Cannes and Berlin winners to compete at San Sebastian Film Festival

A selection of some of the finest films screened this year at important international film festivals will be presented in the Zabaltegi-Pearls section at the 59th edition of San Sebastian International Film Festival.

The film opening the section won the The Tree of Life, a poetic, personal reflection on the meaning of human existence directed by the North American Terrence Malick, starring Brad Pitt and Sean Penn. With only five films on his filmography, Terrence Malick (Illinois, 1943) is a real cult figure in the history of American cinema, having won the Golden Shell at San Sebastian Festival with his very first work, Badlands (1974). With Days of Heaven (1978) he went on to secure the Best Director award at Cannes Festival followed by the Golden Bear at Berlin Festival for The Thin Red Line (1999).

The Iranian film Jodaeiye Nader Az Simin (Nader and Simin, A Separation), directed by Asghar Farhadi (Khomeynishahr, 1972) was the big winner at the last Berlin Festival. This film about the consequences of a divorce and family separation carried off the Golden Shell for Best Film plus the Silver Shell for Best Actor and Actress.

The French film, The Artist was one of the most delightful surprises at the last Cannes Festival, where it bagged the Best Actor award for its lead character, Juan Dujardin. Helmer Michel Hazanavicius renders a surprising homage to movies in the twenties, a tender love story brought to us silent film style in black and white.

Drive was yet another of the more suggestive proposals at this year''s Cannes Festival, a work earning Nicolas Winding Refn the Best Director award. Ryan Gosling stars in this stylised thriller in the best of film noir traditions. This is the first US production from Denmark''s Nicolas Winding Refn (Copenhagen, 1970), cult director on the European movie scene thanks to his trilogy Pusher (1996) - which competed in the Zabaltegi-New Directors section of San Sebastian Festival.

Et Maintenant on va oú? is the latest film from Lebanese moviemaker Nadine Labaki, a bright and amusing call to reconciliation set around the conflict between Christians and Muslims. The actress and director Nadine Labaki (Baabda, 1974) made an international name for herself thanks to her first film, Sukkar banat (Caramel, 2007), presented in the Zabaltegi-Pearls section of San Sebastian Festival''s 55th edition (2007), where it carried off the Audience Award. Labaki went on to become a member of the Official Selection Jury at the Festival''s 56th edition (2008).

Le Havre is the latest gem from the Finnish master, Aki Kaurismäki. Winner of the FIPRESCI international critics'' award at Cannes Festival, here the moviemaker narrates another of his tragicomic proletarian fables.

Another North American production featuring in the Zabaltegi-Pearls section is Martha Marcy May Marlene, a galling drama about a young girl abducted by a sect directed by Sean Durkin and starring Elizabeth Olsen. Durkin makes his feature directorial debut with this film, winner of the Best Directing award in the national competition at Sundance Festival.

Pina is the new work from the reputed German filmmaker Wim Wenders, who makes his first inroads to 3-D movies with this spectacular documentary on the great ballerina Pina Bausch and her dazzling choreographies.

Tyrannosaur is a British production marking the directorial debut of actor Paddy Considine. Starring Peter Mullan and Olivia Colman, Tyrannosaur is a drama in the best tradition of British realism about the friendship between an alcoholic and a battered woman. Paddy Considine (Burton-on-Trent, 1974) has a solid acting background, in films such as 24 Hour Party People (2002), In America (2003) and Cinderella Man (2005).