Three films in the Latin Horizons and Perlak sections, and two projects from the 7th Europe-Latin America Co-Production Forum, are all part of the Colombian selection for the 66th edition of the biggest festival for the Spanish-speaking community in the world
Held September 21 - 29, the 66th edition of the San Sebastian International Film Festival will include 12 feature-length film productions that were directed and set in Latin America. The event has been considered one of the biggest film festivals in the world, and as the biggest festival of the Spanish-speaking world. The International Federation of Film Producers Associations (FIAPF) classifies it as a Category A event and it has become one of the most important screening and networking opportunities in the industry.
This year, part of its program will include Birds of Passage (Pájaros de verano) by Cristina Gallego and Ciro Guerra. The film has been showing for four weeks now and has been seen in Colombian theaters by 250,000 viewers. The film has participated in the Festival de Lima where it received an award for Best Director, a special mention of the International Critics’ Prize and the Peruvian Communicators Association Award. It received the Jury Award at the Motovun Film Festival in Croatia, was also recognized as first Colombian film to be screened in an audience of 8,000 at the Piazza Grande as part of the Locarno International Film Festival in Switzerland, and was the opening film for the 50th edition of the Director’s Fortnight at Cannes. It has come to San Sebastían as part of the Perlak section (previously, Perlas), which screens outstanding feature films from the year that have not been shown in Spain, have been critically acclaimed and/or have been prizewinners at other international festivals.
The Latin Horizons section includes a selection of the years’ feature films that have yet to be released in Spain. The films of this section are either completely or partially produced in Latin America, directed by Latino filmmakers, or either include contexts or topics from Latin American communities around the world. Included in this section is the Mexican-Colombian co-production Buy Me a Gun (Cómprame un revólver) by Julio Hernández Cordón. Supported by the Colombian Company Burning Blue, the film comes to San Sebastían after its world premiere in the last edition of the Directors' Fortnight.
The 7th Europe-Latin America Co-Production Forum will take place between September 23 and 26. This forum is a central platform for the promotion of new audiovisual products in the film industry of both regions, and it is a networking opportunity for industry reps at the festival to establish professional ties and exchange experiences. As José Luis Rebordino states, the director of the Festival, “In seven years, the Forum has become a fully established industry activity. Not only because of the increase in the number of registrants, but also because of the profiles of the filmmakers and producers that participate – as it brings together new talents and widely acclaimed award winners that submit their projects to San Sebastían for the opportunity to contrast and share them with the international film industry.”
The Colombian delegation for this edition is being led by Director Priscila Padilla of The Eternal Night of Twelve Moons (La eterna noche de las doce lunas), who will participate with her film Un nuevo amanecer, documentary winner of the Film Development Fund (FDC) in 2017. The feature La lluvia by filmmaker and theater producer Lony Welter will accompany Padilla and will also participate out of the competition as one of the winning projects of Ibermedia's Workshop to Develop Film Projects from Central America and the Caribbean. In La lluvia, in a small Colombian town, the peaceful life of Lucy is interrupted by an invasion of foreigners searching for a mysterious treasure, forcing her to use her violent and destructive powers to save her homeland and her family.
Both productions will participate together with projects from Argentina, Belgium, Brazil, Chile, Denmark, Spain, France, Guatemala, Italy, Mexico and Switzerland. Those leading these film proposals will present their pitches to industry members and will have a personalized appointment calendar with professionals interested in participating in their projects.
