And Rage. Out of competition, Albertina Carri’s Cine Vivo: Un Artefacto combines live text, sound and film.

Spain has the broadest presence across the 13-feature line-up, with production involvement in six titles, followed by Argentina with three. Italy and Norway are represented on two films each, while Austria, Canada, France, Mexico, Peru, Portugal, Qatar, South Korea, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, the UK and the US each have one production credit.