The film Murieron por encima de sus posibilidades (2014) by the Girona-based director Isaki Lacuesta is part of the “Official Section” of the San Sebastián Festival. Outside the competition, it will also be possible to see Lasa y Zabala (2014) by the Basque Pablo Malo, a co-production of Abra Producciones and the Catalan production company Parsimònia. Both films feature Catalan actors and actresses.

No todo es vigilia (It’s Not Vigil) (Hermes Paralluelo, 2014), by the independent Catalan production company El Dedo en el Ojo, will compete in the “New Directors” section , together with twelve other films, including Los tontos y los estúpidos (The Fools and the Stupid) (Roberto Castón, 2014), featuring the Catalan actresses Nausicaa Bonnín and Vicky Peña.

Almost half of the 11 feature films in the festival’s “Made in Spain” section are by directors of Catalan origin. Barcelona’s Carlos Marqués-Marcet will compete with the acclaimed 10,000KM (Long Distance) (2014) alongside Stella Cadente (2013), directed by Lluís Miñarro, also from Barcelona; Hermosa Juventud (Beautiful Youth) (2014) by Jaime Rosales; Sobre la marxa (As We Go) (2013) by Jordi Morató and Ciutat morta (Dead City) (2013) by Xavier Artigas and Xapo Ortega.

The “Pearls” programme includes Still the Water (Naomi Kawase, 2013) and Paradise Lost (Andrea Di Stefano, 2014), two films with Catalan involvement in production. Kawase’s film has involved Lluís Miñarro’s production company as well as the French production company Comme des Cinemas, while the film by Italy’s Di Stefano is a Chapter 2 co-production with the Catalan companies Roxbury Pictures and Paradise Lost Film AIE.

Another Catalan co-production in the “Cinema under Construction” section, Paula (2014) is the work of the young Argentine film-maker Eugenio Canevari, based in Barcelona for the last six years. The Catalan short film Alex (2014) by Laura García is a production by ESCAC Films and is programmed as part of the “International Meeting of Film Students”.