San Sebastian International Film Festival (September 18-26) has unveiled another seven titles selected for its main competition, including Mike Leigh’s Tender Loving Care, Nicole Garcia’s Milo and Pablo Larrain’s My Sad Dead.
Also selected to compete for the festival’s Golden Shell are Maha Harada’s feature debut In My Father’s Room, Hans Petter Moland’s Growth Of The Soil, Benjamin Naishtat’s Glaxo and Yeşim Ustaoğlu’s What Remains.
Their films join the three Spanish productions already announced for main competition: Roberto Bueso’s El Mal Padre, Mikel Gurrea’s Saints and Javier Ruiz Caldera’s 5 More Minutes.
French director Garcia’s Milo stars Marion Cotillard and Theodore Pellerin in the tale of a woman fresh out of jail as she takes on a waitress job in a café to get closer to a young boy who works in the area. Garcia’s previous films, including 1998’s Place Vendôme, 2002’s The Adversary and 2020’s Amants, have played at Cannes and Venice.
Chilean director Larrain returns to San Sebastian with My Sad Dead, a series that will be screened at the festival in its feature-length format. Starring Mercedes Moran, Dolores Fonzi and Carolina Alvarez, it is based on four short stories by Mariana Enríquez, and tells the story of a woman with the ability to see and hear the dead. Larrain’s previous film Maria premiered at Venice, while his Princess Diana biopic Spencer was San Sebastian’s surprise film of 2021.
Veteran UK director Leigh returns to San Sebastian competition with Tender Loving Care, having previously competed at the festival in 2024 with Hard Truths. Tender Loving Care, which stars Marion Bailey, Paul Jesson, Kate O’Flynn and Alice Bailey Johnson, will play earlier in the month at Toronto, and possibly Telluride.
Japanese writer Harada makes her directorial debut with In My Father’s Room, based on a screenplay she adapted from her novel An Unnecessary Man. It tells the story of a museum worker who receives a mysterious key that unlocks the room once used by her late father.
Norwegian filmmaker Moland will also return to San Sebastian with Growth Of The Soil, a story set in northern Norway about a couple who must put their love to the test when faced with looming challenges. The film is based on the Nobel Prize-winning novel by Knut Hamsung, written in 1917. Moland competed in San Sebastian in 1995 with his second feature Zero Kelvin, earning him the special jury prize.
Argentinian director Naishtat competes with Glaxo, starring Lali Esposito, Marcelo Subiotto and Esteban Bigliardi. Set in 1957 in a quiet Argentinian town, it centres on the arrival of a sinister former police inspector and his seductive wife which shatters the bond between four inseparable young friends. Glaxo is set to world premiere at Toronto as a special presentation. Naishat won San Sebastian’s best director, cinematography and actor prizes in 2018 for Rojo, and the best screenplay and leading performance award for 2023’s Puan.
Turkish director Ustaoğlu, winner of the 2008 Golden Shell with Pandora’s Box, premieres What Remains. It’s about the personal voyage of a female poet as she shakes off the stifling shackles of her life to reconnect with herself while questioning everything around her.
Elsewhere, the series El Castillo, created and written by Isabel Pena and Eduardo Villanueva and directed by Elena Martín Gimeno and Sandra Romero, will show out of competition.
There are also out-of-competition special screenings for The Last Goodbye by Koldo Almandoz, Pray For Us by Daniel Monzon, The Harvester by David Perez Sañudo and Bajani by Fernando Trueba, as well as the series Beyond Society by Carlos Torres.
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