SanSebastian

Actresses Greta Fernández and Loreto Mauleón make up the jury alongside the Basque Government Director of Social Innovation, Asier Aranbarri

Six films from the official programme of the 71st San Sebastian Festival compete for the Agenda 2030 Euskadi Basque Country Award, recognising the film that best reflects the values of sustainability and solidarity as the core emblems of the Sustainable Development Goals promoted by the United Nations in the 2030 Agenda.

Two of the competing films participate in the Official Selection and are All Dirt Roads Taste of Salt, by Raven Jackson, and The Royal Hotel, by Kitty Green, while the remaining four come from Perlak: Aku wa Sonzai Shinai / Evil Does Not Exist, by Ryusuke Hamaguchi, recent winner in Venice of the Silver Lion Grand Jury and FIPRESCI prizes; Io Capitano / I'm Captain, directed by Matteo Garrone, winner of the Silver Lion for Best Director and the Marcello Mastroianni Award for Best Young Actor (Seydou Sarr); Bâtiment 5 / Les Indésirables, by Ladj Ly, and The Zone of Interest, by Jonathan Glazer, winner of the Grand Prix and the FIPRESCI Prize at the Festival de Cannes.

The Agenda 2030 Euskadi Basque Country Award jury will be made up of the Catalan actress Greta Fernández, Silver Shell for her work in La hija de un ladrón  / A Thief's Daughter, the Basque actress Loreto Mauleón, winner of Platino and Feroz awards for her role in Patria, and the Basque Government Director of Social Innovation, Asier Aranbarri. All three were present this afternoon at the press conference to launch the award in Tabakalera.

Presentation of the award, coming with 20,000 euros for the majority producer of the winning film, will take place on Thursday 28 in the Tabakalera Prisma at 19:00.

As a new feature, this year the Festival's Film Talks include a talk by the Australian moviemaker Kitty Green, author of The Royal Hotel, who will discuss the transformative power of the cinema. The rendezvous will be on the 25th at 16:30 in Tabakalera's Z Room and invitations, free of charge, can be collected from the Festival website, and the Zinemaldi Plaza and Tabakalera ticket desks from the day before the event.

If you change nothing, nothing changes

Jonan Fernandez, Secretary General for Social Transition and the 2030 Agenda, believes it is positive that, for the second year running, the Festival and the Basque Government "go hand in hand" in defending the sustainable development goals. In his opinion, given the event's local and international outreach, this is an "particularly appropriate framework for showing people what the Agenda 2030 Euskadi Basque Country is about".

"The essential goals are to do more against poverty and share wealth; to contribute more to equality and prevent discrimination; to reduce waste, consume less energy and recycle more. Because if you change nothing, nothing changes, recalled Fernández.

The 2030 Agenda

Official Selection

ALL DIRT ROADS TASTE OF SALT RAVEN JACKSON (USA) Country(ies) of production: USA Cast: Charleen McClure, Reginald Helms, Jr., Moses Ingram, Zainab Jah, Sheila Atim, Chris Chalk Ikusmira Berriak 2019   A lyrical, decades-spanning exploration across a woman's life in Mississippi, the feature debut from award-winning poet, photographer and filmmaker Raven Jackson is a haunting and richly layered portrait, a beautiful ode to the generations of people and places that shape us.

THE ROYAL HOTEL KITTY GREEN (AUSTRALIA) Country(ies) of production: Australia Cast: Julia Garner, Jessica Henwick, Toby Wallace, Hugo Weaving, Ursula Yovich, Daniel Henshall Americans Hanna and Liv are best friends backpacking in Australia. After they run out of money, Liv, looking for an adventure, convinces Hanna to take a temporary live-in job behind the bar of a pub called 'The Royal Hotel' in a remote Outback mining town. Bar owner Billy and a host of locals give the girls a riotous introduction to Down Under drinking culture but soon Hanna and Liv find themselves trapped in an unnerving situation that grows rapidly out of their control.

Perlak

BÂTIMENT 5 / LES INDÉSIRABLES LADJ LY (FRANCE) Country(ies) of production: France Cast: Anta Diaw, Alexis Manenti, Aristote Luyindula, Steve Tientcheu, Aurélia Petit, Jeanne Balibar CLOSING FILM OUT OF COMPETITION After the sudden death of the town's mayor, Pierre, an idealistic young doctor, is appointed to replace him. He intends to continue the policy of his predecessor, who dreamed of rehabilitating this working-class neighbourhood. Haby, a young French woman of Malian origin living in one of the dilapidated tower blocks, refuses to see her family being driven out of the neighbourhood where she grew up.

AKU WA SONZAI SHINAI / EVIL DOES NOT EXIST RYUSUKE HAMAGUCHI (JAPAN) Country(ies) of production: Japan Cast: Hitoshi Omika, Ayaka Shibutani, Ryuji Kosaka, Rei Nishikawa Takumi and his daughter Hana live in a town near Tokyo. Their life will turn on its head when they learn that a glamping is to be built near their house for city dwellers to enjoy comfortable country breaks.

IO CAPITANO / I'M CAPTAIN MATTEO GARRONE (ITALY) Country(ies) of production: Italy Cast: Seydou Sarr, Moustapha Fall Io capitano narrates the epic stories of two cousins who leave Dakar and set out for Europe. In this contemporary odyssey, the young men must overcome myriad obstacles in their struggle to survive in the desert and the sea.

THE ZONE OF INTEREST JONATHAN GLAZER (UNITED KINGDOM) Country(ies) of production: UK - Poland Cast: Sandra Hüller, Christian Friedel, Ralph Herforth OPENING FILM (IN COMPETITION) The commandant of Auschwitz, Rudolf Höss, and his wife Hedwig, strive to build a dream life for their family in a house and garden next to the camp.