Tuesday, August 25, 2009

57th Donostia Zinemaldia Festival de San Sebastian –Films in Progress Selection


The 16th edition of Films in Progress this year considered 115 projects from 21 Latin American countries and section organizers selected six films to compete for prizes helping filmmakers to complete their production. These are the six projects.

A Tiro de Piedra, Sebastián Hiriart, Mexico
Jacinto Medina, a youngster of 21, is bored with his life as a shepherd in the north of Mexico. He finds a keyring on the ground and, taking it as a signal and guided by his dreams, sets out on a voyage stretching thousands of kilometres. Directorial debut from the Mexican Sebastián Hiriart.

Agua Fría de Mar, Paz Fábrega, Costa Rica and France
On New Year's holidays, Mariana (21) and Rodrigo (30) drive to the Pacific coast. There, late at night and in the middle of nowhere, they find Karina (7) who ran away from home. The couple decides to stay the night and deal with the situation in the morning. But by dawn, the girl’s gone.

Lucía, Niles Jamil Atallah, Chile
Lucía is a young woman who works as a seamstress in a factory and lives with her father in an old house in Santiago, Chile. The film takes place in December 2006 during the weeks that take place from the ex-dictator Pinochet’s funeral to Christmas. Through the simple observation of Lucía’s daily life, the spectator is allowed access into a hidden and neglected world of a generation of Chileans striving to recover from the military dictatorship. Directorial debut.

Norberto Apenas Tarde (Norberto’s Deadline), Daniel Hendler, Uruguay
Fired from his job, Norberto tries his luck as a real estate agent, putting off telling his wife. His new boss recommends that he attend a personal assertiveness course to overcome his timidity and he starts studying acting at a beginners’ workshop. While preparing the 3-monthly show, while he fails in his endeavours to behave credibly towards his clients and his wife, what he does discover is a tremendous ability to lie to himself. Directorial feature debut from the actor in Daniel Burman’s El abrazo partido (2004), Best Actor Award at Berlin Festival.

Rompecabezas (Puzzle), Natalia Smirnoff, Argentina
María del Carmen, a 50-year old suburban housewife, discovers a special talent for solving puzzles. On the road to enlightenment she meets Roberto, a millionaire in his 60s aspiring to participate in a world puzzle competition in Germany. Together they form an invincible pair on the games table. This opens the floodgate to desires and discoveries. How does life continue with all of this? Exactly the same, impossible. Directorial fiction-length feature from the assistant director of films by Lucrecia Martel, Pablo Trapero, Jorge Gaggero and Alejandro Agresti.

La Vida Util (A Useful Life), Federico Veiroj, Uruguay
Jorge (45) lives with his parents and has been working at a Film Archive for 25 years. He is a film programmer, he makes technical support, and he conducts the film news show at a radio station in Montevideo. Without any other job experience than working at the Film Archive, Jorge loses his position. A Useful Life explores the way Jorge changes his way of living in order to adapt to the new world that appears to him. After all, maybe ‘movies’ will help him survive. From the director of Acné (Films in Progress 12, 2007).

Projects will be presented on September 22 and 23. To check the press release go here.

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