At the 74th San Sebastián International Film Festival (Spain), running from 18 to 26 September, the German-Austrian-Spanish film «Sieben Tage Februar» (February: Seven Days) by German-Ukrainian director Tetiana Muchnyk will be screened in the «New Directors» section. This is stated on the festival’s website.
According to the synopsis, the film tells the story of two estranged brothers, Ihor and Arkadii. After years apart, Ihor and his son travel from Odesa to Germany, where the brothers meet at their mother’s funeral the day before Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine begins. The film aims to portray everyday life in an extraordinary situation and a sense of responsibility towards one’s country and family.
February: Seven Days will compete for the «Kutxabank-New Directors» award. It is presented to directors’ debut or second feature-length films. The films must have been shot over the past year but not yet shown to the public, except for screenings in the country of production.
All films in the «New Directors» section also become contenders for the Youth Award, whose winners are chosen by a student jury aged 18 to 25.
Last year, February: Seven Days already received two awards at the San Sebastián festival — the WIP Europa Industry Award and the WIP Europa Award, which are presented to films in post-production. They are intended to help bring production to completion.
The cast includes Serhii Korshykov, Volodymyr Holosniak, Mariia Shtofa, Arsenii Markov, Moisei Baziian and others.
About the San Sebastián International Film Festival:
- an annual international film festival held since 1953;
- the festival’s main awards are the «Golden Shell» and the «Silver Shell»;
- the festival has hosted European premieres of films such as: «Star Wars», Tim Burton’s «Batman» and «The Legend of Zorro»;
- in 2023, the festival hosted the premiere of «La Palisiada» by Ukrainian director Filip Sotnychenko.