San Sebastian 2022
Strong presence for current Swiss cinema
06.09.2022
Seven films from Switzerland – either a debut or a second feature – will be screened at the San Sebastian Film Festival (September 16-24, 2022): FOUDRE in the prestigious New Directors Competition, as well as UNRUEH and EL AGUA in the Zabaltegi-Tabakalera section.
Immediately after its world premiere at TIFF, director Carmen Jaquier’s first feature-length film FOUDRE (THUNDER) will now celebrate its European premiere in San Sebastian in the New Directors Competition, which is dedicated to first and second feature-length films.
FOUDRE (Close Up Films, Flavia Zanon) tells the story of a young, emancipated woman’s search for identity. The film, set in a mountain village around 1900 but interpreted in a contemporary manner, featuresthe young French talent Lilith Grasmug in the leading role.
The Canadian-Swiss coproduction SOMETHING YOU SAID LAST NIGHT is another feature-length debut that celebrated its world premiere at TIFF and will now be screened in the New Directors Competition. The film by Canadian director Luis De Filippis was realised with the Swiss production companies Cloud Fog Haze Pictures (Michael Graf), Lido Pictures (Rhea Plangg) and Cinédokké (Michela Pini).
Films daring to try something new
Two Swiss films have been selected to compete in the Zabaltegi-Tabakalera section, which spotlights films daring to try new angles and innovative formats: UNRUEH (UNREST), the second feature-length film by Cyril Schäublin (Seeland Filmproduktion, Linda Vogel, Michaela Pini), was honoured with the award for Best Director at this year’s Berlinale. Elena López Riera’s debut film EL AGUA (THE WATER), a Swiss-Spanish-French coproduction by Alina film (David Epiney, Eugenia Mumenthaler), celebrated its world premiere in Quinzaine des Réalisateurs in Cannes.
Short Film Competition and opening film for the Made in Spain section
Two short fiction films from Swiss film schools will be screened in the Nest Short Film Competition devoted to films by film students: HEART FRUIT by Kim Allamand from the Zurich University of the Arts ZHdK; and ANABASE by Benjamin Goubet from the Haute école d'art et de design (HEAD – Geneva).
The Swiss-Spanish feature film EL COLOR DEL CIELO (COLOR OF HEAVEN) has been invited as the opening film for the Made in Spain section. This first feature film by Spanish director Joan Marc Zapata was coproduced by the Swiss production companies 89 Productions (Ivan Geisser) and Orisono (Timothy Ross) together with Spain, with world sales acquired by Begin Again Films in Spain.
Two films celebrating their world premiere in the “Official Selection”, the festival’s main competition, were coproduced by Dan Wechsler and his company Bord Cadre films in Geneva: SPARTA by Austrian director Ulrich Seidl and EL SUPLENTE by Argentinean director Diego Lerman.
In collaboration with Swiss production companies, SWISS FILMS and the Swiss Embassy in Spain will host a “Noche suiza” in honour of the Swiss films.