Tonight, the Canadian director and screenwriter receives the second Donostia Award at this 70th edition of Zinemaldia, “it’s good to be recognized in a place like San Sebastián”, and later he will present his new film ‘Crimes of the Future’
Nobody doubts that glamor is necessary and essential in a category A film festival (the most select in the world) like the one in Donostia. It is no less true, however, that the cinema, and in this case the Zinemaldia, must be something more than just the red carpet. It must be art, for example. Or conflict and critical thinking. Or simply, freedom of expression brought to the big screen. Qualities that undoubtedly embodies David Cronenberg, the Canadian director and screenwriter who receives this Wednesday night the second Donostia Award of this 70th edition of the contest.
The rawness of his filmography is such that many times it has been attributed to him that his films push his audience to the limit. «It’s not so much that I push the public to the limit, I do it with myself. I invite viewers to sign up for my proposal and have the same experience as me. In my works, I propose a creative journey exploring my relationship with the world. I make things up, to see if they reveal any truth or something entertaining and then I say to the public, what do you think? Therefore, I am not pushing the public to the limit, I am pushing myself to that limit”, he pointed out at the presentation of his latest film ‘Crimes of the Future’, which he already presented at the last edition of the Cannes Festival and which will be screened at the Victoria Eugenia after the award ceremony of the Donostia Award.
As usual every time he presents a film, the terms raw, disturbing, disturbing or twisted are repeated to define his work. No wonder it is the greatest exponent of the so-called ‘new flesh’ aesthetic. His obsession with the human body, disease, scientific experimentation, violence and sex is clear, as he also makes clear in his latest film in which Viggo Mortensen stars again. Of him, another Donostia Award, has said that «we are in love with each other. I have a real friendly relationship with him, even family. He is an excellent actor. Working with him and Léa Seydoux and Kristen Stewart on this film has been wonderful,” he said.
Donostia Award to
David Cronenberg
They Came Inside (1975)
Naked Lunch (1991)
Stardust (2014)
Crimes of the Future (2022)
Crimes of the Future (1970)
Rabia, (1977)
Circuit Strain (1979)
Videodrome (1983)
Inseparable, (1988)
M. Butterfly, (1993)
Spider (2002)
A History of Violence (2005)
A Dangerous Method (2011)
Cosmopolis (2012)
Stardust (2014)
Donostia Award to
David Cronenberg
They Came Inside (1975)
Naked Lunch (1991)
Stardust (2014)
Crimes of the Future (2022)
Crimes of the Future (1970)
Rabia, (1977)
Circuit Strain (1979)
Videodrome (1983)
Inseparable, (1988)
M. Butterfly, (1993)
Spider (2002)
A History of Violence (2005)
A Dangerous Method (2011)
Cosmopolis (2012)
Stardust (2014)
Donostia Award to David Cronenberg
Naked Lunch (1991)
They Came Inside (1975)
Stardust (2014)
Crimes of the Future (2022)
Crimes of the Future (1970)
Rabia, (1977)
Circuit Strain (1979)
Videodrome (1983)
Inseparable, (1988)
M. Butterfly, (1993)
Spider (2002)
A History of Violence (2005)
A Dangerous Method (2011)
Cosmopolis (2012)
Donostia Award to David Cronenberg
They Came Inside (1975)
Stardust (2014)
Crimes of the Future (2022)
Crimes of the Future (1970)
Rabia, (1977)
Circuit Strain (1979)
Videodrome (1983)
Inseparable, (1988)
M. Butterfly, (1993)
Spider (2002)
A History of Violence (2005)
A Dangerous Method (2011)
Cosmopolis (2012)
Stardust (2014)
Naked Lunch (1991)
back to science fiction
With ‘Crimes of the Future’, a film in which he has invested the last 8 years of his life, Cronenberg returns to science fiction and places us in a world in which human beings evolve beyond their natural state and towards a metamorphosis, altering their biological composition to the point of being able to mutate in order to eat our plastic waste. In direct relation to this theme, directly linked to the mistreatment that humans are dispensing to the earth, the Canadian has made it clear that “I have my concern about the success that we may have when it comes to fixing the things that we have launched into the world . We have to have and show desire to be able to do it. The problem is that we have a war in the Ukraine, climate change… we have a terrible urge to destroy as human beings. We have a serious problem. I’m not too optimistic, I must say.”
In ‘Crimes of the Future’ he plays with digital technology again, -«I’ve always been very interested in it. In fact there are shots in this film shot with Iphones and it fascinates me »-, in which he also uses art and performance to present human evolution. «The purpose of my cinema is not to surprise the public, the show ‘per se’ is not something that interests me. This is something interesting for me. Create a narrative to see if you can understand why I feel one way or another. Hence the idea that our bodies change under the pressure of technology and the environment », he says. That fine, revolutionary and avant-garde look that he shows again in ‘Crimes of the Future’ and presents today in Donostia has helped him to have countless followers and admirers around the world.
Before the delivery by Zinemaldia of the Donostia Award, Cronenberg briefly said that “it’s good to be recognized at a festival like San Sebastián, with all its film history.”