Female Directors Dominate Horizontes Latinos of San Sebastian Film Festival

This year's Horizontes Latinos of San Sebastian International Film Festival highlights the emergence of a new generation of female directors from Latin America.

Natalia Meta's "The Intruder," Clarisa Navas' "One in a Thousand," and Yulene Olaizola's "Tragic Jungle" are among the films with women directors, who will compete in this year's Horizontes Latinos.

The Horizontes Latinos section consists of a selection of this year's most interesting Latin American feature films not yet released in Spain.

According to Variety, seven of the nine featured films in Horizontes Latinos were either directed or co-directed by women. This section will also feature two world premieres: "Unlimited Edition," co-directed by Virginia Cosín, Edgardo Cozarinsky, Santiago Loza and Romina Paula; and "La Verónica" from Chile's Leonardo Medel.

This year, the San Sebastian Film Festival makes no claim via its selection to women having sudden domination over the Latin American industry.

There are four out of five titles from Latin America made by men in other sections. These include Argentine Eduardo Crespo's "Nosotros Nunca Moriremos," and Brazilian João Paulo Miranda's "Memory House" in the main competition.

However, all of the Horizontes Latinos' female directors are selected for their first or second film feature, exhibiting that women are now coming to the fore. At least among the ranks of the newest generation of cineastes in Latin America. Olaizola ("Artificial Paradises," "Fogo") remarkably defy that trend with "Tragic Jungle" representing her fifth feature.

A robust international co-production, "Tragic Jungle" was produced by Mexico's Malacosa Cine and Varios Lobos, France's Manny Films, and Colombia's Contravía Films. The film represents a step-up in scale for Olaizola.

"The Intruder" is a psycho-sexual fantasy-laced thriller played in Berlin main competition. The film by Caetano Gottardo and Marco Dutra did a second Horizontes Latinos title, "All the Dead Ones." It is a lushly turned-out family drama that turns ghostliness to a political metaphor in Brazil in 1899.

According to MSN, much of the competition's heat in Horizontes Latinos will be generated by not so famous directors that just had debuts or second features only this year to an upbeat reception from those who caught them: Argentine Sol Berruezo Pichón-Rivière's coming-of-age tale "Mum, Mum, Mum" which won a special mention at the 2020 Berlinale Generation; Chilean Carolina Moscoso's non-fiction "Night Shot," which explores the emotional legacy of rape; and Clarisa Navas' "One in a Thousand," a lesbian love story set in a memorably evoked project on the outskirts of Corrientes in Argentina.

Medel's "La Veronica" stars Mariana di Girolamo, who played as a model and social media influencer that suddenly falls from grace, incriminated as the prime suspect of her oldest daughter's assassination.

Meanwhile, the directors of "Unlimited Edition" reflected via four stories on writing, reading, the generation gulf, and the creative process.

List of all films competing in Horizontes Latinos:

• "La Verónica," (Leonardo Medel, Chile)
• "All the Dead Ones," ("Todos los Muertos," Caetano Gotardo, Marco Dutra, Brazil, France)
• "Identifying Features," ("Sin Señas Particulares," Mexico, Spain)
• "The Intruder," ("El Prófugo," Natalia Meta, Argentina, México)
• "Night Shot," ("Visión Nocturna," Carolina Moscoso, Chile)
• "Mum, Mum, Mum," ("Mamá, Mamá, Mamá," Sol Berruezo Pichón-Rivière, Argentina)
• "Tragic Jungle," ("Selva Trágica," Yulene Olaizola, Mexico, France)
• "Unlimited Edition," ("Edición Ilimitada," Virginia Cosín, Edgardo Cozarinsky, Santiago Loza, Romina Paula, Argentina)
• "One in a Thousand," ("Las Mil y Una," Clarisa Navas, Argentina, Germany)

All films in the Horizontes Latinos section compete for the Horizontes Award that carries €35,000 for the director and distributor of the film in Spain.

The 68th edition of the San Sebastian International Film Festival will take place in the city of San Sebastian in Spain from Sept. 18 to 20, 2020.

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