The 72nd San Sebastian Film Festival is underway after the world premiere of Audrey Diwan's spicy film Emmanuelle kicked off the celebrations in Spain.
The film, which boasts stars such as Noémie Merlant (Portrait of the Lady on Fire), Naomi Watts (Mulholland Street, Bird Man), Will Sharpe (The White Lotus) and Jamie Campbell Bower (Stranger things), is inspired by the erotic novel by Emmanuelle Arsan. Chacha Huang and Anthony Wong round out the cast, all of whom, except Watts, appeared briefly on stage before the performance at the city's Kursaal Theater.
The director's project centers on a woman, Emmanuelle (Merlant), on a business trip to Hong Kong to work with a luxury hotel group. In search of lost pleasure, she seeks her excitement in experiences with some of the hotel's guests. One of them, Kei (Sharpe), seems to constantly elude her. Diwan said the script was conceived as an exploration of eroticism in the post-#MeToo era.
Emmanuelle directed by Audrey Diwan.
Emmanuelle
The French director, co-writer Emmanuelle with Rebecca Zlotowski, won the prestigious Golden Lion in Venice in 2021 for her film In progress. It marks one of the most lavish lines ever at the San Sebastian Film Festival, with honors for Cate Blanchett, Javier Bardem and Pedro Almodóvar in the week’s lineup here on the Spanish coast.
Almodóvar's first English-language feature film, The next room, debuted to a 17-minute standing ovation at the Venice Film Festival earlier this month. The Spaniard had to dutifully thank the crowd as the film's stars, Tilda Swinton and Julianne Moore, stood with him.
San Sebastian also gathered some big names ahead of awards season with Florence Pugh and Andrew Garfield We live in time closing the festival, as well as screenings of Edward Berger Conclaveby Francis Ford Coppola Megalopolis and by Sean Baker Still.
It has been announced that Neon will be awarded the US distribution rights. Emmanuelle will be released in French theaters on September 25, distributed by Pathé.