Festivals >> SSFF >> 2009 >> Zabaltegi-Pearls

Desert Flower (Country: UK, Germany, Austria; Director: Sherry Horman; Writer: Waris Dirie, Sherry Horman; Cast: Liya Kebede, Sally Hawkins, Craig Parkinson, Meera Syal, Anthony Mackie, Juliet Stevenson, Timothy Spall, Soraya Omar-Scego, Chris Wilson, Teresa Churcher, Eliezer Meyer, Nick Raio, Matt Kaufman, Prashant Prabhakar, Anna Hilgedieck)
A 13-year-old who discovers she's about to be married off flees Somalia for London but the move only offers temporary respite.

Five Minutes Of Heaven (Country: UK; Director: Oliver Hirschbiegel; Writer: Guy Hibbert; Cast: Liam Neeson, James Nesbitt, Anamaria Marinca, Niamh Cusack, Conor MacNeill, Lalor Roddy, Barry McEvoy, Richard Dormer, Paul Kennedy, Jonathan Harden)
Two men from the same town but from different sides of the Irish political divide discover that the past is never dead - in fact it isn't even past. Full Review

The Imaginarium Of Doctor Parnassus (The Imaginarium of Dr Parnassus) (Country: France, Canada, UK; Director: Terry Gilliam; Writer: Terry Gilliam, Charles McKeown; Cast: Johnny Depp, Heath Ledger, Colin Farrell, Jude Law, Christopher Plummer, Tom Waits, Verne Troyer, Carrie Genzel, Lily Cole, Cassandra Sawtell, Andrew Garfield, Quinn Lord, Michael Jonsson, Johnny Harris, Michael Eklund)
A travelling show offers visitors the chance to choose between light and joy and darkness and doom. Full Review See: Biography and obituary of Heath Ledger, Article about Heath Ledger and other stars who died in the middle of making films. Official Site, View Trailer

Inglourious Basterds (Country: USA, Germany; Director: Quentin Tarantino; Writer: Quentin Tarantino; Cast: Brad Pitt, Samuel L. Jackson, Diane Kruger, Eli Roth, Mike Myers, B.J. Novak, Cloris Leachman, Julie Dreyfus, Samm Levine, Til Schweiger, Michael Fassbender, Mélanie Laurent, Daniel Brühl, Christian Berkel)
A mercenary group sets out to hunt Nazis and try to assassinate Hitler during the Second World War. Full Review Official Site, View Trailer

The Limits Of Control (Country: Spain, US, Japan; Director: Jim Jarmusch; Writer: Jim Jarmusch; Cast: Isaach De Bankolé, Alex Descas, Jean-François Stévenin, Óscar Jaenada, Luis Tosar, Paz de la Huerta, Tilda Swinton, Youki Kudoh, John Hurt, Gael García Bernal, Hiam Abbass, Bill Murray, Héctor Colomé, María Isasi, Norma Yessenia Paladines)
A mysterious man shares coffee and conversation with people, writing down details on matchbook flaps. But what are his motives? Full Review See: San Sebastian Film Festival report and reviews: Hadewijch, The Limits Of Control View Trailer

London River (Country: UK, France; Director: Rachid Bouchareb; Writer: Rachid Bouchareb; Cast: Brenda Blethyn, Sotigui Kouyaté, Sami Bouajila, Roschdy Zem)
Two parents from very different backgrounds hunt their missing children after the London terror attacks. Full Review See: San Sebastian Film Festival: Day Seven report and reviews - London River, Yuki & Nina Official Site

Mother (Madeo) (Country: South Korea; Director: Bong Joon-Ho; Writer: Park Eun-kyo, Bong Joon-Ho; Cast: Kim Hye-ja, Won Bin, Jin Gu)
A mother tries to prove her son's innocence. Full Review See: San Sebastian Film Festival: Day Four Diary - Get Low, The Scouting Book For Boys and Mother

No One Knows About Persian Cats (Kasi az gorbehaye irani khabar nadareh) (Country: Iran; Director: Bahman Ghobadi; Writer: Bahman Ghobadi, Hossein Mortezaeiyan, Roxana Saberi; Cast: Hamed Behdad, Ashkan Koohzad, Negar Shaghaghi)
Fiction meets documentary in this story of underground musicians in Tehran. Full Review

Precious: Based On The Novel Push By Sapphire (Push: Based On The Novel By Sapphire, Precious, Precious: A Novel By Sapphire) (Country: US; Director: Lee Daniels; Writer: Lee Daniels; Cast: Gabourey Sidibe, Paula Patton, Mo’Nique, Mariah Carey, Sherri Shepherd, Lenny Kravitz)
The redemptive story of Precious Jones, a young girl in Harlem struggling to overcome tremendous obstacles and discover her own voice. Full Review See: Sundance Diary: Opening Night and Day One Official Site

A Prophet (Un prophète) (Country: France, Italy; Director: Jacques Audiard; Writer: homas Bidegain and Jacques Audiard, based on an original screenplay by Abdel Raouf Dafri and Nicolas Peufaillit; Cast: Tahar Rahim, Niels Arestrup, Adel Bencherif, Reda Kateb, Hichem Yacoubi, Jean-Philippe Ricci, Gilles Cohen, Antoine Basler, Leïla Bekhti, Pierre Leccia, Foued Nassah, Jean-Emmanuel Pagni, Frédéric Graziani, Slimane Dazi)
An illiterate teenager struggles when he is sent to jail, but after embarking on a series of "missions" for a gang leader, he begins to hatch plans of his own. Full Review See: French Film Festival preview Official Site, View Trailer

Taking Woodstock (Country: US; Director: Ang Lee; Writer: James Schamus, Elliot Tiber, Tom Monte; Cast: Henry Goodman, Edward Hibbert, Imelda Staunton, Demetri Martin, Emile Hirsch, Paul Dano, Kelli Garner, Clark Middleton, Bette Henritze, Sondra James, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Christina Kirk, Gail Martino, Lee Wong, Adam LeFevre)
The story of the youngster who set the wheels in motion for the iconic music festival. Full Review Official Site, View Trailer

Vengeance (Country: Hong Kong, France; Director: Johnnie To; Writer: Ka-Fai Wai; Cast: Johnny Hallyday, Sylvie Testud, Anthony Wong Chau-Sang, Ka Tung Lam, Suet Lam, Simon Yam, Siu-Fai Cheung, Felix Wong, Ting Yip Ng, Maggie Siu, Vincent Sze, Michelle Ye)
A chef - and former killer - returns to Hong Kong to avenge the deaths of his daughter's family. Full Review

Whatever Works (Country: US, France; Director: Woody Allen; Writer: Woody Allen; Cast: Larry David, Evan Rachel Wood, Patricia Clarkson, Ed Begley Jnr)
An misanthropic New Yorker develops a relationship with a young woman from Mississippi. Full Review See: San Sebastian Film Festival 2009: Diary, Chloe, Inglourious Basterds and Whatever Works reviews

The White Ribbon (Das weiße Band Eine deutsche Kindergeschichte) (Country: Austria, Germany, France, Italy; Director: Michael Haneke; Writer: Michael Haneke; Cast: Ernst Jacobi, Christian Friedel, Susanne Lothar, Leonie Benesch, Ulrich Tukur, Ursina Lardi, Burghart Klaussner, Rainer Bock, Josef Bierbichler, Branko Smarovski)
Palme d'Or winner considers tensions in a German town on the eve of the First World War. Full Review Official Site, View Trailer

Yuki & Nina (Country: France; Director: Hippolyte Girardot, Nobuhiro Suwa; Writer: Hippolyte Girardot, Nobuhiro Suwa; Cast: Noë Sampy, Arielle Moutel, Marilyne Canto, Hippolyte Girardot, Tsuyu Shimizu)
A youngster whose parents are divorcing, runs away with her best friend.

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