52nd DONOSTIA-SAN SEBASTIAN INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVALA RECIPE FOR THE PLEASURES OF BASQUE TREASURES
THE FILMS, THE STARS, THE PLACE.
By Stephen Ashton
SAN SEBASTIAN 2004
Of all the great European film festival locations, none is more perfectly situated than the San Sebastian International Film Festival. San Sebastian is the “Venus” of Spain’s autonomous Basque Country, a special spot on the planet, not just for its physical beauty but also because of its extraordinary people.
No one seems to know the origins of the Basque culture. The ancient language, Euskara, was outlawed under Franco, but it now taught in all the schools and the Festival uses it as an official language along with Spanish (Spanish films are subtitled in English for the Festival). Euskara is unique, unrelated to any other family of languages, although some speculate that it is similar to that of the Black Sea country of Georgia having been brought from the east by Jason and his Argonauts. There is no clear agreement on that, but one thing is for sure… the language of cinema is highly developed in this magical spot.
Basque traditions, (which had to go underground during Franco’s fascist regime), range from unique ancient games, esoteric dances, remarkable cuisine (more on that later!), a particular relationship to the land and sea and of course to a cinema with a unique voice that dates back to 1923. Directors from the region have intensely tackled in the most artistic way serious investigations into the individual and community, relationship to the land, and the question of what it means to be human.
Imanol Uribe, one of the Basque Country’s most courageous and significant directors openly opposed Franco’s repressive regime with political documentaries and features. His works include EZ, 1976; THE BURGOS TRIAL, 1979; THE SEGOVIA BREAKOUT, 1981; MIKEL’S DEATH, 1983, a political film that focused on the conflict and relationships between the individual and the community; and many others through the 1990’s.Montxo Armendáriz, born in 1949, has made films like TASIo (1984), a naturalistic portrait of a charcoal burner. He also made a film about Senegalese immigrants TO SPAIN IN LETTERS FROM ALOU, 1990) and STORIES FROM THE KRONEN. HIS SECRETS OF THE HEART, 1997 is a film about children won numerous international award as did his 2001 feature BROKEN SILENCE.
Another Basque filmmaker, Juanma Bajo Ulloa has made excellent films like BUTTERFLY WINGS, 1991 and THE DEAD MOTHER, 1993 as well as AIRBAG in 1997.
Julio Medem, a regular at the Festival – he is from San Sebastian – is one of Europe’s most innovative and expressive filmmakers with a distinctive visual style that frequently incorporates the land and nature as an integral part of his storytelling. His films include VACAS (COWS), 1991) and THE RED SQUIRREL, 1993, JUMP INTO THE VOID, 1995, TIERRA (EARTH), 1996, LOVERS OF THE ARCTIC CIRCLE, 1998) and the steamy SEX AND LUCIA. ” Not one to shy from controversy, Medem’s THE BASQUE BALL, a documentary on Basque separitism, was presented at the San Sebastian film festival in spite of efforts to stop its screening by the Spanish government. It became one of Spain’s highest grossing docs.
Medem’s sensual cinema is informed by his studies in psychiatry and medicine with a degree in general surgery.
Álex de la Iglesia, born in Bilbao in 1965, and inspired by comic books. EL DÍA DE LA BESTIA (THE DAY OF THE BEAST), 1995, is an elaborate satire on neo-fascist elements of Spanish culture. This film was a great commercial success. Most recently PERFECT CRIME a hit on the Festival Circuit now.
San Sebastian
• Capital of the Basque province of Guipuzcoa• Population 180,000
• Famous resort city on Spain's Atlantic coast
• Became popular holiday destination with the Spanish aristocracy in late 19th century
• Widely regarded as the culinary capital of Basque country and Spain, with high concentration of tapas bars and Michelin stars
• San Sebastián Film Festival was founded in 1953.
The 52nd Festival
Those attending the 52nd -SAN SEBASTIAN FESTIVAL (DONOSTIA in Basque language) held in September, were greeted by a warm and welcoming community that is proud of its town and traditions. The scallop-shell cove, sandy beaches and charming Old Town of narrow walking streets give the place a distinctive ambiance. Fortunately one has to cross a bridge next to the main Festival venue (the Kursaal) and center to get to some of the other theatres in the Old Town. The short walk is accented by wafting aromas from the numerous “Pintxo” bars that each specialize in their own tapas which are set upon the counter for all to smell, savor and in copious quantity, consume. The best ones are sometimes tucked away from tourists and are most favored by locals. There is even an annual competition for the best “Pintxo” which stimulate new recipes ranging from octopus in its own ink to tripe to slices of frittatas of various types. But not to be missed is the natural aged jamon (ham) that is a specialty of Northern Spain, served simply with a taste of sheep-milk cheese and a splash of wine.This international event typically draws a mix of film industry folks (it is the most important Festival in Spain for business) film aficionados, local and from afar, and students who are given special privileges at many events. The Festival has a friendly and vibrant Industry Sales Office that stands in for a market and includes an extensive tape library.
The Festival opened with a ceremony honoring Woody Allen in the spectacular Kursaal Festival Center. Allen, who normally eschews festivals and events, made a rare appearance to be presented with the Donostia Award by Pedro Almodóvar. Allen's latest film MELINDA AND MELINDA got its world premiere here.
The Festival has a tradition of presenting distinguished achievement awards to world class individuals and this year was no exception: a Donostia Award was presented to Annette Bening, who exuded elegance and intelligence speaking of the challenges and necessities of combining two worlds: her private life with children and her public career. “I very much appreciate the honor of being invited here,” Ms. Bening said. “I am concerned, as are many Americans especially in the industry, about out place in the world,” she added, indicating that many Americans are not pleased about the current administrations foreign policies.
Jeff Bridges, also presented with a Donostia Award, won over the press and public as he shared his views on cinema of the day, family stories and his drawings from children’s books and photographs from the set of films he has starred in.
In addition to its main Competition section with awards the Festival created a new section and award named Horizontes, dedicated to increasing the knowledge of Latin American films, which surprisingly have not been that well exposed in Spain.
The Horizontes Award, a cash prize of 18,000 Euros ($23,000) for the director of the winning film, went to the Chilean film MALA LECHE, a first feature by León Errazuriz. Set in today’s Santiago de Chile (the capital and Chile’s one major city) is a captivating but raw story of two would be drug dealers who have to recover lost cash or face the consequences.
Not to be missed are the Special Events held at the Velodrome, such as
concerts by Carlinhos Brown and Bebo Valdés that got us moving with their Brazilian tropical rhythms.Made in Spain offered a rigorous selection of more than a dozen of the year's most interesting Spanish productions including:
EL 7º DÍA (THE 7TH DAY) by the legendary master Carlos Saura, EL ABRAZO PARTIDO (THE LOST EMBRACE) by Argentina’s Daniel Burman, LA MALA EDUCACIÓN” (BAD EDUCATION) by Pedro Almodóvar and HÉCTOR by the Basque director, Gracia QuerejetaRepresenting the American Indie scene was John Sayles, who presented his SILVER CITY, which led to a lengthy session on the role of political and social conscience in cinema. “It was our patriotic duty to do this movie,” he sayd. “The political conversation in the media in the US is very one sided. There is a big lie technique being applied in the US,” he stressed, “…and we are going to take this film on the road – the SILVER CITY EXPRESS – to register voters and create a dialog.”
An innovative initiative of the Festival is its Films in Progress project. This is a joint endeavor started originally by the Tolouse Film Festival.The project in San Sebastian is put together by journalist and long time Festival organizer José Maria Ribas. It offers new opportunities to independent Latin American and Spanish films and filmmakers. Films are shown in rough-cut stage and discussed in an open forum that includes professionals and a jury. Winning film projects receive production and post-production assistance, financial support as well as council from more experienced producers and distributors. A testament to the importance of this endeavor is exemplified by the success of previous (2003) winner, the charming EL CIELITO (LITTLE SKY) by Argentine Maria Victoria Menes, (2004 Official Competition selection). The Festival also hosted other organizers of new initiatives dedicated to advancing Latin Cinema.
The AWARDS – Golden and Silver Shells
The topmost award from the International Jury in the entire festival, the Golden Shell, went to TURTLES CAN FLY by Bahman Ghobadi (Iran-Iraq). In a village in Iraqi Kurdistan, on the border between Iran and Turkey, the villagers desperately seek for a satellite dish antenna in order to keep updated on the impending attack of the Americans in Iraq. Coming from another village with his younger sister and her child, a mutilated boy has a prophecy: the war is getting closer and closer…
Bahman Ghobadi, whose A TIME FOR DRUNKEN HORSES (2000) won the Caméra d’Or and the International Critics’ Award at the Cannes Film Festival, is renowned for his story-telling about Kurdish life.SPECIAL JURY PRIZE to
SAN ZIMSKE NOCI (MIDWINTER NIGHTS DREAM) by Goran Paskaljevic (Serbia and Montenegro)
The prize was presented for “the way it evokes the tragic consequences of a civil conflict by means of the relationship between a survivor and an autistic girl.” Goran Paskaljevic, known for his HOW HARRY BECAME A TREE, CABERET BALKAN and SOMEONE ELSE’S AMERICA, has crafted a poignant and heart-rending film that is aimed to heal the tragic recent history of the Balkans.Here is a short list of winners:
SILVER SHELL FOR BEST ACTOR to
Ulrich Thomsen BRODRE (BROTHERS) (Denmark)
SILVER SHELL FOR BEST ACTRESS to
Connie Nielsen BRODRE (BROTHERS) (Denmark
JURY AWARD FOR BEST SCREENPLAY to
Guy Hibbert and Paul Greengrass OMAGH (UK-Ireland)
JURY AWARD FOR BEST PHOTOGRAPHY to
Marcel Zyskind. NINE SONGS (UK-USA)
SILVER SHELL FOR BEST DIRECTOR
to Xu Junglei. YI GENG MO SHENG NU REN DE LAI XIN (LETTER FROM AN UNKNOWN WOMAN) (China)
The ALTADIS-NEW DIRECTORS AWARD To Lucile Hadzihalilovic
for INNOCENCE.San Sebastian is an extraordinary festival in an extraordinary place.
=====
Stephen Ashton is an editor of Film Festival Reporter Magazine, and a writer and photographer on film, festivals and culture. He is an editor for Food & Beverage International Magazine, is the Founder/Director of the Wine Country Film Festival and grows Pinot Noir and Syrah wine in Northern California.
