Survival in the Basque Country: San Sebastián 2016
El invierno, Emiliano Torres (2016)
The Basque country is no stranger to rain. The rain is relentless, pummeling cinephiles and surfers alike as they shuffle along the streets of the old city, nestled in a small cove along the Atlantic.
Perhaps in tribute to the rain-battered Basques, the 64th edition of Donostiako Nazioarteko Zinemaldia (San Sebastián International Film Festival) was dominated by themes of grit, resolve and survival. This year's line-up also featured a richly diverse selection of works from both female directors and emerging voices—20 of the 31 film awards went to first features.
Alongside the European-Latin American axis that characterizes the festival was a new trend—prestige Asian cinema. Chinese filmmaker Feng Xiaogang took home the Golden Seashell for his social satire of a peasant woman's crusade against bureaucracy, I Am Not Madame Bovary.
Below are Filmatique's Top Films of the 2016 San Sebastián International Film Festival:
A Taste of Ink, Morgan Simon
Alba, Ana Cristina Barragán
El amparo, Rober Calzadilla
Anishoara, Ana-Felicia Scutelnicu
The Cambridge Squatter, Eliane Caffé
The Giant, Johannes Nyholm
I Am Not Madame Bovary, Feng Xiaogang
In Between, Maysaloun Hamoud
El invierno, Emiliano Torres
Jesús, Fernando Guzzoni
Lady Macbeth, William Oldroyd
The Long Night of Francisco Sanctis, Andrea Testa & Francisco Márquez
Prowl, Alexandra Balteanu
Rara, Pepa San Martín
Retrospective of Jacques Becker
Summer Lights, Jean-Gabriel Periot
Anishoara, Ana-Felicia Scutelnicu (2016)