Yet another year the San Sebastian Festival and Tabakalera-International Centre for Contemporary Culture present the International Film Students Meeting, an event seeking to shed light on the work of students from film schools across the world. The pre-selection of works for this 13th Meeting saw the participation of 169 short films from 79 schools in 29 countries: Argentina, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Germany, Netherlands, Hungary, India, Israel, Italy, Lithuania, Mexico, Poland, Romania, Russia, Slovakia, Spain, Switzerland, United Kingdom, Uruguay, USA and Venezuela.
For the first time this year, the Meeting will be four days long, from the 23rd to the 26th of September and it will take place at Kutxa Andía (Calle Andia n/n.). The selected short films will be presented at sessions open to the general public and Festival guests.
Short films and Schools Selected
Below is a list of the short films and schools selected for participation in this year’s Meeting:
| After Rave Kamilė Milašiūtė (Lithuania) Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theatre (Lithuania) Milda is planning on going out with friends. Her plans should be changed by news of paintful loss. At first sight, the decisions that Milda takes seem to be easy but step by step they become unbearable. |
| Alex Laura García (Spain) ESCAC (Escola Superior de Cinema i Audiovisuals de Catalunya) (Spain) Alex was adopted at birth. Now as an adult, her biological mother has accepted to meet her. She can't decide whether to give the opportunity a miss or whether to find out who she is and face up to the fear of losing something valuable on the way. |
| Checkpoint Adam Felix (Slovakia) The Academy of Performing Arts Bratislava (Slovakia) Young girl Ester has a problem - her vacuum cleaner Taifun 1400W blows air out instead of sucking it in. On a journey to return vacuum cleaner across Slovakia, Ester gets stuck at a remote bus station, being obviously alien to the place. |
| Después de la Z / After the Z Rodrigo Cervantes Martínez (United Kingdom) The London Film School (United Kingdom) Alberto, a teenager, drives for a group of Sicarios from the Zeta Cartel in Mexico, transporting a mysterious cargo. Over a night's journey he will touch the depths of the violence that permeates contemporary Mexico. |
| Enfrentar animales salvajes / To Face Wild Animals Jerónimo Quevedo (Argentina) Universidad del Cine (Argentina) Miss Chile '85 has been abducted by Tarzan, king of the jungle and leader of the patriotic anti-Pinochet commando “Manuel Rodríguez” . |
| Granice wytrzymalosci / Rollercoaster Marek Marlikowski (Poland) Krzysztof Kieslowski Faculty of Radio and Television at the University of Silesia (Poland) A young woman trains intensively for an unusual test by diving, running, meditating and trying to fully control her body, but it refuses to do everything she wants. Despite health and family complications she fights on. |
| Greenland Oren Gerner (Israel) Minshar for Art (Israel) Oren comes to his parents' house to pack his belongings before moving with his girlfriend. During this day, out of seemingly simple interactions, the family dynamics reveals itself in a chronicle of separation. |
| Idle Raia Al Souliman (Romania) National University of Theatre and Film (Romania) In a world ruled by boredom and apathy, a boy and a girl meet for the first time. |
| Les feuilles mortes / Dead Leaves Noam Ellis (Israel) Tel Aviv University Department of Film & Television (Israel) Amelie is emotionally unstable. One day after her father leaves her home alone, she goes out and takes Clovis, her 4 years old boy from kindergarten in mid-day. The two go for 'a day of fun' in the woods near town, where Amelie's juvenile behavior puts her son and herself in great danger. |
| Les Oiseaux-tonnerre Léa Mysius (France) La Fémis (France) Antonin and Leonor are hunting the lark. He is as submissive as his sister is voracious. One day, a dog attacks them. |
| Los resentidos / The Resentful Ones Pablo Álvarez (Chile) Instituto Profesional Arcos (Chile) Everyday drama about three teenagers in the Lo Prado commune. Abandon, boredom and socio-economic limitations give rise to deep resentment in each of them. |
| Nicht den Boden berühren / Don't Hit the Ground Mia Spengler (Germany) Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg GmbH (Germany) Fila is popular amongst her friends, because she is cool, sassy and loud. But so is Gülcan, which makes her a rival to Fila. When Gülcan participates in a make-over organised by a teen magazine, Fila is terrified to lose her position as a group leader. In addition to that there are rumours regarding her relationship to 27 year old Artur, also nicknamed "Pedo" behind his back. |
| Onno de Onwetende / Onno the Oblivious Viktor Van der Valk (Netherlands) Netherlands Film Academy (Netherlands) Onno is stuck. He’s lost. Many questions. Few answers. And on top of that there’s this strange feeling. This feeling that he knows, but doesn’t understand. |
| Paradox Moris Freiburghaus (Switzerland) ZHdK - Zürcher Hochschule der Künste - Fachrichtung Film / Zurich University of the Arts (ZHdK) – Film School (Switzerland) Julian pursues his goals without compromise. He quits his job to focus his attention wholeheartedly on music His best friend and companion finds it impossible to understand him and desperately attempts to bring him to his senses |
Out-of-competition
The Meeting will also include the out-of-competition screening of three short films. Two of them from the Atelier Ludwigsburg-Paris, a project that fosters international collaboration and production processes. It involves participation of the film schools La Fémis and the Filmakademie in Baden-Württemberg:
| Dans les yeux / In the Eyes Rémi Bigot (France - Germany) A Sunday like any other among a Russian community in France. Victor, a kind and compliant young man, has to overcome the elusiveness of the one he loves in secret. |
| Der letzte Kuss / The Last Kiss Tatjana Moutchnik (Germany - France) Without having been invited, Schuhmann arrives at his son’s wedding. They haven’t seen each other in years, but still it seems that the son resembles the father more than he wants to… |
The third one is part of the collaboration between the San Sebastian Film Festival and BioBio Cine, Festival Internacional de Concepción, Chile. A Festival, that as well as the Meeting does, it fosters the film students' exchange of experiences and knowledge in the audiovisual field.
| Levantar / Arisen Georgina Pérez Fernández (Chile) Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile (Chile) Torn between rage and uncertainty, Luis makes his way round what was once his house and is now rubble. Forgotten by a country turned upside down by social movements, Luis realises that the earthquake has demolished more than just his home. |
Awards
A specific jury, consisting of one student from each of the schools selected to compete and chaired by a well-known figure from the movie world, will choose the winners of five prizes. This year, for the first time, we will have two new awards, The Torino Award and the BioBioCine–DuocUC Award.
- The Panavision Award, carrying a complete camera package including HD Genesis camera and Primo standard lenses for four weeks of filming, or a voucher worth €10,000 for renting any kind of Panavision material, for the winning director.
- The Freak Independent Film Agency Award that includes the free submissions of the winner film to 50 international film festivals selected by the team of Freak and Worldwide sales agreement except for the school's country of origin.
- The Jury will also name three candidate directors to participate with their works in the Short Film Corner at the next Cannes Festival.
- A representative of the TorinoFilmLab will reward one of the participating directors with the Torino Award with which the winning student will have the opportunity to take part in one of the TFL programmes.
- The BioBioCine–DuocUC Award. The Panavision Award and the Freak Independent Film Agency Award winner will have the chance to take part in the BioBio Cine, Festival Internacional de Concepción (Chile).
The International Film Students Meeting is co-organised by the San Sebastian Festival and Tabakalera-International Centre for Contemporary Culture. The Meeting will enjoy the support of San Sebastian European Capital of Culture 2016, which advocates the development of a continued process of backing for audiovisual creation that will make it possible to convert San Sebastian into a European centre of attention as regards production in small or medium format.