Taylor Russell, Ewan McGregor Title ‘Mother, Couch!’ to Bow at San Sebastian’s New Directors Sidebar
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Starring “Bones and All’s” Taylor Russell, Ewan McGregor and Ellen Burstyn, “Mother, Couch!” the feature debut of Sweden’s Niclas Larsson, features in a currently 11-title lineup of San Sebastian’s 2023 New Directors section, the most important sidebar at the highest-profile movie event in the Spanish-speaking world.
Notable in Trey Edward Shults’ raved-reviewed debut “Waves,” Russell stars in “Mother, Couch,” billed as dark dramedy that, produced by Lyrical Media and Suris/Bishop Films, has largely flown under the radar. Though “Mother, Couch!” Is his feature debut, Larsson is a high-profile short filmmaker, his Vatten (2013) earned the Grand Jury Prize and Audience Award at Göteborg, and 2015’s “The Magic Dinner” starred Alicia Vikander and Anna Wintour.
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Section’s other highest-profile title is supernatural art house drama “Last Shadow at First Light,” shot between Singapore and Japan and directed by Nicole Midori and described by Variety as examining “the intangible nature of trauma and the ripples of its aftermath through 16-year-old Ami (Shirata) who is haunted by visions.” At project stage, “Last Shadow” won the TorinoFilmLab Feature Lab’s TFL Co-Production Award.
Of just announced titles, also in the mix is “The Other Son,” a coming-of-age drama from Juan Sebastian Quebrada, one of a wave if new Colombian directors, picked up by Film Factory.
“Carefree Days,” the second feature from Chinese actor-director-screenwriter Liang Ming (“Wisdom Tooth”), will open New Directors.
Naomi Kawase produces “Beyond the Fog,” the second feature from Japan’s Daichi Murase (“Roll”), a family portrait which will close this year’s New Directors.
Canada’s Henry Bernadet, whose co-directed 2008 “West of Pluto” competed at Rotterdam and Zurich, makes a comeback with another youth portrait, “Gamma Rays.”
Five of the 11 titles announced to date for New Directors are from Asian directors, a far larger number than usual. Together they produce a telling smorgasbord portrait of a challenged world, where multiple characters confront families trauma, while others are constrained by age-old family conditions, illness or dirt poverty. One offs, such as “The Blue Star,” a real-life tale of personal redemption, buck this trend, however.
More section titles will be announced before the festival. A brief drill-down on its titles. Film descriptions are sometimes supplied by the Festival give a lack of information from any other source.
“Achilles,” (“Ashil,” Farhad Delaram, Germany, Iran, France)
From Tehran’s Delarem, who won a Berlinale Generation 14plus Crystal Bear for his short “Tattoo,” the tale of a young moviemaker who works in a hospital and whose life changes after meeting a mysterious young girl, according to San Sebastian.
“Bahadur The Brave,” (Diva Shah, India)
AD and novelist Shah debuts with “Bahadur the Brave,” about a Nepali immigrant living in an Indian border village battling to scrape together the money to cure his sick son.
“Beyond The Fog,” (“Kiri No Fuchi,” Daichi Murase, Japan)
Described by the Festival as the “intimate” portrait of mountain village family whose boarding house has passed down the generations; Murase’s follow-up first feature “Roll,” a coming of age tale.
“Bauryna Salu,” (Askhat Kuchinhirekov, Kazajstan)
The debut of Kuchinhirekov, star of 2008 Un Certain Regard Award winner “Ayka,” turning on the Kazakh tradition of a firstborn being given to their grandparents to be brought up.
“The Blue Star,” (“La Estrella Azul,” Javier Macipe, Spain, Argentina)
A fiction film inspired by the life of Spanish musician Mauricio Aznar, a fundamental and endearing figure on Spain’s 1990s rock scene. The film also marks one of the most anticipated feature debuts of the year in Spain, Macipe having carved out a reputation through his shorts, two of which – 2014’s “Children of the River” and 2019’s “Gastos incluídos” – scored Spanish Academy Goya nominations.
“Carefree Days,” (“Xiao Yao You,” Jiang Ming, China)
Liang Mingreunites with lead Lv Xingchen from “Wisdom Tooth,” which won Liang Ming a best director nod at the Hong Kong Film Festival. It turns on a young woman whose life collapses when she gets uraemia but she still determines to go on a trip with her best friends.
“Hi Mom,” (Ilia Malakhova, Russia)
From a former screenwriter and editor, centering on Kira, 38, who is still to recover from her mother’s disappearance and who lives in the same house as her younger sister and her daughter.
“Last Shadow At First Light,” (Nicole Midori Woodford, Singapore, Japan, Slovenia, Philippines, Indonesia)
Upon the discovery of old recordings of her long dead mother (Tsutsui), Ami, 16, confronts her father (Yu) who is in denial about what happened, and follow the path of her visions, as she travels from Singapore to Japan and begins to find meaning in her recurring dreams. Executive produced by Jeremy Chua’s Potocol (Singapore), Shozo Ichiyama’s Fourier Films (Japan), and Bostjan Virc’s Studio Virc (Slovenia).
“The Other Son,” (“El otro Hijo,” Juan Sebastián Quebrada, Colombia, France, Argentina)
Lead produced by Colombia-based Evidencia Films’ Franco Lolli, director of Cannes Critics’ Week titles “Litigante” and “Gente de Bien,” and co-written by one of Colombia’s most sought after writers, María Camila Arias (“Kings of the World,” “Clara Sola”). After the sudden death of his younger brother, a teen falls in love with his deceased brother’s ex-girlfriend finding through that love, the strength to live on.
“Gamma Rays,” (“Les Rayons Gamma,” Henry Bernadet, Canada)
Described by San Sebastian as a generational portrait of a group of youngsters who live in Montreal.
“Mother, Couch!” (Niclas Larsson, U.S, Denmark, Sweden)
The film begins when three estranged siblings are brought together when their mother refuses to move from a couch in a furniture store, San Sebastian reports.
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