Fourteen emerging filmmakers from eleven countries will compete for the Kutxabank-New Directors Award at the 73rd San Sebastián International Film Festival, organizers announced Tuesday.
The New Directors section, which has served as a launchpad for names like Bong Joon-ho and Jonathan Glazer, will again focus on debut and sophomore features. This year’s lineup includes titles from China, Costa Rica, Denmark, India, Japan, Russia, Spain, Sweden, Taiwan, Turkey and the UK.
Saoirse Ronan leads “Bad Apples,” the opening title in the section. Billed as a biting satire with a thriller aftertaste, the film follows a teacher who must handle a disruptive 11-year-old student. Directed by Sweden's Jonatan Etzler (“One More Time”, “Swimmer”), it marks his second feature and is a U.K. production.
Closing the section is “Shiro no Kajitsu” (“White Flowers and Fruits”), the debut feature from Yukari Sakamoto. The film is set in a Christian all-girls boarding school, where the suicide of a popular student leaves everyone shaken, and particularly one of the new boarders, who has the ability to see ghosts.
Seyhmus Altun’s “Aldığımız Nefes” (“As We Breathe”) represents Turkey and Denmark. The film centers on a family from a rural Anatolian town grappling with the aftermath of a devastating fire. The project was was previously presented in WIP Europa under the working title “Memento non mori.”
Stroma Cairns, who previously worked on the series “MOOD”, makes her feature debut with “The Son and the Sea.” Written by Cairns and her mother, producer Imogen West, the story tracks two friends exploring the North-East coast of Scotland and the unspoken connection between them.
Taiwanese director Tsao Shih-Han (“A Dream of Spring”, “Neko and Flies“) presents “Nan Fang Shi Guang” (“Before the Bright Day”), set during the 1996 Taiwan Strait Crisis. A teenager is caught in emotional upheaval involving his family, friendships and romantic feelings.
“Värn” (“Redoubt”), the first fiction feature from Swedish documentarian John Skoog (“Ridge”), follows a man who fortifies his home against potential enemy attack. Denis Lavant stars. The film is a European co-production involving seven countries.
Copenhagen-based director Emilie Thalund debuts with “Vaegtloes” (“Weightless”), centers on a 15-year-old girl spending her summer at a weight-loss camp, where she meets a spirited peer and develops a crush on a camp monitor.
Costa Rican director Kim Torres brings “Si no ardemos, cómo iluminar la noche” (“If We Don't Burn, How Do We Light Up the Night”), which was selected in WIP Latam last year. The film follows 13-year-old Laura, who struggles with feeling displaced in her new family environment. Torres previously competed at Cannes with the short “Luz nocturna” (“Night Light”).
From China, Zhang Zhongchen (“The White Cow”) presents his sophomore feature “Ni De Yan Jing Bi Tai Yang Ming Liang” (“Nighttime Sounds”). The story follows an 8-year-old girl who encounters the ghost of another child her age.
Indian filmmaker Tribeny Rai debuts with “Chhora Jastai” (“Shape of Momo”), an India–South Korea co-production. Set in her native Sikkim, the film focuses on a young woman returning to her Himalayan village, where familial and social pressures mount.
Russian filmmakers Anton Yarush and Sergey Borovkov premiere “Chuzhie Zemli” (“Foreign Lands”), the story of the escape of a film director obsessively searching for the ideal actress for his next project. Yarush co-wrote “Unclenching the Fists,” which screened in Cannes’ Un Certain Regard.
The previously announced “Aro berria,” by Irati Gorostidi Agirretxe, is a drama set in the Basque Country during the 1970s, depicting labor struggles and collective community experiences. The project was developed through Ikusmira Berriak, the Locarno Residency and FidLab.
“La lucha” (“Dance of the Living”), the second feature from director and cinematographer José Alayón (“Slimane”), takes place on Fuerteventura island and centers on a father and daughter — both Canarian wrestlers — navigating their relationship after the death of the mother.
All 14 films will compete for the €50,000 Kutxabank-New Directors Award, to be divided equally between the filmmaker and the Spanish distributor. They are also eligible for the DAMA Youth Award, voted on by a jury of 150 students aged 18 to 25.
The 73rd San Sebastián Film Festival runs September 20–28.
More details on the films added to the San Sebastian New Directors Competition below:
“Bad Apples”
Director: Jonatan Etzler
Country of production: UK
Cast: Saoirse Ronan, Jacob Anderson, Eddie Waller, Nia Brown
Opening Film
“Bad Apples” is a biting satirical comedy with a thriller aftertaste starring Saoirse Ronan. Maria is a primary school teacher doing her best to inspire a class of 11-year-olds but unable to because of one unruly and chaotic student. With her career in question and the child’s behaviour spiralling and her class out of control, she makes a series of bad decisions that lead to her accidentally locking this bad apple in her home.
“Shiro no Kajitsu” (“White Flowers and Fruits”)
Director: Yukari Sakamoto
Country of production: Japan
Cast: Miro , Anji Ikehata, Nico Aoto, Mugi Kadowaki
Closing Film
Set in an all-girls Christian boarding school, Anna always feels like an outsider due to her ability to see ghosts. Her roommate, Rika, is the complete opposite: an effortlessly popular, well-liked honors student admired by everyone. But when Rika takes her own life, the entire school is shaken, none more so than her closest friend, Shiori, who struggles to make sense of the loss. After discovering Rika's diary, Anna begins to feel her spirit manifest before her, slowly seeping into her body…
“Aldığımız Nefes” (“As We Breathe”)
Director: Seyhmus Altun
Countries of production: Turkey/Denmark
Cast: Defne Zeynep Enci, Hakan Karsak
In a small Anatolian town in the early 2000s, ten-year-old Esma’s world quietly unravels after a factory explosion sets off an unrelenting fire. As smoke poisons the land and her family struggles to survive, Esma clings to what remains of her childhood. As We Breathe is a tender portrait of resilience in the face of invisible disasters, a story about growing up too soon, holding on to hope, and refusing to disappear.
“Aro berria”
Director: Irati Gorostidi Agirretxe
Country of production: Spain
Cast: Maite Muguerza, Jon Ander Urresti, Aimar Uribe, Edurne Azkarate, Óscar Pascual
Ikusmira Berriak 2022
San Sebastian, 1978. The workers at the water meter factory hold an assembly to discuss a strike, which ultimately fails. Disappointed, the most non-conformist workers turn their aspirations for radical transformation towards more intimate spheres. Some leave the factory to join an isolated community in the mountains, where dozens of young people embarked on an intense journey of shared cathartic experiences.
“Chhora Jastai” (“Shape of Momo”)
Director: Tribeny Rai
Countries of production: India/South Korea
Cast: Gaumaya Gurung, Pashupati Rai, Shyama Shree Sherpa, Rahul Mukhia, Janaki Kadayat
Bishnu returns to her Himalayan village after quitting her job, only to face mounting family pressures and societal expectations. As tensions rise with her pregnant sister's arrival and a budding relationship with a “suitable” boy from her community, Bishnu must choose between conforming to tradition or claiming her independence.
“Chuzhie Zemli” (“Foreign Lands”)
Directors: Anton Yarush, Sergey Borovkov
Country of production: Russia
Cast: Anton Yarush, Katya Ermishina, Nikolay Zheludovich, Marina Manych, Engdech Phuphuttaraphokee
Anton, a successful Russian director in his late thirties, feels hollow despite his career, relationship, and friends. Obsessed with casting the perfect actress for his deeply personal film, he flees to foreign lands, trapped in an exhausting, relentless routine. As weeks pass, the producer makes decisions without him. Alone and spiraling, Anton's self-destruction deepens – until an unexpected, wordless connection offers a faint hope of salvation.
“La lucha” (“Dance of the Living”)
Director: José Alayón
Countries of production: Spain/Colombia
Cast: Yazmina Estupiñan, Tomasín Padrón, Inés Cano, Sara Cano, Aridany Pérez
On the arid island of Fuerteventura, Miguel and his daughter Mariana try to move on after his wife dies, a loss that has cast them both adrift. Canarian wrestling is their refuge, their way to make a place for themselves in the world. But Miguel’s body is starting to fail, and Mariana’s rage pushes her to break the rules. With the championship final just around the corner, father and daughter must find their way back to one another before it’s too late.
“Nan Fang Shi Guang” (“Before the Bright Day”)
Director: Tsao Shih-Han
Country of production: Taiwan
Cast: Chen Hsuan-Li, Wu Kang-Ren, Sun May, Cheng Yu-Chieh
Chou, a sensitive teen craving independence, struggles as the 1996 Taiwan Strait crisis hits his family's finances and worsens tensions at home. He secretly works at a billiard hall, forming a bond with gang leader Button, but faces setbacks like Button's enlistment and peer conflicts. Caught by his father, their relationship worsens. At school, his crush Min leaves due to war fears, and pressure from a teacher deepens his uncertainty.
“Ni De Yan Jing Bi Tai Yang Ming Liang” (“Nighttime Sounds”)
Director: Zhang Zhongchen
Country of production: China
Cast: Aline Chen, Li Yanxi, Gu Hanru
The Song dynasty stone statues, dating back 800 years, stand in the wheat fields of Maozhuang Village. Eight-year-old Qing lives in this village with her mother, Hongmei, while her father works away from home all year round. On the way to school, she meets a ghost-like white child who has come to find his missing mother. With the child's arrival, Qing starts to sense whispering under the stone statues as her mother's secret past begins to reveal itself.
“Si no ardemos, cómo iluminar la noche” (“If We Don't Burn, How Do We Light Up the Night”)
Director: Kim Torres
Countries of production: Costa Rica/Mexico/France
Cast: Lara Yuja Mora, Keylin Delgado Arguedas, Valentina Chaves Jimenez, Teresa Sánchez, Michelle Jones, Juan Luis Araya, Jose Gabriel Guzmán Rodríguez, Luis Carlos Canhoto Baptista da Silva
WIP Latam 2024
At the age of thirteen, Laura feels trapped in her new family. Just as she starts accepting her new life surrounded by sprawling forests and palm plantations, she learns that the village hides a dark secret that preys on the women she loves most.
“The Son and the Sea”
Director: Stroma Cairns
Country of production: UK
Cast: Jonah West, Stanley Brock, Connor Tompkins
Two best mates, Jonah and Lee, take a trip to the Northeast coast of Scotland, where Jonah hopes he'll escape the mess he's making of his life in London. They meet Charlie, who is profoundly deaf and visiting his twin brother. Through the darkness that meets them on this wild coast, they form a friendship that ultimately brings Jonah to discover the courage to be vulnerable and that joy can be found despite loss.
“Vaegtloes” (“Weightless”)
Director: Emilie Thalund
Country of production: Denmark
Cast: Marie Helweg Augustsen, Ella Paaske, Joachim Fjelstrup
Lea, a fifteen-year-old girl, spends her summer at a health camp surrounded by forest and beach. Lea is determined to lose weight, and she longs to be like her friend Sasha, her new roommate at the camp: fun, lively, and unafraid to take up space in the world. While Sasha seeks attention from the local boys, Lea's heart is set on Rune, a charming instructor from the camp. When Rune reciprocates her attention, something awakens within Lea; an unfamiliar yet thrilling desire.
“Värn” (“Redoubt”)
Director: John Skoog
Countries of production: Sweden/Denmark/Netherlands/Poland/Finland/UK/Switzerland
Cast: Denis Lavant, Agnieszka Podsiadlik, Livia Millhagen, Aron Skoog
At the peak of the Cold War, farm worker Karl-Göran Persson starts fortifying his house. He gathers scrap-metal and casts it into the walls to build a fortress meant to protect him and his neighbours. His efforts are met with puzzlement by everyone but the children. As the construction progresses, so does a conflict with the people in the village.