San Sebastian 2007

Festival Poster / Retrospective Henry King / "Encarnación"

The 55th edition of this major European event featured a well-composed competition (Nick Broomfield, Hans Weingärtner, John Sayles, Manuel Poirier, Iciar Bollain, Wayne Wang) and an attractive overview on worldwide independent cinema ("Zabaltegi"). In the "Horizontes Latinos" section, it underlined its particular interest in Latin American cinemas. This year's retrospective was dedicated to Henry King (1886-1982), one of the pioneers of early Hollywood.
    The young Argentinean filmmaker Anahí Berneri had reveived the Critic's Prize already for her first film A Year Without Love (Mar del Plata, 2005 ). Now, her second feature was awarded in San Sebastian: Encarnación, about an aging actress and her ups and downs. Silvia Pérez portrays this character as a wonderfully independent woman who embodies the opposite of what is expected of women in her society.
   At the festival's opening ceremony, FIPRESCI had presented its "Grand Prix — Best Film of the Year"

Details of the prize
San Sebastian International Film Festival, September 20-29, 2007, www.sansebastianfestival.com

Reports
The After Life of a Starlet. Diego Lerer sees Anahí Berneri's Encarnación as a good example of recent Argentinean films made by young women directors, different in approach from what one expects from New Argentinean cinema. More
Faces of China. To films by Wayne Wang have been included in the San Sebastian program, A Thousand Years of Good Prayer and The Princess of Nebraska. "It seems a long time", writes Weny Ide in her review, "since Wayne Wang was one of the key figures in American independent cinema ... the two sister films could be said to represent a coming home for the director, both spiritually and creatively." Review
Silence Talks. Jeanette Gentele reviews Manuel Poirier's The House and loves that "Manuel Poirier for once lets the silence between people talk, lets their faces tell all that should be said, but is not." More
How Do We Investigate the War? A significant number of movies about the ongoing war in Iraq or the war on terror were shown in various sections. What do these stories have in common? Esin Küçüktepepinar about the "crime scene" of San Sebastian More
"Art is a Spiritual Guide for Life". The retrospective of Philippe Garrel's cinema and the discussions with him were a unique experience to explore the world of this unusual French filmmaker. Imma Merino reports. More

top