Parasite joins Pearls

San Sebastian announces first titles in Audience Award contest

by Amber Wilkinson

Parasite
Parasite Photo: © 2019 CJ ENM Corporation, Barunson E&A

Bong Joon-ho's Cannes Palme d'Or winner Parasite is among the titles announced in San Sebastian's Pearls section for its 67th edition.

Parasite, which along with all the films in the section will compete for the Audience Award, is joined by additional titles from the French festival, including Ladj Ly's debut Les Misérables, which offers a contemporary take on the Victor Hugo classic, Ken Loach's gig economy drama Sorry We Missed You and Olivier Nakache and Éric Toledano's Cannes The Specials (Hors Normes), which follows two friends who set up an association for autistic children.

Also fresh from La Croisette, will be Oliver Laxe's Fire Will Come (O Que Arde), which sees an ex-con arsonist returning to an isolated hamlet to live with his mother and Kantemir Balagov's Second World War drama Beanpole.

Other titles announced include So Long, My Son (Di jiu tian chang) by Wang Xiaoshuai, which charts the impact of China's cultural revolution on a family and won both acting Silver Bears in Berlin for its stars Yong Mei and Wang Jingchun, and Sydney Pollack's Aretha Franklin performance documentary Amazing Grace.

Further titles for the section, which will compete for a £45,000 for best film and £18,000 prize for best European film at the festival from September 20 to 28, will be announced in the coming weeks.

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