25/08/2022 - The gutsiest sidebar of the Basque gathering will show off the latest features by Ruth Beckermann and Hlynur Pálmason, plus the new shorts by Peter Strickland and Lee Chang-dong, among others

At the 70^th edition of the San Sebastián Film Festival (16-24 September), the ever-surprising Zabaltegi-Tabakalera section will host a selection of works hailing from Berlin, Cannes and Venice, among other gatherings. As things stand, 22 titles will participate in this sidebar, with one more section to be added at a later date. There will be 13 features, eight short films and one medium-length work on show, which we detail below.

Austrian filmmaker Ruth Beckermann takes a contemporary approach to the 1906 erotic novel Josefine Mutzenbacher in Mutzenbacher [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Ruth Beckermann
film profile], which won the Best Film Award in the Encounters section of the Berlinale. Meanwhile, Iceland’s Hlynur Pálmason will present his third feature, Godland [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Elliott Crosset Hove
interview: Hlynur Pálmason
film profile], set in the late 19^th century, as a Danish priest travels to a remote part of Iceland, plus he will also be showing off the short film Nest, starring a group of siblings who build a house up in a tree. Thomas Salvador will be in attendance with The Mountain [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Thomas Salvador
film profile], about a Parisian engineer who leaves everything behind to settle in the Alps.

Swiss helmer Cyril Schäublin scooped the Best Director Award in the Encounters section of the Berlinale with Unrest [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Cyril Schäublin
film profile], a fiction film set in a small town in the 19^th century, where the anarchism movement starts to gain traction. Norway’s Anders Emblem will participate with A Human Position [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Anders Emblem
film profile], a portrait of a journalist who uncovers an injustice that will lead her to examine her own life from a new point of view. In addition, Brits Dylan Southern and Will Lovelace are the men behind Meet Me in the Bathroom [+see also:
film review
film profile], which delves into the New York music scene at the start of the 21^st century.

Israel’s Ann Oren will be exhibiting her feature-length fiction debut, the German production Piaffe [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Ann Oren
film profile], revolving around a woman who grows a horse’s tale, while another co-production with Germany, the new effort by Argentina’s Laura Citarella, Trenque Lauquen [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Laura Citarella
film profile], starts off with a woman’s mysterious disappearance.

Argentinian director Santiago Loza returns with the world premiere of Amigas en un camino de campo, his fellow countryman Andrés Di Tella does likewise with Diarios, and Mexican-based Bolivian filmmaker Natalia López Gallardo will present Robe of Gems, the winner of the Silver Bear Jury Prize at the Berlinale.

Brit Peter Strickland will also be returning with a new short film, Blank Narcissus (Passion of the Swamp), about a seasoned porn-film director who reminisces about his past, while South Korea’s Lee Chang-dong will be in attendance with the short Heartbeat. The short-film selection is rounded off by China’s Bi Gan, who is back with A Short Story, after he accompanied it to Cannes; Chile’s Diego Céspedes, with The Melting Creatures; and the USA’s Erik Shirai and Japan’s Masako Tsumura, with Nowhere To Go But Everywhere. Furthermore, Zabaltegi-Tabakalera will screen the medium-length film Itchan and Satchan by Japan’s Takayuki Fukata.

The selection also includes a number of previously announced Spanish titles (see the news): the features El agua [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Elena López Riera
film profile] by Elena López Riera and Piggy [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Carlota Pereda
film profile] by Carlota Pereda. These are in addition to the shorts The Third Notebook by Lur Olaizola and Chords by Estibaliz Urresola.

Here is the full list of titles selected:

The Mountain [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Thomas Salvador
film profile] - Thomas Salvador (France) (opening film)
The Melting Creatures - Diego Céspedes (Chile/France) (short film) (opening short)
Mutzenbacher [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Ruth Beckermann
film profile] - Ruth Beckermann (Austria)
A Short Story – Bi Gan (China) (short film)
Trenque Lauquen [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Laura Citarella
film profile] - Laura Citarella (Argentina/Germany)
A Human Position [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Anders Emblem
film profile] - Anders Emblem (Norway)
Itchan and Satchan - Takayuki Fukata (Japan) (medium-length film)
Heartbeat - Lee Chang-dong (South Korea) (short film)
Robe of Gems - Natalia López Gallardo (Mexico/Argentina)
El agua [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Elena López Riera
film profile] - Elena López Riera (Spain)
Amigas en un camino de campo - Santiago Loza (Argentina)
The Third Notebook - Lur Olaizola (Spain) (short film)
Piaffe [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Ann Oren
film profile] - Ann Oren (Israel)
Godland [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Elliott Crosset Hove
interview: Hlynur Pálmason
film profile] - Hlynur Pálmason (Iceland)
Nest - Hlynur Pálmason (Iceland) (short film)
Piggy [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Carlota Pereda
film profile] - Carlota Pereda (Spain)
Unrest [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Cyril Schäublin
film profile] - Cyril Schäublin (Switzerland)
Nowhere To Go But Everywhere - Erik Shirai, Masako Tsumura (Japan) (short film)
Meet Me in the Bathroom [+see also:
film review
film profile] - Dylan Southern, Will Lovelace (UK)
Black Narcissus (Passion of the Swamp) - Peter Strickland (UK/Australia) (short film)
Diarios - Andrés Di Tella (Argentina)
Chords - Estibaliz Urresola (Spain) (short film)

(Translated from Spanish)