Angelina Jolie Confirmed for San Sebastian, Co-Presenting ‘Couture’ in Main Competition

Angelina Jolie will fire up San Sebastián’s star quotient, hitting the Spanish festival to co-present French director Alice Winocour’s main competition player “Couture” on Sept. 21.

Jolie will co-present the the Paris Fashion Week drama along with co-stars Louis Garrel and Garance Marillier, also just announced, director Winocour and the already confirmed actors Anyier Anei and Ella Rumpf.

“Couture” world premiered at Toronto where the Paris Fashion Week drama drew a mixed reaction from Variety, which, however, was upbeat on Jolie’s performance as Maxine Walker, a goth-glam director of hip indie horror films named Maxine Walker, who learns during the Fashion Week that she has breast cancer.

“Jolie, drawing on a family history of cancer for which she herself underwent preventative surgeries, gives a vivid performance, endowing Maxine with cool-director verve and then a fear and sorrow we can’t help but respond to,” Variety wrote.

Variety also included “Couture” in its article, “TIFF: 15 Buzzy Films From Chris Evans, Angelina Jolie, Michaela Coel and More That Have Buyers Circling” and “20 International Titles to Track.”

“It’s Angelina Jolie as you’ve never heard her before. The Oscar-winner gives her first performance in French,” Variety noted of “Couture,” sold by HanWay Films, with UTA Independent Film Group repping North American rights.

Predictions of sales interest has already been born just before Toronto when Hanway announced major market pre-sales including India/Pakistan with Lionsgate Play, Italy with Plaion Pictures Italy, Spain with Avalon and Latin America with Synapse Distribution. Pathé will distribute “Couture” in France.

Jolie joins Jennifer Lawrence who will pick up a career achievement Donostia Award, San Sebastian’s highest honor, on Sept. 26.

Also expected are Colin Farrell, for Edward Berger’s Macau-set “Ballad of a Small Player,” and Matt Dillon, for Claire Denis’ “The Fence,” plus a litany of auteurs, taking in Juliette Binoche (for directorial debut, “In-I In Motion”), Richard Linklater (“Nouvelle Vague”), Olivier Assayas (“The Wizard of the Kremlin”) and Walter Salles who will accept on this Friday the Fipresci Intl. Critics’ Prize for “I’m Still Here,” voted by Fipresci members as the best film of the last 12 months.