The 73rd edition of the
San Sebastian International Film Festival (SSIFF) this year takes place from Friday 19th through until Saturday 27th September in the Spanish city of Donostia-San Sebastian in the Basque Country. The festival was founded on 21st September 1953. It became a FIAPF (International Federation of Film Producers Associations) accredited competitive international film festival specialising in colour films in 1955. In 1957, the FIAPF granted the festival the non-specialised competitive festival status ('A' category) for the first time, which it then held that status intermittently until 1985, and since then it has since held that status on a sustained basis.
This years
Opening Night Film presentation is
'27 Nights' from Argentina and Directed by and starring Daniel Hendler. The film tells the story of Martha Hoffman, an eccentric and wealthy patron who is committed to a psychiatric clinic by her daughters. The expert witness Casares investigates whether this is a scheme to control their mother’s fortune or if Martha truly suffers from a form of dementia that endangers her well-being and that of her family. The
Closing Night Film is
'Winter of the Crow' from Poland, the UK and Luxembourg and is Co-Written and Directed by Kasia Adamik. Warsaw, Poland - December 13th 1981 - martial law is imposed and overnight shuts down the country just as British psychiatry professor Dr Joan Andrews (Leslie Manville) arrives as a guest lecturer at the University. As chaos engulfs the city, armed with her camera, she witnesses a brutal murder by the Secret Police. In mortal danger and trapped as Poland is closed down, Joan becomes a hunted fugitive running for her life.
Those feature films in competition within the Official Selection slate, include the following titles :-
* '27 Nights' - refer above.
* 'Ballad of a Small Player' - from the UK and this drama film is Co-Produced and Directed by Edward Berger, and is based on the 2014 novel of the same name by Lawrence Osborne. When his past and his debts start to catch up with him, a high-stakes gambler laying low in Macau encounters a kindred spirit who might just hold the key to his salvation. Starring Colin Farrell, Tilda Swinton and Fala Chen.
* 'Couture' - from France and the USA and this drama film is Written and Directed by Alice Winocour. In the frenzy of Fashion Week, three women cross paths in Paris, grappling with the world’s tragedies and the questions of their lives: Maxine (Angelina Jolie), an American film Director in her forties, discovers she has cancer; Ada (Anyier Anei), a young South Sudanese model, escapes a predetermined destiny to be thrust into a deceptive universe and French makeup artist Angele (Ella Rumpf), a small hand working in the shadows of the catwalks, dreams of escaping her life.
* 'The Fence' - from France and this drama film is Co-Written for the screen and Directed by Claire Denis. Over the course of one night near a vast public works construction site in Senegal, West Africa a group of workers are confronted by a man seeking justice for his brother’s death at the site earlier that day. Starring Matt Dillon, Tom Blyth, Mia McKenna-Bruce and Isaach de Bankole.
* 'Franz' - from the Czech Republic, Germany, Poland, France and Turkey this Biographical film is Co-Produced and Directed by Agnieszka Holland, and stars Idan Weiss as Franz Kafka, following the author's life from his early teens in his hometown of Prague to his premature death in 1924 at the age of forty in Austria.
* 'Nuremberg' - from the USA and this historical drama film is Written for the screen, Co-Produced and Directed by James Vanderbilt. During the Nuremberg trials (between 20th November 1945 and 1st October 1946, chief psychiatrist Douglas Kelley (Rami Malek) interviews Nazi prisoners to determine whether they are fit to stand trial. There, he enters a 'battle of wits' against Adolf Hitler's right-hand man, Hermann Goring (Russell Crowe). Also starring Leo Woodall, John Slattery, Colin Hanks, Michael Shannon and Richard E. Grant.
* 'Two Pianos' - from France and this romantic drama film is Written and Directed by Arnaud Desplechin. Starring Francois Civil as a virtuoso French pianist who returns from living in Asia for many years to experience an impossible love story in his hometown of Lyon. The cast includes Nadia Tereszkiewicz, Charlotte Rampling and Hippolyte Girardot.
The Donostia Award (an honorary award created in 1986 which is given every year to a number of Actors and filmmakers at the festival, and derives its name from Donostia, the Basque name of San Sebastian). this year goes to the Spanish Producer Esther Garcia for her career achievement, and to American Actress and Producer Jennifer Lawrence, together with a screening of her latest film 'Die, My Love' with Robert Pattinson, Lakeith Stanfield, Sissy Spacek and Nick Nolte.
For the other film strands being showcased, plus a whole lot of other good stuff, you can go to the official website at : https://www.sansebastianfestival.com/in
Looking ahead to this weeks four new movies coming to your local Odeon, we launch with a romantic fantasy film that tells the story of a pair of strangers and the unimaginable journey that ties them together. Then we turn to an Aussie family comedy offering in which a pro surfer teams up with an eleven-year-old Indigenous girl to rescue and rehabilitate orphaned kangaroos in a remote community. Next up is a French biographical film about the life of musical composer Maurice Ravel during his preparation of his most famous ballet as commissioned by Ida Rubinstein. And closing out the week we have an animated film that is a sequel to an earlier film from 2022, that finds this rag tag bunch of bad guys struggling to find trust and acceptance in their newly minted lives as good guys, when they are pulled out of retirement.
Whatever your taste in big screen film entertainment is this week - be it any of the four latest release new films as
Previewed below, or those doing the rounds currently on general release or as Reviewed and Previewed in previous Blog Posts here at Odeon Online, you are most welcome to share your movie going thoughts, opinions and observations by leaving your relevant, succinct and appropriate views in the Comments section below this or any other Post. We'd love to hear from you, and in the meantime, enjoy your big screen Odeon outing during the week ahead.'A BIG BOLD BEAUTIFUL JOURNEY' (Rated M) - this American romantic fantasy film is Directed by Koganada in his third feature film outing following his debut in 2017 with
'Columbus' and then
'After Yang' in 2021, as well as Directing four episodes of TV series
'Pachinko' and two of
'The Acolyte'.
Some doors bring you to your past. Some doors lead you to your future. And some doors change everything. Sarah (Margot Robbie) a free spirited artist running from the past, and David (Colin Farrell) a reserved historian searching for meaning in his life are single strangers who meet at a mutual friend's wedding and soon, through a surprising twist of fate, find themselves on A Big Bold Beautiful Journey - a funny, fantastical, sweeping adventure together where they get to re-live important moments from their respective pasts, illuminating how they got to where they are in the present . . . and possibly getting a chance to alter their futures. The film also stars Phoebe Waller-Bridge, Kevin Kline, Jodie Turner-Smith, Brandon Perea, Chloe East, Lily Rabe, Hamish Linklater and Billy Magnussen. The film is released this week too in the US.
'KANGAROO' (Rated PG) - is an Australian family comedy film Directed by Kate Woods in only her second feature film outing following
'Looking for Alibrandi' in 2000, although in the intervening years she has Directed numerous episodes of largely American TV shows including
'Janus', 'Changi', 'Without a Trace', 'All Saints', 'Suits', 'House', 'Hawaii Five-0', 'Bones', 'Rizzoli & Isles', 'Castle', 'Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.', 'The Umbrella Academy' and
'The Lincoln Lawyer'. Here, when Chris Masterman (Ryan Corr) becomes stranded on his way to Broome, in northern Western Australia, he teams up with a young girl named Charlie (Lily Whitely), forming an unlikely friendship. The two come together to help rehabilitate young injured kangaroos. Also starring Rachel House, Brooke Satchwell, Deborah Mailman and Ernie Dingo. The film is released this week here in Australia and New Zealand, and was released early in Germany and Austria toward the end of last month.
'BOLERO' (Rated PG) - this French biographical film is Co-Written for the screen and Directed by Anne Fontaine who has a long list of feature film Directorial credits and awards dating back to 1993, but more recently has helmed
'Adoration' in 2013, '
Gemma Bovery' in 2014,
'The Innocents' in 2016,
'Night Shift' in 2020, and
'Presidents' in 2021. Boundary-pushing Russian dancer and actress Ida Rubinstein (Jeanne Balibar) selects renowned French composer Maurice Ravel (Raphael Personnaz) to compose the music for her next ballet. Ravel ends up creating his greatest success ever - Bolero, in 1928. Also starring Doria Tillier and Emmanuelle Devos, the film saw its World Premiere screening at the Rotterdam International Film Festival back in late January 2024, was released in its native France in early March 2024, and only now does it get a limited release here in Australia. It has so far grossed US$3.4M.
'THE BAD GUYS 2' (Rated PG) - is an American animated heist comedy film produced by DreamWorks Animation and Directed by Pierre Perifel, and is the sequel to 2022's
'The Bad Guys' also Directed by Perifel. Both films are loosely based on the children's book series of the same name by Australian author Aaron Blabey. Reformed criminals Mr. Wolf (voiced by Sam Rockwell), Mr. Snake (Marc Maron), Mr. Piranha (Anthony Ramos), Mr. Shark (Craig Robinson) and Ms. Tarantula (Awkwafina) are trying very hard to be good. However, they soon find themselves hijacked into a high-stakes heist that's masterminded by a new team of delinquents they never saw coming - the Bad Girls, aka Kitty Kat (Danielle Brooks), Doom (Natasha Lyonne) and Pigtail Petrova (Maria Bakalova). The film also stars Zazie Beetz, Alex Borstein, Richard Ayoade and Colin Jost; has garnered generally favourable critical acclaim, and has so far grossed US$201M from a production budget of US$80M since its release Stateside on 1st August. In June of this year, Director Perifel commented in an interview that a third film was in the early planning stages.
With four new release movie offerings this week to tempt you out to your local Odeon, remember to share your movie going thoughts with your other like minded cinephile friends afterwards here at Odeon Online. In the meantime, I'll see you sometime somewhere at your local Odeon in the coming week.
-Steve, at Odeon Online-
