 |
||
| ZABALTEGI, the Donostia-San Sebastián Festival's traditional parallel section, will this year be split into two definite sections: ZABALTEGI - NEW DIRECTORS and ZABALTEGI - FESTIVALS' TOP This means that there will be absolutely no confusion as to the position of each of the titles participating in this popular section. On the one hand, the films by new filmmakers competing for the New Directors Award sponsored by Jazztel, and on the other, the most outstanding films - the top - from other festivals will opt for the award conferred by popular vote, this year sponsored by Ya.com. ZABALTEGI FESTIVALS' TOP Award winners at other festivals, films that have caught the eye when released, works that are interesting for different reasons, this section is made up of the best films from other international festivals. Opening film of Zabaltegi-Festivals' Top CROUCHING TIGER, HIDDEN DRAGON, Ang Lee's new and spectacular work, will open this section with its tale of magic, love, martial arts and legend. A marvellous Chinese story of warlocks and warriors. Closing film of Zabaltegi-Festivals' Top WO DE FU QIN MU QIN (THE ROAD HOME), by Zhang Yimou tells a simple tale of a sublime love affair in two times. A father's death leads the son to reminisce on his parent's sad but beautiful love story. SUMMER OR 27 MISSING KISSES. Georgian director Nana Djordjadze films a black comedy of sex and life in a small eastern European city, starred by a not entirely conventional love triangle. AMORES PERROS, by Alejandro González Ińárritu. Critics' Week Award at Cannes, this Mexican film is one of the surprises of the year, thanks to both its structure and to the severity and black humour of its images. PURELY BELTER. An intelligent combination of everyday humour and tragedy set against a backdrop of football. The latest work of Mark Herman, director of Little Voice, tells the tale of two English teenagers and their determined struggle to get the money to support their football team. UNDER SUSPICION, by Stephen Hopkins. Gene Hackman and Morgan Freeman head the cast of this detective movie set on a Caribbean island during New Year's Eve. An exquisite duel between these two actors. Ŕ LA VERTICALE DE L'ÉTÉ. Tran Anh Hung, director of The Scent of Green Papaya and Cyclo, films a hot, sensual and peaceful summer in Hanoi, the real star of this family story full of half-spoken whispered secrets. LE GOŰT DES AUTRES. Opera prima by the reputed screenwriter and actress Agnes Jaoui, who has found exactly the right balance between comedy and drama, funny and bitter at the same time, with a solid production, carefully built script and excellent actors. NURSE BETTY, Neil LaBute sets his cruel, acid sights on the world of TV soaps and their influence on the lives of everyday people. Intelligent, funny, ironic, with Renée Zellweger as its trump card. ASÍ ES LA VIDA. A free adaptation of "Medea" in a Mexican suburb, written by Paz Alicia Garciadiego and filmed by Arturo Ripstein with exemplary rigour and austerity. The harshness of the dialogues match the images perfectly. BEFORE NIGHT FALLS. Artist and director Julian Schnabel adapts the autobiography of Cuban author Reinaldo Arenas, a homosexual poet persecuted by Castro, and who died in New York in 1990. Javier Bardem stars as the novelist. NATIONALE 7, by Jean-Pierre Sinapi. Audience Award at Berlin, this screenwriter has chosen for his second work the tale of two very special physically handicapped people. A comedy of black humour based on true people and events. LES DISEURS DE VÉRITÉ. The Algerian-born Dutch director Karim-Traďda tells the tale of his friend, the journalist Said Mekbel, assassinated in Algeria for speaking out against the fundamentalist groups. A film of political compromise on a contemporary subject. LOST KILLERS, by Dito Tsintsadze. The multiracial portrait of black humour set in a small German city. Four undocumented immigrants - a Croatian, a Georgian, a Haitian and a Vietnamian - and their ups and downs as they try to survive. WOMAN ON TOP. Penélope Cruz is the Woman on Top, in all senses of the word, since the Spanish actress has literally hit the stars, both in her real life and in the colourist and tasty fiction of this contemporary fairy tale by Fina Torres. TROLÖSA (FAITHLESS). A script by Ingmar Bergman recalling a story of which he had first-hand experience, is the perfect basis for a devastating film about love, jealousy, age, dependence, creation and friendship by Liv Ullman.
|
||