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| Saorise Ronan in Bad Apples Photo: Courtesy of San Sebastian Film Festival |
Saoirse Ronan stars in the opening film of this year's San Sebastian Film Festival New Directors section, which was announced today.
The Irish star features in Jonatan Etzler's UK-produced Bad Apples, which tells the story of a teacher trying to deal with a disruptive 11-year-old pupil.
The section, featuring filmmakers' first or second features, will also include movies from China, Costa Rica, Denmark, India and Japan, among others.
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| The Son And The Sea Photo: Courtesy of San Sebastian Film Festival |
Also of UK interest The Son And The Sea, by London-born director Stroma Cairns, co-written with her mother, producer Imogen West, the film follows the travels of two friends on Scotland’s north-east coast.
Among the more experienced participants are Anton Yarush, who previously wrote Closeness and Unclenching The Fists who, working with DoP-turned director Sergey Borovkov will present Foreign Lands, about a Russian film director obsessed with finding the perfect actress for his next project.
Another eye-catching name in the line-up is that of French star Denis Lavant. He stars as a man who begins fortifying his house to protect it from enemy attacks in Redbout, the deubt form Swedish filmmaker John Skoog, who previously won a top prize at CPH: DOX with his documentary, Ridge (2019).
The section will close with White Flowers And Fruits, the debut feature film from Yukari Sakamoto. It is set in a Christian all-girls boarding school, where the suicide of a popular student leaves everyone shaken, and particularly one of the new boarders, who has the ability to see ghosts.
All of the films will compete for the Kutxabank-New Directors Award, coming with 50,000 euros (£43,000) to be shared equally between the director and the distributor of the film in Spain.
The full list of films in the section is below:
- Bad Apples, Jonatan Etzler (Sweden) – Maria is a primary school teacher doing her best to inspire a class of 11-year-olds but unable to because of one unruly student, who calls her career into question. New Directors opening film.
- White Flowers And Fruits, Yukari Sakamoto (Japan) – Set in an all-girls Christian boarding school, Anna always feels like an outsider due to her ability to see ghosts. Trouble brews when her roommate commits suicide. New Directors closing film.
- As We Breathe, Seyhmus Altun (Turkey) – In a small Anatolian town in the early 2000s, ten-year-old Esma’s world quietly unravels after a factory explosion sets off an unrelenting fire that poisons the landscape.
- Aro berria, Irati Gorostidi Agirretxe (Spain) – San Sebastian, 1978. The workers at the water meter factory hold an assembly to discuss a strike, which ultimately fails. Disappointed, the most non-conformist workers turn their aspirations for radical transformation towards more intimate spheres.
- Shape Of Momo, Tribeny Rai (India) – Bishnu returns to her Himalayan village after quitting her job, only to face mounting family pressures and societal expectations.
- Foreign Lands, Anton Yarush (Russia), Sergey Borovkov (Russia) – Anton, a successful Russian director in his late thirties, feels hollow despite his career, relationship, and friends. Obsessed with casting the perfect actress for his deeply personal film, he flees to foreign lands, trapped in an exhausting, relentless routine.
- Dance Of The Living, José Alayón (Spain) – On the arid island of Fuerteventura, Miguel and his daughter Mariana try to move on after his wife dies, a loss that has cast them both adrift. Canarian wrestling is their refuge, their way to make a place for themselves in the world.
- Before The Bright Day, Tsao Shih-Han (Taiwan) – Chou, a sensitive teen craving independence, struggles as the 1996 Taiwan Strait crisis hits his family's finances and worsens tensions at home. He secretly works at a billiard hall, forming a bond with gang leader Button, but faces setbacks like Button's enlistment and peer conflicts.
- Nighttime Sounds, Zhang Zhongchen (China) – The ancient Song dynasty stone statues stand in the wheat fields of Maozhuang Village. Eight-year-old Qing lives in this village with her mother. On the way to school, she meets a ghost-like white child who has come to find his missing mother. With the child's arrival, Qing starts to sense whispering under the stone statues as her mother's secret past begins to reveal itself.
- If We Don’t Burn, How Do We Light Up the Night, Kim Torres (Costa Rica) – At 13, Laura feels trapped in her new family. Just as she starts accepting her new life surrounded by sprawling forests and palm plantations, she learns that the village hides a dark secret that preys on the women she loves most.
- The Son And The Sea, Stroma Cairns (UK) – Two best mates, Jonah and Lee, take a trip to the northeast coast of Scotland, where Jonah hopes he'll escape the mess he's making of his life in London.
- Weightless, Emilie Thalund (Denmark) – Lea, 15, spends her summer at a health camp, determined to lose weight, and longing to be like her friend Sasha, her new roommate at the camp. While Sasha seeks attention from the local boys, Lea's heart is set on Rune, a charming instructor from the camp.
- Redoubt, John Skoog (Sweden) – At the peak of the Cold War, farm worker Karl-Göran Persson starts fortifying his house. As the construction progresses, so does a conflict with the people in the village.
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| Denis Lavant in Redoubt Photo: Courtesy of San Sebastian Film Festival |
