63rd San Sebastian International Film Festival Lineup - Update

Today with just a few days to go for opening day, organizers announced the jury of the Official Competition and yes, the president is none other than great Danish actress and director Paprika Steen.

On other news, organizers announced the Lurra Award (Earth in Basque-language) that will be presented to a film which best symbolizes environmental protection and peace. The award ceremony will be on September 25 and actress Bárbara Goenaga, producer Álvaro Longoria, reporter Carlos del Amor and Laura Pérez, Greepeace Spain Communications Director make the award jury.

If you wish to learn the many more news published since the first date of this post then go to the official site here or better, check the  Storyteller Pinterest 2015 San Sebastian festival board here that has everything relevant in one place.

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8/19/15
In the last few weeks organizers have been announcing drop by drop the films in the many sections of the festival. Seems that finally today the last drop was announced, so decided to do the post that could be upgraded if they decide there are more news. Sigh.

Up to this moment there are seventeen (17) films in the main competition, which is a true eclectic collection of films from almost every genre. Most notable are latest work by great authors like Rúnar Rúnarsson, Joachim Lafosse and Pablo Agüero.

Then, if anyone doubts about how great is the state of Latin American cinema just has to look at the films in the Horizontes Latinos competition, as many films have already collected top awards in Berlin and Cannes, are in competition in Venice, still are traveling the festival circuit and most are must be seen for me! It's been a long time since I see in one place, all together, so many great Latin American auteur films. Obviously this makes the Horizontes Latinos competition perhaps the most nerve racking -and very difficult to decide- of all competitions in San Sebastian current edition.

Official Selection (17)

21 Nuits avec Pattie (21 Nights with Pattie), Jean-Marie Larrieu and Arnaud Larrieu, France
Amama, Asier Altuna Iza, Spain
バケモノの子 Bakemono No Ko (The Boy and the Beast), Mamoru Hosoda, Japan (animation)
El Apóstata (The Apostate), Federico Veiroj, Spain, France and Uruguay
El Rey de la Habana, Agustí Villaronga, Spain and Dominican Republic
Eva No Duerme (Eva Doesn't Sleep), Pablo Agüero, Argentina, France and Spain
Evolution, Lucile Hadzihalilovic, France, Belgium and Spain
Freeheld, Peter Sollett, USA
High-Rise, Ben Wheatley, UK
Les Chevaliers Blancs (The White Knights), Joachim Lafosse, Belgium and France
Les démons (The Demons), Philippe Lesage, Canada
Moira, Levan Tutberidze, Georgia
Þrestir (Sparrows), Rúnar Rúnarsson, Iceland, Denmark and Croatia
Sunset Song, Terence Davies, UK and Luxembourg
Truman, Cesc Gay, Spain and Argentina
Un Dia Perfecte per Volar, Marc Recha, Spain
Xiang Bei Fang (Back to the North), Liu Hao, China

Official Competition Jury
President: Paprika Steen, actress and director, Denmark
Nandita Das, actress and director, India
Daniel Monzón, director and screenwriter, Spain
Hernán Musaluppi, producer, Argentina
Julie Salvador, producer, France
Uberto Pasolini, director, scriptwriter and producer, Italy
Luciano Tovoli, cinematographer, Italy

Out of Competition
Opening Night Film: Regression, Alejandro Amenábar, Spain and Canada
Closing Night Film: London Road, Rufus Norris, UK
Mi Gran Noche, Alex de la Iglesia, Spain

Special Screenings
Lejos del Mar, Imanol Uribe, Spain
No Estamos Solos, Pere Joan Ventura, Spain (documentary)

New Directors (14)

After Eden, Hans Christian Berger, Canada
Barash, Michal Vinik, Israel
Einer von Uns (One of Us), Stephan Richter, Austria
Granny's Dancing on the Table, Hanna Sköld, Sweden
Iona, Scott Graham, UK and Germany
Jajda (Thirst), Svetla Tsotsorkova, Bulgaria
Le nouveau (The New Kid), Rudi Rosenberg, France
Parasol, Valéry Rosier, Belgium
Paula, Eugenio Canevari, Argentina and Spain
Pikadero, Ben Sharrock, UK and Spain
Rodinny Film (Family Film), Olmo Omerzu, Czech Republic, Germany, France, Slovenia and Slovakia
Ul-bo (Stay With Me), Jinwoo Rhee, South Korea
Tjuvheder (Thieves Honor), Peter Grönlund, Sweden
La Vida Sexual de las Plantass (Sex Life of Plants), Sebastián Brahm, Chile

New Directors Jury
President: Diego Lerer, film critic, Argentina
Francine Brücher, Producer, France-born lives in Germany
Desirée de Fez, film critic, Spain
Olivia Stewart, producer, UK
Edgard Tenembaum, Producer, Argentina-born lives in France

Horizontes Latinos (14)

Opening Night Film: El Club (The Club), Pablo Larraín, Chile
600 Millas, Gabriel Ripstein, Mexico
El Abrazo de la Serpiente (Embrace of the Serpent), Ciro Guerra, Colombia, Argentina and Venezuela
El Botón de Nácar, Patricio Guzmán, France, Chile and Spain (documentary)
Chronic, Michel Franco, Mexico and France
Desde Allá, Lorenzo Vigas, Venezuela
Las Elegidas (The Chosen Ones), David Pablos, Mexico and France
Ixcanul, Jayro Bustamante, Guatemala and France
Magallanes, Salvador del Solar, Peru, Argentina, Colombia and Spain
La Obra del Siglo (The Project of the Century), Carlos M. Quintela, Cuba, Argentina, Germany and Switzerland
Paulina (La Patota), Santiago Mitre, Argentina, Brazil and France
Para Minha Amada Morta (To My Beloved), Aly Muritiba, Brazil
Te Prometo Anarquía (I Promise You Anarchy), Julio Hernández Cordón, Mexico and Germany
La Tierra y la Sombra (Land and Shade), Cesar Augusto Acevedo, Colombia, Chile, Brazil, Netherlands and France

Horizontes Latinos Jury
President: Agustina Chiarino, producer, Uruguay
Fran Gayo, producer, Spain
Rubén Ochandiano, actor, Spain

In the New Directors competition there are some films that called my attention but no one like Barash from Israel, a lesbian interest film that could be worth-watching. Then in Horizontes Latinos there was one film that is new for me and to my highly-positively surprise the star of the film is none other than amazing Magaly Solier; I'm talking about Magallanes, film became must be seen for me.

If you wish to learn films in other sections of the festival, Pearls, Zabaltegi, Savage Cinema, Culinary Zinema, Zinemira, Made in Spain, Retrospectives, Movies for Kids and Film in Progress please go here.

During the festival, the Europa touring expo Pasolini Roma will be at San Telmo museum. If you wish to read about the expo go to official site here or to San Telmo site here.