By Liza Foreman
San Sebastian loves French films, and this year is no exception. Speaking with The Film Verdict on the eve of this year’s festival, UniFrance’s Executive Director Daniela Elstner talked up the plethora of films screening at SSIFF, and plans to expand the export body’s presence and press activities at major festivals.
It’s been a big opening weekend for French films at the San Sebastian International Film Festival. Audrey Diwan’s drama ‘Emmanuelle’ launched the festival on Friday at the beachfront fest hub the Kursaal, while the weekend concluded with a cocktail hosted by export body UniFrance at the Hotel Maria Cristina, welcoming French talent and Spanish distributors.
Reflecting the breadth of French films at the 72nd edition of SSIFF, the list of talent invited to attend the Sunday night soiree, included François Ozon, Hélène Vincent, Josiane Balasko, Ludivine Sagnier, Albert Serra, Damien Bonnard, Nicolas Duvauchelle, Leos Carax and Pierre Lottin who all have films at the festival.
For UniFrance Executive Director Daniela Elstner, one highlight for this edition is the fact that this extensive French presence includes three films in competition, as well as three co-productions in this section.
Alongside the ‘Emmanuelle’ remake of the 1974 classic, the Oscar winning writer and director Costa- Gavras is returning to San Sebastian, and in competition, with life and death drama ‘Last Breath.’ And Francois Ozon is vying for a prize with ‘When Fall is Coming,’ starring Josiane Balasko, Helene Vincent and Ludivine Sagnier.
“Not only do we have the opening night film, but the three films in competition that really give an idea of the diversity of films France is producing,” said Elstner.
San Sebastian has many advantages.
“An important part of what we do is working with international festivals. San Sebastian is an important part of our strategy. The festival likes French films. It’s a great launch pad. Some of our titles are showing for the first time in Spain. It’s also a great festival for press and to connect to the Spanish speaking world,” she said.
French films are present in a wide number of festival sidebars. France is represented out of competition by the Cannes Film Festival’s director Thierry Frémaux with ‘Lumière! The Adventure Continues,’ the second part of his documentary series. 100 more Lumiere brother films are restored and analyzed in the film.
Elstner sees other advantages to being in San Sebastian.
“It’s an important festival and a great place to be,” she said. “Films are shown and there’s some business. It’s not an organized film market and doesn’t want to be. But in San Sebastian, you can meet a lot of buyers in an informal way which is important. There are a nice mixture of venues, like the hotel lobbies where you see both buyers as well as stars doing interviews. In San Sebastian you have it all.”
Cannes Do
She added: “With Cannes you go there with the idea that you have to be well prepared. Every hour is scheduled. It’s all planned. It’s a machine. San Sebastian is different. You can meet people by chance. Easily meet other buyers. In San Sebastian, you might catch up on films you haven’t seen anywhere else.”
This includes a number of French films which have screened at other festivals, and have been programmed for this year’s Perlak section.
Think Payal Kapadia’s Grand Prix winner ‘All We Imagine as Light,’ ‘Emilia Pérez’ by Jacques Audiard, and Emmanuel Courcol’s drama ‘The Marching Band.’
A number of more experimental French films and coproductions can be found in The Zabaltegi-Tabakalera section. Screenings include Leos Carax’s drama ‘It’s Not Me,’ Arnaud Desplechin’s docufiction drama ‘Filmlovers!’ and Mati Diop’s documentary ‘Dahomey’ which won the Golden Bear in Berlin.
Fresh French talent can be found in the Nuev@s Director@s section. This includes the world premiere of Akaki Popkhadze’s thriller ‘In the Name of Blood,’ and Koya Kamura’s comedy/drama ‘Winter in Sokcho.’
Both smaller and bigger titles benefit from the fest.
“The timing of the festival is excellent. It’s a good moment for a European festival. It’s an important place to be for a certain type of film,” said Elstner.
In San Sebastian and beyond, Elstner said that a priority project for UniFrance is how the organization can more effectively enhance its participation at festivals.
“UniFrance is thinking of how we can be more useful for French films,” she said. “It is one thing to be at festivals for the sales agents, but we would like to create a ‘Maison France’ where you can find people. We do it regularly in the big festivals. Festivals have less and less money, so a dedicated space for interviews for the press to meet French talent is one idea. To make a gathering space. I think all festivals would benefit.”
Travel is also on the table at UniFrance.
“We are thinking about our presence in the big festivals,” she added. “We did a lot of work on deciding where we can go and what we can do differently. Before, we would not think twice about doing three days in Japan, coming back, and then doing Korea a month later. We are looking at how we can be more sensible about travel, but still see people face to face. It is more important after Covid to see people in person. Also, the more you know the country, the better you sell. A big question is how much we should travel?”
