The Seville European Film Festival kicks off tonight in the Andalusian capital city. So, we’ve scoured this year’s program to pick ten titles that show off the selection’s breadth and quality.
“The Girl With the Needle” Magnus von Horn (Denmark)
Denmark’s submission to the International Feature race unspools in the years after World War II and follows Karoline, an out-of-work young pregnant woman who meets Dagmar, a woman who runs a clandestine adoption agency. Karoline works as a wet nurse for the agency before learning the shocking truth about the organization. An “extraordinary and upsetting film,” according to its glowing Variety review.
“Flow” Gints Zilbalodis (Latvia)
One of the year’s best-received animated features and Latvia’s Oscars submission, “Flow” heads to Seville as one of the strongest indie contenders for an animated feature nomination. In the wordless film, a small group of animals on a boat search for dry land in a post-human world covered by apocalyptic floods. “Flow” will open in Los Angeles and New York on Nov. 22 before going nationwide on Dec. 6.
“The Other Side” Berto Romero (Spain)
Seville is and will remain a film festival, but a few exceptional series have been recognized by the event in the past, and this year, Berto Romero’s genre-bending “The Other Side” is one such title. Having premiered at last years’ San Sebastián festival, the Movistar Plus+ suspense comedy follows Nacho Nieto, a journalist who specializes in the paranormal. While enduring the worst period of his professional career, a momentous case arises that could be the most important of his life.
“The Seed Of The Sacred Fig” Mohammad Rasoulof (Germany)
A “masterful allegory,” according to Variety’s Peter Debruge, Iranian director Rasoulof’s latest is the story of Iman, an investigator in Tehran whose home and professional lives overlap in creating an unsustainable strain on his family. The film was a hit at Cannes, winning a jury special prize, the Fipresci Award, the Prize of the Ecumenical Jury, the François Chalais Award and the AFCAE Award. It’s a strong favorite in this year’s International Feature Oscar race.
“Rita” Paz Vega (Spain)
Iconic Spanish actor Paz Vega (“Sex and Lucía,” “Spanglish”) makes her directorial debut with this nostalgic feature set in Seville in 1984. A native of the Andalusian city herself, Vega features in the film as Mari, the mother of winsome 7-year-old Rita, who is the film’s true protagonist. Having world premiered at Locarno earlier this year to strong reviews; the feature will undoubtedly be one of the hottest tickets at this year’s festival.
“Emilia Pérez” Jacques Audiard (France)
France’s 2025 Oscar submission and one of the standout favorites to land a golden statue, “Emilia Pérez” impressed at Cannes, where Spain’s Karla Sofía Gascón shared the festival’s best actress award with co-stars Zoe Saldana, Selena Gomez and Adriana Paz. She has also been nominated for the same honor at the upcoming European Film Awards, and her presence in the prestige film is sure to make Spanish audiences in Seville feel prideful.
“Los últimos románticos” Davis Pérez Sañudo (Spain)
One of Spain’s most promising filmmakers, Pérez Sañudo, brings his latest to Seville, where its co-producer, La Claqueta, is headquartered. The genre-blending tale – typical of Pérez Sañudo – turns on a withdrawn hypochondriac who finds a new sense of identity and source of public respect during a labor dispute that breaks out at her local paper mill in a blue-collar town near the Basque city of Bilbao.
“Saturn Return” Isaki Lacuesta, Pol Rodríguez (Spain)
Spain’s own International Feature Oscar race submission, “Saturn Return” (“Segundo Premio”), won best picture at the Malaga Festival earlier this year. The parody biopic uses a story about Spanish indie rock group Los Planetas attempts to make their third and final iconic album to deliver a tale about people’s need to recast the past as a comprehensible narrative. Another example of Seville’s eagerness to include a broad audience play in its programming.
“Grand Tour” Miguel Gomes (Portugal)
Portugal’s Oscar submission and a Cannes standout – Gomes won best director at this year’s fest – “Grand Tour” is set in 1918 in Rangoon, a city still under British colonial rule. There, Edward leaves his fiancée Molly at the altar. Unwilling to accept his decision, Molly sets out to track down her would-be husband. Variety’s Jessica Kiang described the film as “Bristling with life and song and revelatory collisions between cultures and timeframes.”
“Modi – Three Days on the Wing of Madness” Johnny Depp (U.K., Hungary, Italy)
As far as commercial appeal goes, it doesn’t get much bigger than Johnny Depp. Although the A-lister doesn’t act in this, his second directorial feature outing, his fingerprints are all over the period dramedy, loosely based on the life of celebrated Italian painter and sculptor Amedeo Modigliani. Featuring a bright cast that includes Al Pacino – who godfathered the project for several decades – Riccardo Scamarcio, Antonia Desplat and Stephen Graham, “Modi” world premiered to largely positive reviews from the international press at San Sebastian.
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Publish date : 2024-11-08 07:14:00
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