Spanish Success at the San Sebastian Film Festival

Last Saturday 25th September saw the conclusion of the prestigious 9-day long San Sebastian International Film Festival. Taking place in what is arguably the Basque Country's most fashionable and artistic city (its similarities to Paris are not so few and far between) the chic seaside town hosted its 58th annual event " making it one of the longest-running film festivals in Europe.

The most highly acclaimed film this year was 'Neds' (Scottish slang for 'Non-Educated Delinquents') which won the coveted Golden Shell Award, amongst others. Written and directed by Peter Mullan, the film is a hard-hitting look at the lives and problems of a group of lower-class workers and outcasts from Glasgow, played by non-professional actors who were praised for their excellent portrayal of these troubled characters.

One of San Sebastian's niches is its focus on European works, which sets it apart from many of the other big international film festivals. This year, Spanish-language cinema was particularly successful, with drama 'Elisa K' winning the Jury Award, 'Black Bread' performer Nora Navas taking the prize for Best Actress and Chilean director Raoul Ruiz being named Best Director for his work on the epic 'Mysteries of Lisbon'. One of the most appreciated movies at the event, 'Black Bread' - or 'Pa Negre' to use its original Catalan title - is a historical film set just after the Spanish Civil War and inspired by a number of novels from the same region. Also proving a great success was 'The Great Vazquez', a Spanish comedy based on the true story of a comic book artist in Barcelona during the 1960s.

Likewise, Latin America produced a number of commendable works, including 'Chicogrande', which was directed by Mexican Felipe Cazals and deals with the Mexican Revolution; 'Horizontes Latinos', an Argentinean film following the story of two girls on holiday; and finally 'Abel', directed by Mexican actor Diego Luna. This much-admired work follows the very rapid growing up of its 9-year-old protagonist, who begins the film in a psychiatric hospital but, allowed home for one week at the appeal of his single mother, proves himself far more capable than his doctors could have ever imagined.

With all of these films either recently released or due on our cinema screens soon, given the excellent reviews from San Sebastian, it's definitely worth keeping an eye out for them!