Spain’s San Sebastian International Film Festival signed the Gender Parity Pledge last year and — if its 2019 New Directors lineup is any indication — is taking its commitment to greater transparency and gender inclusion seriously. Eight of the 14 titles screening in the New Directors section are directed by women, The Hollywood Reporter confirms. That amounts to about 57 percent of the slate.
New Directors includes two features from Spanish women: Lucia Alemany’s “The Innocence” and Maider Fernandez Iriarte’s “Jordi’s Letters.” The former is about a teen who wants to join the circus, and the latter focuses on the bond Iriarte formed with a middle-aged man with cerebral palsy.
Also screening is Ana García Blaya’s award-winning feature debut, “The Good Intentions,” an exploration of the effect parental conflict has on children. Kim Sol and Lee Jihyoung’s similarly-themed “Scattered Night” centers on siblings caught in the middle of their parents’ divorce.
Returning to New Directors are Delphine Lehericey and Svetla Tsotsorkova. Lehericey screened “Puppy Love” in the category in 2015 and this year will present “Beyond the Horizon,” set during the devastating 1976 Swiss drought. Tsotsorkova previously attended New Directors with “Thirst,” also in 2015. For the 2019 edition, she’ll screen “Sister,” which hinges on a lie a teenager tells her family.
“Disco,” from Jorunn Myklebust Syversen, is a portrait of a young dance champion who joins a radical church. Hinde Boujemaa’s “Noura Dreams” sees a woman trying to divorce her incarcerated husband after finding new love.
One of San Sebastian’s most notable categories, New Directors awards one film €50,000 (about $55,700 USD). Another prize, the Youth Award, is presented by a 300-member jury of 18 to 25-year-olds.
The majority-women New Directors lineup would be welcome news on any day, but it’s especially gratifying considering fellow Gender Parity Pledge signatory Venice Film Fest’s 2019 Competition schedule. Only two films are from women filmmakers: Haifaa Al-Mansour’s “The Perfect Candidate” and Shannon Murphy’s “Baby Teeth.”
Last year, five of San Sebastian’s 18 Competition films were helmed by women. Overall, the fest’s biggest sections were 34 percent women-directed.
The 2019 San Sebastian Film Fest will take place September 20-28. Head over to The Hollywood Reporter to check out all of this year’s New Directors titles.
