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San Sebastian Unspools First WIP Europa

Ed Meza
·2-min read

In its first year out, the San Sebastian Film Festival’s Works in Progress Europa showcase has selected five films that explore such timely themes as imprisonment, neo-colonialism, exploitation and morality.

Running Sept. 22-24 – and taking place both on site and online, attracting a powerful lineup of companies, especially from Spain and France – WIP Europa presents European films in post-production to potential partners, including producers, distributors, sales agents and programmers. The new platform is a continuation of the fest’s Glocal in Progress event.

Among this year’s projects are two Spanish titles: Arantza Santesteban’s “918 Nights,” about the filmmaker’s experience in prison, charged with terrorism, and Alvaro Gurrea’s “Ancient Soul,” an “ethno-fictional” film that examines the neo-colonial reality of the South Seas islands.

Other projects include Selman Nacar’s buzzy title, Turkish-French-Romanian co-production “Between Two Dawns,” which focuses on a man struggling to do the right thing following an accident in his family’s business; Darko Sinko’s Slovenian drama “Inventory,” about a man searching for the perpetrators behind his mysterious attack; and Lasha Tskvitinidze’s Georgian pic “Field,” which follows a young couple whose life is disrupted by outside forces.

The films compete for the WIP Europa Industry Award, which offers post-production/distribution services in Spain, and the €10,000 ($11,798) WIP Europa Award.

Glocal in Progress presented a total of nine films between 2017 and 2019, five of which have been completed and selected for such festivals as Tallin Black Nights, San Sebastian and Sarajevo, among them Ignas Jonynas’ “Invisible,” Pelin Esmer’s “Queen Lear” and Hadrian Marcu’s “A Decent Man.”

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