TThe third major international film festival after Venice and Toronto, the eagerly-awaited San Sebastian International Film Festival (SSIFF) takes place in the Spanish city from September 22 to 30. Three French filmmakers, Robin Campillo, Xavier Legrand, and Thomas Lilti, will be presenting films in Competition.
It's a long-awaited return for Xavier Legrand, who, six years after the internationally acclaimed Custody, returns to San Sebastián to present his second film, The Successor, shot in Quebec, in Competition. Also in Competition: Robin Campillo's Red Island, which retraces part of the director's childhood in Madagascar, and Thomas Lilti's A Real Job, about the world of teaching. This is the first time the director will present a film at the Spanish festival.
Three other minority-French co-productions (directed by Cristi Puiu, Joachim Lafosse, and the duo Benjamín Naishtat/María Alché) complete the French titles in Competition.
The Perlak section, which brings together films from the year's major international festivals, will feature films discovered at Cannes and Toronto: Anatomy of a Fall by Justine Triet, Rosalie by Stéphanie Di Giusto, and Les Indésirables by Ladj Ly.
The Zabaltegi-Tabakalera section, more oriented towards "research" cinema, will see the presentation of films by Éléonore Saintagnan(Camping du lac), Paul B. Preciado (Orlando, My Political Biography), and Damien Manivel (L'Île). It is worth noting that Jean-Luc Godard's posthumous short film (Trailer of the Film that Will Never Exist: "Phony Wars") will be presented on the section's opening night.
French cinema is also present, as usual, in international co-productions, with over a dozen films presented across all sections.
A delegation of French artists and professionals will attend (to be confirmed): Robin Campillo, Xavier Legrand, Marc-André Grondin, Yves Jacques, Joachim Lafosse, Daniel Auteuil, Thomas Lilti, François Cluzet, Vincent Lacoste, Adèle Exarchopoulos, William Lebghil, Paul B. Preciado, Damien Manivel, Justine Triet, Stéphanie Di Giusto, Nadia Tereszkiewicz, Ladj Ly, Anta Diaw, Aristote Luyindula, Trần Anh Hùng, Juliette Binoche, Pierre Gagnaire,
Unifrance will be hosting a cocktail reception on Sunday September 24 at the Hotel Maria Cristina for all French talent present in San Sebastián, as well as Spanish distributors.
All the French films at the 71st San Sebastián Film Festival
Competition
- The Successor by Xavier Legrand
- Red Island by Robin Campillo
- A Real Job by Thomas Lilti
- MMXX by Cristi Puiu (French co-production shares not specified)
- A Silence by Joachim Lafosse (French co-production shares not specified)
- Puan by Benjamín Naishtat, María Alché (French co-production shares not specified)
Nuev@s Director@s
- El otro hijo by Juan Sebastián Quebrada (French co-production shares not specified)
- Achilles by Farhad Delaram (French co-production shares not specified)
Perlak
Horizontes Latinos
- The Settlers by Felipe Galvez (minority-French co-production)
- The Castle by Martín Benchimol (French co-production shares not specified)
Zabaltegi-Tabakalera
- Camping du lac by Éléonore Saintagnan
- Orlando, My Political Biography by Paul B. Preciado
- L'Île by Damien Manivel
- Through the Night by Delphine Girard (coproduction française minoritaire)
- El juicio by Ulises De La Orden (French co-production shares not specified)
- Inside the Yellow Cocoon Shell by Tien Ân Pham (French co-production shares not specified)
Culinary Zinema
Zinemira
- Mirande by Josu Martinez
- Bizkarsoro by Josu Martinez
- In the Company of Women by Silvia Munt (minority-French co-production)
Klasikoak (Classics)
Short film - Zabaltegi-Tabakalera
- Two of Us by Kohei Igarashi
- Sīlan by Ashmita Guha Neogi
- Oyu by Atsushi Hirai
- The Island by Julien Pujol
- Malgré la nuit by Guillermo García López
- Trailer of the Film that Will Never Exist: "Phony Wars" by Jean-Luc Godard
