San Sebastian Film Festival: Made in Spain Lineup

A total of 19 features will make up Made in Spain, San Sebastian Festival's non-competitive section showcasing a selection of the year's Spanish films. At the 71st edition, to run from 22-30 September, five of these titles will be world premieres, while the remainder will be filmes previously screened at other international festivals or recently released. Made in Spain is sponsored by Hispanitas and has the collaboration of Fundación SGAE.

Álvaro Longoria (Santander, 1968), the Goya-winning director and producer for his documentary Hijos de las nubes, la última colonia / Sons of the Cloud, the Last Colony (Made in Spain, 2012), will close the section with another world premiere, La vida de Brianeitor, about an adolescent whose physical disability has done nothing to stop him from becoming one of today's greatest gamers. Longoria, who has produced some 50 feature films, is a regular at the Festival, where he has also shown works as a director, such as the Goya-nominated The Propaganda Game (Zabaltegi-Tabakalera, 2015), Ni distintos ni diferentes, Campeones (Velodrome, 2018) and Tequila. Sexo, drogas y rock and roll / Tequila. Sex, Drugs and Rock & Roll (Made in Spain, 2022).

Having directed several short films –one of which, Estocolmo (2010), participated in Nest– Juan Francisco Viruega (Almería. 1982) will show his feature debut Amanece, which will have its world premiere at San Sebastian. The film narrates the ordeals of two sisters as they accompany their sick mother in the last days of her life.

Premiered out of competition at Málaga Festival, Asedio is a thriller by Miguel Ángel Vivas (Seville, 1974), who participated in the first edition of Nest with his debut short El hombre del saco / The Bogeyman (2002). After directing films including Secuestrados (2010), Inside (2016) and Tu hijo (2018), this latest film comes with a cast including Natalia de Molina, Francisco Reyes and Alejandro Casaseca.

Malena Alterio, Alexandra Jiménez, Fele Martínez, Antonio Pagudo, Eva Ugarte and Juan Carlos Vellido play the lead roles in Bajo terapia / Under Therapy, latest work from the filmmaker Gerardo Herrero (Madrid, 1953), who won the Special Jury Prize in Málaga with this film about three couples who go for group therapy. Herrero, who was a member of the official jury in 1999, has participated in the Festival with numerous projects, such as Frontera sur (Official Selection, 1998) and Silencio en la nieve / Frozen Silence (Made in Spain, 2012).

Creatura, which participated in the Ikusmira Berriak residency programme at its project stage, premiered at the Quinzaine des Cinéastes in Cannes, where it won the Europe Cinemas Award for Best European Feature. Its director, Elena Martín Gimeno (Barcelona, 1992), follows a young girl anxious to feel comfortable with her own body. This is the second feature film from its author, who debuted with Júlia ist (Made in Spain, 2017).

The Burnin' Percebes collective, formed by members Juan González (Oviedo, 1991) and Fernando Martínez (Barcelona, 1991), will show El fantástico caso del Golem / The Fantastic Golem Affairs, a labyrinthian film with a cast starring Brays Efe, Bruna Cusí, Javier Botet, Anna Castillo, Luis Tosar and Roberto Álamo. The Málaga Festival hosted the premiere of the latest work from the makers of films including Ikea 2 (2016) and La reina de los lagartos (2020).

Also included in the Official Selection at Málaga, where it landed the Silver Biznaga for Best Screenplay, Els encantats stars Laia Marull as a mother faced with her daughter's absence for the first time. This is the second film from Elena Trapé (Barcelona, 1976), who bagged a special mention in New Directors with her debut movie, Blog (2010).

The Málaga Festival programmed a special screening to premiere Hay una puerta ahí, a non-fiction from siblings Juan (Montevideo, Uruguay. 1985) and Facundo Ponce de León (Montevideo, Uruguay. 1978), portraying the friendship between two men as one helps the other to die.

Made in Spain will also include the world premiere of Hormigas perplejas / Perplexed Ants, depicting a human landscape of men and women workers as they try to prevent the fall of their industry. This is the latest non-fiction work from Mercedes Moncada Rodríguez (Seville, 1972), author of documentaries including La pasión de María Elena (2003), El inmortal / The Immortal (Horizontes Selection, 2005), Palabras mágicas para romper un encantamiento / Magic Words (Breaking a Spell) Zabaltegi Specials, 2012) and Mi querida España (Zabaltegi, 2015).

Screened in a special showing at Málaga Festival, La memoria del cine: una película sobre Fernando Méndez-Leite / The Memory of Cinema: A Film about Fernando Méndez-Leite is a documentary from Moisés Salama (Melilla, 1953) about the critic, producer and currently President of Spain's Academy of Cinematographic Arts and Science.

The Thessaloniki Documentary Film Festival provided the setting for the premiere of La Singla, by Paloma Zapata (Murcia, 1979), which went on to compete at Málaga. The author of films such as Peret: yo soy la rumba (2018) now follows the trail of a bailaora who revolutionised the flamenco world at the young age of 17, only to mysteriously disappear from the stage before turning 30.

Las chicas están bien / The Girls Are Alright, which competed at Karlovy Vary Festival, is the directorial debut from the actress Itsaso Arana (Tafalla, 1985), who has played the lead character in titles by Jonás Trueba, such as La Reconquista / The Reconquest (Official Selection, 2016), La Virgen de Agosto / The August Virgin (Made in Spain, 2019) and Tenéis que venir a verla (You Have to Come and See It,Made in Spain, 2022), whose screenplay she co-wrote. In her directorial debut she also appears in a cast featuring, among others, Barbara Lennie and Irene Escolar, bringing life to a group of women who have gathered at a country house to rehearse a play.

Álvaro Gago (Vigo, 1986) has developed his short film of the same name to bring his feature debut, Matria, premiered in the Panorama section of the Berlinale and winner in Málaga of the Silver Biznaga for Best Actress. María Vázquez plays a woman who lives in a Galician town immersed in a complicated working and personal situation.

With the project of her second feature, Las consecuencias (2021), the Spanish-Venezuelan filmmaker Claudia Pinto Emperador (Caracas, Venezuela. 1977) won the Eurimages Award at the Festival's Europe-Latin America Co-Production Forum. In her return to San Sebastian, she will show for the first time Mientras seas tú / While You're Still You, closely following the actress Carme Elías in her "here and now" since she was diagnosed with Alzheimer's Disease.

Having shown his feature films Estos días (2014) and Entrialgo (2018) at several international festivals, Diego Llorente (Pola de Siero, 1984) competed at Rotterdam Festival with his third work, Notas sobre un verano, in which a young girl comes home to Gijón to spend the summer and reunite with her family, girlfriends and old flames.

Musician Santiago Auserón returns to Cuba in Semilla del son / Seed of Son, a documentary by Juanma Betancort (Santa Cruz de Tenerife, 1975) programmed as a world premiere. The former frontman of Radio Futura, known today with the nickname Juan Perro and an eminent musicologist, stars in this mellifluous road movie on the road to Afro-Caribbean beats in the company of a fine cast of Cuban performers.

Shown in the Generation 14plus section of the Berlinale before competing at the Málaga Festival, Sica is the latest feature film from Carla Subirana (Barcelona, 1972), director of Nadar (2008), Volar (2012) and Kaninambo (2012), among others. In Sica she tells the story of a teenager whose father, a fisherman, perished on the Costa da Morte.

With extensive experience in sports journalism, Jesús Muñoz (Barcelona, 1971), Xavi Torres (Barcelona, 1967) and Santi Padró (Barcelona, 1961) co-direct this film premiered as a special screening in Málaga Festival. Unzué. L'últim equip del Juancar / Unzué. El último equipo de Juancar portrays the everyday life of Juan Carlos Unzué, former goalkeeper and trainer of Barça diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.

Alberto Ammann won the Silver Biznaga for Best Performance by a Male Actor at Málaga Festival for his role in Upon Entry (La llegada), by Alejandro Rojas (Caracas, Venezuela. 1976) and Juan Sebastián Vásquez (Caracas, Venezuela. 1981), who make their directorial debut. Ammann and Bruna Cusí play a couple who are detained on making their way to the immigration zone of New York airport.  

Source: San Sebastian Film Festival