A sad goodbye to a wonderful city...

... and a wonderful film festival.

Closing Ceremony

- Home for Christmas writer/director Bent Hamer

wins the festival's Best Screenplay prize

- Neds actor Connor McCarron wins the festival's Best Actor prize

The SIGNIS prize goes to...

The press conference announcing the results of the various jury decisions was this afternoon.

We have chosen to offer this year's SIGNIS prize to the Chinese film Addicted to Love.

This is from the official press release:

"The SIGNIS prize," said the Jury "went to this film which was set amidst the contradictions of the changing China; this is a family tale of a lonely grandfather coming to terms with the new way of life. His addiction to taking care of his family and others overflows, allowing him to nurture a new relationship with a woman suffering from illness."

"Liu Hao," stressed the Jury "with tenderness, delicacy and humor, models for us through the main character how it is possible to work our way to happiness. This film addresses the hardships and struggles that all families share."

Final Jury Meeting

Our last of three jury meetings took place today. This was a pretty lengthy meeting as we deliberated the merits of our top three films worthy of this year's SIGNIS prize. However, one film finally won our near unanimous decision.

And the winner is...

Friday - Day 8

"Addicted to Love"

Our final film from the Official Competition...

Set in modern day China, this film centers around a kindly grandfather reared in the country of the past who is struggling to take care of his disparate sons, daughter, and grandson reared in the China of the present.

Very much a family film, this is also a film about loneliness as he tries to rekindle a relationship with a woman struggling with Alzheimer's.

This film ticks all the boxes that our jury looks for but for me I felt it lacked the emotional component that I yearn for in film.

A very good film nonetheless...

More San Sebastian...

- Seminary of San Sebastian

- Our jury meets with the Bishop of San Sebastian

- An underground electrical fire causes the cancellation of several screenings and the closing of many businesses in the surrounding area. Nobody was hurt...

- View from the bridge

- Director John Sayles

Thursday - Day 7

"Aita"

Though a Catalonian production, this film takes place in the Basque region of Spain.

The central character is a neglected but lovely old house. We, the audience, serve as observers as a caretaker quietly goes about his work of giving the house just what it needs… some hard work and affection.

Beautifully photographed, this is a quiet and poetic visit with what the house is able to share, a long history of lives lived within its walls.

"The Christening"

A powerful Polish film which reunites two old friends who have tried to move on from their criminal pasts. Each has been somewhat successful in doing this in the short term but their pasts catch up with them in the form of the Polish mafia.

This Christening has two separate and meaningful manifestations and is a deeply moving and soul stirring film experience.

This film is not part of the Official Selection.

"Cerro Bayo"

This film from Argentina concerns a disconnected family as it convenes to care for the matriarch grandmother who is in a coma due to an unsuccessful suicide attempt. This coincides with the impending beginning of the ski season in the nearby Mt. Bayo.

A teenage granddaughter that wants to be a model, a grandson who only wants to go away to Spain, an aunt who wishes for the grandmother to hurry up and die so she can inherit some money, and a caring mother who is truly affected by her own mother’s certain demise.

These characters are not addressed with depth and skill enough for me to want to care about the resulting outcome.

Wednesday - Day 6

"Genpin"

A Japanese film primarily about life… most especially newborn life.

A documentary which focuses on a particular clinic run by Dr. Yoshimura in a rural area of Japan. He admonishes the modern health care system for being motivated purely by profit. The women who come here learn how to exercise naturally and to be calm within and without in order to have a birthing process as God originally intended.

A very intimate film yet lacks focus and story development...

"Amigo"

The only American film represented in the Official Selection. This is a John Sayles film set in the Philippines in the early 1900’s and was truly disappointing in my humble opinion.

Shallow characters, confusing story construction, and poor cinematography combine to form something which I cannot recommend.

Congratulations...

... for successfully completing the U.S. Army Ranger School. Now you can proudly wear one of these on your uniform...

Congrats...

Tuesday - Day 5

"Elisa K"

A Catalan film shot mostly in black and white which is primarily the story of a girl - Elisa K. - who is raped as an 11-year old by a family friend and has no memory of it until 14 years later when this memory returns with a shocking and emotional vengeance.

The rape is never shown and it is the psychology of the power of repressed memory which is of main interest here. The actress who plays the older Elisa K. (Aina Clotet) gives an amazing performance, especially when conveying the depth of the pain as the repressed memory is released.

Not necessarily for our jury.

"Pa Negre"

Set in Catalonia during the post Spanish Civil war period, this is a complex tale of revenge, murder, and greed.

A young boy, Andreu, watches his father turn from villain to hero to villain and back to hero again before his father is lost forever. The father sold his soul to the devil but what he purchased was his son's education and a way out of poverty...

Not one of my favorite films but I think this is meant purely and primarily for a Spanish audience.

San Sebastian Film Fest

- "Home for Christmas" press conference

- the public surrounding the "red" carpet

- industry area

- workers taking a break as they roll back the plastic tarp covering the "red" (black) carpet

- press room

San Sebastian

- Kursaal (Main cinema for the festival)

- San Sebastian's oldest church

- One of Europe's few major cities with a sandy beach at its doorstep

- San Sebastian

- one of the small streets full of pintxos restaurants (Basque tapas)

Monday - Day 4

"A Jamaa"

A simple story about a Moroccan farmer named Moha who just wants his land back.

During the making of a film in their small village, Moha leases his land to the film production company in order to construct a fake mosque. After the film shoot is over the villagers decide to continue to worship in the mosque and use it as a real place of worship. They claim the building as their own and offer no compensation to Moha for its use.

The problem is that this use of the land prevents Moha from supporting his family and tending to his only source of income - his farm. He fights the Iman, the villagers, and the politicians to get his land back but is rebuffed at every turn.

An interesting commentary on organized religion, human ambition, politics, and truth.

"Eat Pray Love"

More like "pray" that this film is over so that I can get something to "eat" and I would "love" to have seen something else instead for these last 2 hours and 20 minutes...

If you like watching a selfish, narcissistic person "search" for and "find" themselves then this movie is probably for you.

Richard Jenkins does give a nice performance as the man from Texas.

My wife read this book and quite liked it. I guess that's why some things should stay in the form in which they were originally intended...

"Home for Christmas"

Another film that I liked very much.

This Norwegian offering follows a number of characters as they make preparations for celebrating Christmas. It´s a time of high expectations which are rarely, if ever, met. An emotionally satisfying film that produces both laughter and tears.

A divorced father just wants to see his two children on Christmas Eve, a mistress realizes that the man she loves won't be leaving his wife, an alcoholic drifter with a heroic past dies on a train, an immigrant couple gives birth to their new baby with the generous help of a compassionate doctor, a young boy chooses to spend Christmas Eve with a girl he fancies whose family doesn't celebrate Christmas, and an elderly couple await the return of their son not knowing that they will never see him again.

A PG Christmas version of Short Cuts.

Highly recommended.

Sunday - Day 3

"Misterios de Lisboa"

This film came in at just under 5 hours. Five hours!

Based on the Portuguese novel by Camilo Castelo Branco this is a very long and intertwining look at more than a handful of characters in 19th Century Portugal (with further travels to France and Italy and Brazil and...).

Though too many coincidental happenings for me I believe that the story does portray very well the notion that we all come into this world with a certain "history" based upon our family lineage.

Suffering is a part of life and that is very evident in this story.

Saturday - 4 films

"El Gran Vazquez"

A light-hearted romp set in 1960's Barcelona, this film concerns the misguided morality of a newspaper cartoonist, Manuel Vazquez Gallego. Not much to like but also hard to dislike, he's a moocher, a liar, a poor father, and a philanderer on a grand scale...

I enjoyed this mainly as an antidote for last night's Chicogrande and for its escapist entertainment...

This will not likely be a contender for our jury's consideration.

"I Saw the Devil"

A South Korean horror film with a capital "H"...

A cop tracks down a ruthless serial killer who was responsible for murdering his fiancee...

This is one bloody and overtly violent film. Blood, blood, and more blood... Not for my taste and certainly not for our jury but this is a most professional production that has done mucho mucho box office in its home country...

"Colors in the Dark"

My favorite film so far...

This is a film that I wished I would have made. Bruno Ganz stars as the husband diagnosed with prostate cancer. Though not suffering (at least physically) yet, he chooses to forego treatment so as not to spend the rest of his life visiting doctors and seeking treatment.

His wife of 50 years at first rebels and then decides to join him on his particular journey of choice.

This is a story foremost about family, including the reactions (or non-reactions) of a son, a daughter, and a grand-daughter.

The grand-daughter asks the most direct, the most honest questions and makes us wonder why the couple's children couldn't ask these same questions themselves.

Yes, this is a love story but it is also a story that is becoming more and more prevalent in our culture that is increasingly designed to avoid suffering.

"Neds"

Set in one of the rougher sections of Glasgow in the early 1970's, this is an authentic tale of how easy it is for a young man with a future to fall prey to peer pressure and begin a downward spiral towards drugs, crime, and general rebellion...

Excellent film that was written, directed, and produced by Peter Mullan ("The Magdalene Sisters").

Ned stands for "non-educated delinquent".

John McGill is a smart kid and has great potential for getting out of the hood and attending university. However, he bows to peer pressure and follows the path of his older brother towards delinquency.

His slow descent is handled with great skill by the filmmaker and is thoroughly believable.

Brutally honest and difficult to understand at times (due to the harsh Scottish brogue), this is another violent film that sparks much thought on the social conditions that may lay underneath...

Kudos...

Opening Film

"Chicogrande"

Probably not the wisest choice to open a festival of this caliber...

Set in rural Mexico during the time of Pancho Villa's famous raid on Columbus and the resulting U.S. Army retaliation, this tale consists of poor acting, poor directing, and is a thinly veiled allegory of the U.S. involvement in Iraq.

Chicogrande is one of Pancho Villa's loyal soldiers tasked with bringing him medical assistance. By the end of this film we know nothing more about Chicogrande (or Pancho Villa for that matter) than we did at the beginning...

Hopefully this screening does not set the tone for the remainder of the festival...

Opening Ceremony

San Sebastian International Film Festival

I'm grateful to have been asked to be part of the SIGNIS jury for this, the 58th annual San Sebastian International Film Festival. You can learn more about the festival here...

Bilbao - Guggenheim Museum

This Frank Gehry designed building is far more interesting from an artistic perspective than the modern art currently on display within its curved exterior...

The exhibitions do rotate and so maybe it was a case of poor timing on our part.

However, there was one room which contained one small incision on one of three walls and nothing else. The artist´s title for this poignant work was "St. Thomas´Revenge"...

If you´ve been reading this since the Barcelona post you will notice that Frank Gehry is another architect whose last name begins with a "G"...

Hmmm...