The competition strand of the festival. Films fight it out for the prestigious Golden and Silver Shell awards. No one film can receive more than two prizes.
Read our full 2009 San Sebastian Film Festival coverage.
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| Le Refuge and Hadewijch |
10 To 11 (11'e 10 kala) (Country: Turkey, France, Germany; Director: Pelin Esmer; Writer: Pelin Esmer; Cast: Nejat Isler, Mithat Esmer, Laçin Ceylan, Tayanç Ayaydin, Savas Akova)
A collector struggles to save his acquisitions when his neighbours lobby to have their homes rebuilt.
Blessed (Country: Australia; Director: Ana Kokkinos; Writer: Andrew Bovell, Patricia Cornelius, Melissa Reeves, Christos Tsiolkas; Cast: Frances O'Connor, Miranda Otto, Deborra-Lee Furness, Sophie Lowe, Tasma Walton, Costas Kilias, Harrison Gilbertson, Eva Lazzaro, Dennis Kreusler, Victoria Haralabidou, Samuel Ross Forbes Wright, Monica Maughan, Eamon Farren, Anastasia Babbousouris, Wayne Blair) Seven children wander the streets at night, before we see the odyssey from their mothers' perspective. Full Review See: San Sebastian Film Festival: Day Six reports and reviews - Blessed, Together and Sir Ian McKellen picks up Donostia, San Sebastian Film Festival: Day Seven report and reviews - London River, Yuki & Nina
City Of Life And Death (Nanjing Nanjing) (Country: China, Hong Kong; Director: Chuan Lu; Writer: Chuan Lu; Cast: Ye Liu, Yuanyuan Gao, Hideo Nakaizumi, Wei Fan, Yiyan Jiang, Ryu Kohata, Bin Liu, John Paisley, Beverly Peckous, Lan Qin, Sam Voutas, Di Yao, Yisui Zhao, Junichi Kajioka) Dramatisation of the Rape of Nanjing, seen from a dual perspective. Full Review Official Site, View Trailer
The Damned (Country: Spain; Director: Isaki Lacuesta; Cast: Daniel Fanego, Arturo Goetz, Leonor Manso, María Fiorentino)
Two former guerillas meet up while trying to find the corpse of a comrade from 30 years before.
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| The White Meadows and Mother And Child |
The Dancer And The Thief (El baile de la victoria) (Country: Spain; Director: Fernando Trueba; Writer: Antonio Skármeta, Fernando Trueba, Jonás Trueba; Cast: Ricardo Darín, Abel Ayala, Miranda Bodenhofer, Ariadna Gil, Julio Jung, Mario Guerra, Marcia Haydée, Luis Dubó, Luis Gnecco, Mariana Loyola, Gloria Münchmeyer, Gregory Cohen, Catalina Guerra, Catalina Saavedra, Sergio Hernández) See: Diary article about the San Sebastian Film Festival
Get Low (Country: US; Director: Aaron Schneider; Writer: C Gaby Mitchell, Chris Provenzano, based on a story by Aaron Schneider, Scott Seeke; Cast: Bill Murray, Robert Duvall, Lucas Black, Sissy Spacek, Gerald McRaney, Bill Cobbs, Andrea Powell, Shawn Knowles, Tomasz Karolak, Lori Beth Edgeman, Scott Cooper, Blerim Destani, Rebecca Grant, Jade Moser, Steven Stadler) Heatwarming tale of redemption, partially based on the true story of a hermit who threw his own funeral... while he was still alive. Full Review See: San Sebastian Film Festival: Day Four Diary - Get Low, The Scouting Book For Boys and Mother
I Came From Busan (Yeong-Do Da-Ri) (Country: North Korea; Director: Jeon Soo-il; Cast: Park Ha-seon, Kim Jung-tae)
A girl who gives her baby up for adoption finds she can't get the child out of her head.
Making Plans For Lena (Country: France; Director: Christophe Honoré)
A single mum has to contend with her family of dogooders, desperate to make her 'happy'.
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| This Is Love and City Of Life And Death |
Me, Too (Yo también) (Country: Spain; Director: Antonio Naharro, Álvaro Pastor; Writer: Antonio Naharro, Álvaro Pastor; Cast: Lola Dueñas, Isabel García Lorca, Antonio Naharro, Teresa Arbolí, Joaquín Perles, Ramiro Alonso, Consuelo Trujillo, Susana Monje, Pablo Pineda, Ana De los Riscos, María Bravo, Pepe Quero, Daniel Parejo, Roma Calderón, Tania Román)
A man - the first European with Down's syndrome to get a university diploma - falls for a workmate with no apparent disability.
Mother And Child (Country: US, Spain; Director: Rodrigo García; Writer: Rodrigo García; Cast: Samuel L. Jackson, Naomi Watts, David Morse, Annette Bening, Jimmy Smits, Kerry Washington, Carla Gallo, Tatyana Ali, Amy Brenneman, Marc Blucas, Brittany Robertson, Cherry Jones, Lisa Gay Hamilton, Ahmed Best, S. Epatha Merkerson)
Tale of three women and maternal love.
The Secret In Their Eyes (El secreto de sus ojos, The Secret Of Their Eyes) (Country: Argentina; Director: Juan José Campanella; Writer: Juan José Campanella, Eduardo Sacheri; Cast: Ricardo Darín, Soledad Villamil, Pablo Rago, Javier Godino, Guillermo Francella, José Luis Gioia, Mario Alarcón, Mariano Argento, Fernando Pardo, Maximiliano Trento, David Di Napoli) A man looks back at a crime that happened a quarter of a century previously. Full Review See: Juan José Campanella interview about The Secret In Their Eyes (El Secreto De Sus Ojos)
This Is Love (Country: Germany; Director: Matthias Glasner; Writer: Matthias Glasner, Alex Ross; Cast: Richard Sammel, Soenke Möhring, Jesper Christensen, Jürgen Vogel, Corinna Harfouch, Jens Albinus, Devid Striesow, Herbert Knaup, Marina Bouras, Jördis Triebel, Knut Berger, Matthias Glasner, Hannes Wegener, Marie-Anne Fliegel, Margarita Broich) A man who stole a nine-year-old from human traffickers forms an unusual relationship with a police inspector... as she interrogates him about a murder. Full Review See: Diary article about the San Sebastian Film Festival, San Sebastian Film Festival: Day Four Diary - Get Low, The Scouting Book For Boys and Mother Official Site
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| 10 To 11 and The Secret In Their Eyes |
The White Meadows (Keshtzarhaye Sepid) (Director: Mohammad Rasoulof; Cast: Hasan Pourshirazi, Younes Ghazali, Mohammad Rabbani, Mohammad Shirvani)
A man travels round a series of islands, collecting tears.
Woman Without Piano (La mujer sin piano) (Country: Spain; Director: Javier Rebollo; Writer: Lola Mayo, Javier Rebollo; Cast: Carmen Machi, Nadia de Santiago, Tomás del Estal, Jan Budar, Esperanza De la Vega, Luis Antonio Espinosa, Pep Ricart)
Twenty-four hours in the life of a Madrid housewife.
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