Catalonia sends 22 works to prestigious San Sebastian Film Festival

Catalan presence at the San Sebastian International Film Festival is growing stronger.

This year, 22 productions from Catalonia will feature, according to figures from the Department of Culture - the highest number since records are available, in 2007.

Last year, Catalonia sent 20 films to the festival, a milestone only equaled in 2018, the year that 'Between Two Waters' by Isaki Lacuesta won the top prize at the contest, the Golden Shell. That year, both 'Yuli', by Icíar Bollaín, and 'Some Time Later', by José Luis Cuerda, also competed in the official selection.

The festival gets underway on Friday and will last for just over a week, until Saturday, September 28, in the Basque city. 

Catalan highlights

Among the Catalan highlights this year are four titles competing in the official selection.

Pilar Palomero's latest work, 'Glimmers', is going forward in the same section where 'Motherhood' premiered two years ago.

There will also be the return of Albert Serra, director of titles such as 'Pacifiction' and 'The Death of Louis XIV', who arrives with 'Afternoons of Solitude', a documentary exploring the world of bullfighting.

Also competing for the Golden Shell will be Pedro Martín-Calero's first feature film, 'The Wailing', a psychological horror film starring Malena Villa, Ester Expósito, and Mathilde Ollivier that will have its world premiere at the festival.

Meanwhile, British filmmaker Mike Leigh will present 'Hard Truths', a film recently premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival, that was co-produced by Mediapro.

The Catalan candidates to win the Golden Shell next Saturday will hope to emulate the success of 'Between Two Waters' by Isaki Lacuesta, the last Catalan film to win the award, in 2018.

Seven years earlier, Lacuesta also won the festival's biggest award with 'The Double Steps', but no other work with Catalan production has won it in the last twenty years.