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BAFTA nominee Billy Lumby and Norway’s Nordic Talents winner Marlene Emilie Lyngstad will compete at San Sebastian’s New Directors strand.
Also in the mix is “Erratics,” starring Denis Lavant. a Chile-France-Argentina
co-production directed by Thomas Woodroffe.
One of the most prestigious new talent spreads in Europe, New Directors will open with “The Bad Son” (“El mal hijo”), the debut feature film as a director of “Money Heist” star Jaime Lorente, and close with Lumby’s “Florid,” which marks the feature debut of Lumby, whose second short, “Samuel 613,” was nominated for a BAFTA,
As a project, “Cute” won the Nordic Talents top prize at Cannes, Its Norwegian director Marlene Emilie Lyngstad and Danish producer Carl Olsbæk Adelkilde hace already made the joint graduation film “Norwegian Offspring” which scooped Cannes La Cinef first prize and Haugesund’s Next Generation Award marking them out as talent to track.
Of New Directors titles announced July 30, there’s also good word on Ayana Nurdinova’s “Mugalim,” from Kazakhstan burgeoning film scene, produced by Kazakh Cinema and Art East Films, and “Morro,” a Mexican small town set tale of grief and unlikely friendship.
San Sebastián’s just announced New Directors entries join three Spanish features announced on July 17: Javier Giner’s “Esa Soledad,” a portrait of Millennial existential emptiness; El mal hijo,” directed by “Money Heist” star Jaime Lorente, and “February, Seven Days,” (“Sieben Tage Februar,”), from Tatjana Moutchnik, a family drama unfolding on the eve of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
These are the titles selected for the New Directors sidebar at this year’s San Sebastián Film Festival:
“The Bad Son” (“El mal hijo,” Jaime Lorente, Spain) – Opening Film
Cast: Miguel Ángel Puro, Susi Sánchez, Hugo Arbués, Óscar de la Fuente
The first feature as a director of Lorente, Denver in “Money Heist,” adapting a novel by Salvador S. Molina, a screenwriter on Bambú productions such as “Jaguar” and “13 Exorcisms.” Set in Murcia, a coming of age tale in which a half gitano boy is abandoned by his father, goes to live with his grandmother, who has kidnapped his father. Produced by Frank Ariza at AF.
“The Ballet Lesson” (Kazuya Murayama, Japan)
Cast: Vadim Bushmakin, Nikita Kondo, Niina Kondo, Yukina Shimizu
“Erratics” (“Bloques erráticos,” Thomas Woodroffe, Chile-France-Argentina)
Cast: Denis Lavant, Daniel Muñoz
“Florid” (Billy Lumby, U.K.-Sweden) – Closing Film
Cast: Jonathan Jules, Saskia Chana, Unknown T
Social issue genre: Jamal in a London of “supported accommodation and psychiatric wards,” hears voices, battles psychotic breakdown, takes medication, aims to make it in music, has his frail balance rocked when Kyla moves in next door. Backed by BBC Film and Film4, part of the BFI’s Cannes Great 8 showcase, produced by Atar Studio and Film i Väst and sold by Atar.
“Body of Glass” (Naëmi Ada, Germany-France)
Cast: Soma Pysall, Elise Tilloloy, Manuel Severin, Younès Boucif
“Cute” (Marlene Emilie Lyngstad, Denmark-Sweden-Norway)
Cast: Jan Gunnar Røise, Gina Jaqueline, Karin Bertling, Kitt Maiken Mortensen
Backed by Nordisk Film, Cannes project winner “Cute” turns on a mass produced stuffed animal that links different human destinies in what has been described as a “global tale about the longing for innocence in a world filled with guilt and an “exploration of the grotesqueness and the tenderness in the human desire for “the cute.”
“February, Seven Days” (“Sieben Tage Februar,” Tatjana Moutchnik, Germany-Austria-Spain)
Cast: Serhii Korshykov, Volodymyr Holosniak, Maria Shtofa, Arsenii Markov
German-Ukrainian filmmaker Tatjana Moutchnik makes her feature debut with a family drama unfolding on the eve of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. A man from Odesa travels with his son to Stuttgart for his mother’s funeral, reuniting with an estranged brother as competing ideas of family collide. The project won San Sebastián’s WIP Europa Industry Award and WIP Europa Award in 2025.
“Lovers Sleep Alone” (Massih Parsaei, Germany)
Cast: Pooyesh Frozandeh, Ava Darvishi, Marcel Kohler, Wolfgang Wobéto
“Morro” (Rodrigo García Saiz, Mexico)
Cast: Gustavo Sánchez Parra, Anna Diaz, Ernesto Meléndez
“Mugalim” (Ayana Nurdinova, Kazakhstan)
Cast: Oljas Dalelkhan, Rustem Zhanyamanov, Shynar Janysbekova, Olga Landina
From Kazakhstan burgeoning film scene, produced by Kazakh Cinema and Art East Films, the tale of a music teacher who dreams of leaving the small town of Balkhash, who is suddenly given the chance to leave. He hesitates, however. The debut feature of Yurdinova, who has worked as a production designer and direction assistant.
“My Father’s Shoes” (“Obuvkite na bashta mi,” Hristo Simeonov, Bulgaria-France)
Cast: Valeria Varbanova, Tanya Shahova, Vyara Kolarova
“This Solitude” (“Esta soledad,” Javier Giner, Spain)
Cast: Oriol Pla, Marina Salas, Gemma Martínez, Kai Etxaniz, Itziar Lazkano
Giner’s feature debut, once more partnering with star Oriol Plá. here with Marina Salas (“El Barco”), in a portrait of Millennial “existential emptiness in a fragmented and chaotic present,” Giner has said. Sold by Filmax and produced by Fuga de cuerpos, A.I.E., Balance Media Entertainment, La Embajada TV and Basajaun Filmak.
“Will You Still Be My Friend” (“Ri Guang,” Lu Po-Shun, Taiwan-Singapore)
Cast: Jaden Wang, Aloysius Looi, Lung Tien Hsiang, Lu Yi-Ching, Andie Chen
“The World Before” (Yoon Dan-bi, South Korea-Japan-France)
Cast: Su-bin Sim, Eo-jin Kim
