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| While At War will screen in competition Photo: Courtesy of San Sebastian Film Festival |
The film, about the author Miguel de Unamuno (Karra Elejalde) and his stance towards the fascist coup d’état is the first time the director has been at the festival since Regression opened proceedings in 2015.
Also joining the competition line-up are filmmaking trio Aitor Arregi, Jon Garaño, Jose Mari Goenaga, whose Flowers (Loreak) and Giant (Handia) previously screened in competition. Their latest film, The Endless Trench (La Trinchera Infinita), stars Antonio de la Torre as a man who, fearing retaliation after the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War, goes into hiding with his wife - only to remain there for 33 years.
Rounding out the in competition titles is the debut by Belén Funes, A Thief's Daughter (La hija de un ladrón), an expansion of her short film Sara A La Fuga, which tells the story of a woman whose plans to create a normal life for herself and her baby are hampered by her father's release from prison.
Daniel Sánchez Arévalo's Seventeen (Diecisiete) will screen out of competition. The latest work from the writer/director, who won the Best New Directing Goya for his debut Darkbluealmostblack (Azuloscurocasinegro), tells the tale of the relationship between a boy in a young offenders institute, who forms a bond with a therapy dog that leads him on an unexpected journey with his elder brother. Ricardo Darín, meanwhile, returns to the festival in Heroic Losers (La Odisea De Los Giles), directed by Sebastián Borensztein, which will have a special screening.
Elsewhere in the line-up, there are two Spanish titles in the New Directors section - Lucía Alemany's The Innocence (Innocencia) and Maider Fernández Iriarte's Jordi's Letters (Las Letras De Jordi) - while away from features, Leticia Dolera's TV series Perfect Life (La Vida Perfecta) will screen in full.
Two series, two shorts and Maddie Barber's medium length documentary Urpean Lurra screen in the Zabaltegi-Tabakalera section, while the Velodrome plays host to family animation Turu, The Wacky Hen (La Gallina Turuleca). Paco Cabezas, whose TV directing credits include episodes of American Gods and Penny Dreadful, will see his film Adiós screen as the RTVE Gala.
