The San Sebastian Film Festival has locked its Perlak section for the 73rd edition, bringing together a slate of 16 features that includes major prizewinners from Cannes and titles fresh from Venice competition.
This year’s Perlak will open with Richard Linklater’s “Nouvelle Vague,” which bowed in competition at Cannes. The Texas filmmaker pays tribute to the French New Wave and the 1959 production of Jean-Luc Godard’s classic “À bout de souffle” (“Breathless”).
Rebecca Zlotowski closes Perlak with “Vie privée” (“A Private Life”), first seen Out of Competition at Cannes. Jodie Foster toplines as a psychiatrist investigating a patient’s death, opposite Daniel Auteuil, Virginie Efira, Matthieu Amalric and Vincent Lacoste.
Olivier Assayas brings Venice competition entry “Le mage du Kremlin” (“The Wizard of the Kremlin”), headlined by Paul Dano, Jude Law, Alicia Vikander, Jeffrey Wright and Tom Sturridge. The drama follows a young artist-turned-TV producer who becomes an adviser to Vladimir Putin.
Noah Baumbach will screen “Jay Kelly,” also in competition at Venice. George Clooney plays a movie star facing a personal crisis, joined by Adam Sandler, Laura Dern, Riley Keough, Greta Gerwig, Alba Rohrwacher and Emily Mortimer, who co-wrote the screenplay.
Tunisia’s Kaouther Ben Hania returns with Venice competition title “The Voice of Hind Rajab,” a fiction based on the true story of a 6-year-old girl from Gaza who was killed along with members of her family during an attack by the Israeli army in 2024.
Spanish director Guillermo Galoe makes his feature debut with “Ciudad sin sueño” (“Sleepless City”), shot with non-professional actors in Madrid’s Cañada Real. The project won the Prix SACD in Critics’ Week at Cannes.
Iraqi filmmaker Hasan Hadi screens “Mamlaket al-Qasab” (“The President’s Cake”), winner of Cannes’ Caméra d’Or. The film follows a young girl who must use her wits to prepare the mandatory cake for celebrating the birthday of President Saddam Hussein – or face terrible punishment.
Yorgos Lanthimos reunites with Emma Stone in “Bugonia,” premiering in Venice competition. The dark comedy follows two conspiracy theorists who kidnap the CEO of a global corporation, convinced she is an alien bent on destroying Earth. Jesse Plemons and Aidan Delbis co-star.
Brazil’s Kleber Mendonça Filho joins with “O agente secreto” (“The Secret Agent”), which earned him best director and the FIPRESCI prize at Cannes. Wagner Moura won best actor for his turn as a mysterious man eager to reunite with his son in the Brazil of 1977.
François Ozon’s “L’Étranger” (“The Stranger”), another Venice competition entry, adapts Albert Camus’ novel with Benjamin Voisin, Rebecca Marder, Pierre Lottin, Denis Lavant and Swann Arlaud.
Iceland’s Hlynur Pálmason presents “Ástin sem eftir er” (“The Love That Remains”), seen at Cannes Première, capturing a year in the life of a family through intimate vignettes and strange events. Pálmason also bows “Jóhanna af örk” (“Joan of Arc”) in San Sebastian’s Zabaltegi-Tabakalera section, which hosts a solo exhibition of his work through Sept. 28.
Iran’s Jafar Panahi joins the lineup with “Un simple accident” (“It Was Just an Accident”), this year’s Palme d’Or winner at Cannes. The film begins with a seemingly minor event that unravels into larger consequences.
Raoul Peck brings the nonfiction feature “Orwell: 2+2=5,” which bowed in Cannes Première. The documentary examines George Orwell’s political warnings and their resonance today.
Paolo Sorrentino screens Venice opener “La Grazia,” reuniting with longtime collaborator Toni Servillo for a love story set in his native Italy.
Joachim Trier brings Cannes Grand Prix winner “Affeksjonverdi” (“Sentimental Value”), starring Renate Reinsve and Stellan Skarsgård alongside Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas and Elle Fanning in a family drama that extends Trier’s body of intimate character work, following “The Worst Person in the World.”
Rounding out Perlak is “Amélie et la métaphysique des tubes” (“Little Amélie or The Character of Rain”), the animated debut feature from Maïlys Vallade and Liane-Cho Han. Adapted from Amélie Nothomb’s novel “Métaphysique des tubes,” the film screened in Cannes’ Official Selection as a special screening before winning Annecy’s Audience Award.
All sixteen films in the Perlak section will compete for the City of Donostia / San Sebastian Audience Award. The prize is determined by votes from audiences attending the first public screenings. It consists of two separate awards: €50,000 for best film and €20,000 for best European film, both paid to the Spanish distributor of the winning titles.
More details on the San Sebastian's Perlak lineup below.
“Nouvelle Vague”
Director: Richard Linklater
Country of production: France
Cast: Guillaume Marbeck, Zoey Deutch, Aubry Dullin, Bruno Dreyfurst
Opening Film
The story behind the creation of the French film movement known as the Nouvelle Vague, focusing on the production of Jean-Luc Godard's ground-breaking movie “À bout de souffle” (“Breathless”) in 1959.
“Vie privée” (“A Private Life”)
Director: Rebecca Zlotowski
Country of production: France
Cast: Jodie Foster, Daniel Auteuil, Virginie Efira, Matthieu Amalric, Vincent Lacoste
Closing Film
The renowned psychiatrist Lilian Steiner mounts a private investigation into the death of one of her patients, whom she is convinced has been murdered.
“Le mage du Kremlin” (“The Wizard of the Kremlin”)
Director: Olivier Assayas
Country of production: France
Cast: Jude Law, Paul Dano, Alicia Vikander, Jeffrey Wright
Russia, early 1990s. Amid post-Soviet chaos, a brilliant young man, Vadim Baranov, charts his path. First an artist, then a reality show producer, he becomes the spin doctor to a rising KGB agent: Vladimir Putin. At the heart of power, Baranov shapes the new Russia, blurring the boundaries between truth and lies, belief and manipulation. Only the magnetic Ksenia is beyond his control, tempting him away from this dangerous game. Years later, after retreating into silence and shrouded in mystery, Baranov finally opens up, revealing the dark secrets of the regime he helped build.
“Jay Kelly”
Director: Noah Baumbach
Countries of production: USA/UK/Italy
Cast: George Clooney, Adam Sandler, Laura Dern, Billy Crudup, Riley Keough, Grace Edwards, Stacy Keach, Jim Broadbent, Patrick Wilson, Eve Hewson, Greta Gerwig, Alba Rohrwacher, Josh Hamilton, Lenny Henry, Emily Mortimer, Nicôle Lecky, Thaddea Graham, Isla Fisher
“Jay Kelly,” the new film from Academy Award nominee Noah Baumbach, follows famous movie actor Jay Kelly and his devoted manager Ron as they embark on a whirlwind and unexpectedly profound journey through Europe. Along the way, both men are forced to confront the choices they've made, the relationships with their loved ones and the legacies they'll leave behind.
“The Voice of Hind Rajab”
Director: Kaouther Ben Hania
Country(ies) of production: Tunisia – France
Cast: Saja Kilani, Motaz Malhees, Clara Khoury, Amer Hlehel
January 29, 2024. Red Crescent volunteers receive an emergency call. A 6-year old girl is trapped in a car under fire in Gaza, pleading for rescue. While trying to keep her on the line, they do everything they can to get an ambulance to her. Her name was Hind Rajab.
“Ciudad sin sueño” (“Sleepless City”)
Director: Guillermo Galoe
Countries of production: Spain/France
Cast: Antonio “Toni” Fernández Gabarre, Bilal Sedraoui, Jesús “Chule” Fernández Silva, Manuela “Aneli” Fernández Fernández, Debora “Sulami” Vargas, Francisca “Paqui” Jiménez Fernández, Sana Aghmir
Toni is 15 and lives in Cañada Real, Europe’s biggest irregular shanty town, on the outskirts of Madrid. Proud of belonging to his family of scrap dealers, he spends his days with his grandfather, whom he admires and follows wherever he goes. But the demolition machines are approaching their plot, threatening to destroy everything they know. The grandfather refuses to leave, no matter what the cost. In dark nights with no electricity, the legends of his childhood feel more real than ever before. While everything around him changes, Toni must make a choice: to face an uncertain future or to cling on to a disappearing world.
“Mamlaket al-Qasab” (“The President's Cake”)
Director: Hasan Hadi
Countries of production: Iraq/USA/Qatar
Cast: Baneen Ahmed Nayyef, Sajad Mohamad Qasem, Waheed Thabet Khreibat, Rahim AlHaj
Set in the Iraq of the 90s, “Mamlaket al-Qasab” (“The President's Cake”) follows the odyssey of the nine-year-old Lamia as she sets out with her cockerel Hindi to gather the ingredients for the mandatory cake to celebrate Saddam Hussein's birthday.
“Bugonia”
Director: Yorgos Lanthimos
Country of production: UK
Cast: Emma Stone, Jesse Plemons, Aidan Delbis, Stavros Halkias, Alicia Silverstone
Two conspiracy-obsessed young men kidnap the high-powered CEO of a major company, convinced that she is an alien intent on destroying planet Earth.
“O agente secreto” (“The Secret Agent”)
Director: Kleber Mendonça Filho
Countries of production: Brazil/France/Germany/Netherlands
Cast: Wagner Moura, Gabriel Leone, Maria Fernanda Cândido, Alice Carvalho, Carlos Francisco, Hermila Guedes
Brazil, 1977. Marcelo, a technology expert in his early 40s with a mysterious past, is on the run. He arrives in Recife during carnival week, hoping to reunite with his son but soon realizes that the city is far from being the non-violent refuge he seeks.
“L'étranger” (“The Stranger”)
Director: François Ozon
Country of production: France
Cast: Benjamin Voisin, Rebecca Marder, Pierre Lottin, Swann Arlaud, Denis Lavant
Algiers, 1938. Meursault, a quiet and unassuming employee in his early thirties, attends his mother's funeral without shedding a tear. The next day, he begins a casual affair with Marie, a work colleague. He quickly slips back into his usual routine. However, his daily life is soon about to be disrupted by his neighbor, Raymond Sintès, who draws Meursault into his shady dealings ‘ until one blisteringly hot day, a tragic event occurs on a beach…
“Ástin sem eftir er” (“The Love That Remains”)
Director: Hlynur Pálmason
Countries of production: Iceland/Denmark/Sweden/France
Cast: Sverrir Gudnason, Saga Garðarsdóttir, Ingvar Eggert Sigurdsson, Anders Mossling, Ída Mekkín Hlynsdóttir, Katla M. Þorgeirsdóttir, Grímur Hlynsson, Þorgils Hlynsson, Kristinn Guðmundsson, Halldór Laxness Halldórsson
A year in the life of a family while the parents deal with their separation. The complexities of the family, love and the impact of shared memories through intimate vignettes and strange occurrences.
“Un simple accident” (“It Was Just an Accident”)
Director: Jafar Panahi
Countries of production: Iran/France/Luxembourg
Cast: Vahid Mobasseri, Maryam Afshari, Ebrahim Azizi, Hadis Pakbaten, Majid Panahi, Mohamad Ali Elyasmehr, Georges Hashemzadeh, Afssaneh Najmabadi
What starts as a minor accident sets off a series of escalating consequences.
“Orwell: 2+2=5”
Director: Raoul Peck
Countries of production: France/USA
It's 1949. George Orwell finishes what will be his last but most important novel, 1984. “Orwell: 2+2=5” delves deep into Orwell’s final months and visionary works to explore the roots of the vital and troubling concepts he revealed to the world in his dystopian masterpiece… Doublethink, Thoughtcrime, Newspeak, the omnipresent spectre of Big Brother… disturbing socio-political truths which resonate ever-more powerfully today.
“La Grazia”
Director: Paolo Sorrentino
Country of production: Italy
Cast: Toni Servillo, Anna Ferzetti
Paolo Sorrentino returns to Perlak with the film to open the Venice Mostra, “La Grazia,” another collaboration between the actor Toni Servillo and the director, who defines his film as a love story set in Italy.
“Affeksjonverdi” (“Sentimental Value”)
Director: Joachim Trier
Countries of production: Norway/France/Denmark/Germany
Cast: Renate Reinsve, Elle Fanning, Stellan Skarsgård, Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas
Sisters Nora and Agnes reunite with their estranged father, the charismatic Gustav, a once-renowned director who offers stage actress Nora a role in his comeback film. When Nora turns it down, she soon discovers he has given her part to an eager young Hollywood star. Suddenly, the two sisters must navigate their complicated relationship with their father — and deal with an American star dropped right into the middle of their complex family dynamics.
“Amélie et la métaphysique des tubes” (“Little Amélie or the Character of Rain”)
Directors: Maïlys Vallade, Liane-Cho Han
Country of production: France
Until the age of two-and-a-half years old, Amélie describes herself as a digestive tube, inert and vegetative. Then comes the crucial event that throws her headlong into the world of childhood. For the next six months, she discovers language, her parents, her brothers and sisters, the paradise of her garden, her passions (Japan and water), her aversions (the carp), the seasons and time. Everything that, from the age of three, shapes the human person for the rest of their lives.
