A new series We Are Who We Are, (2020) directed by Italian filmmaker Luca Guadagnino, is set to premiere at this year’s San Sebastian film festival.
Guadagnino, well-known for his previous works Call Me By Your Name (2017) and Suspiria (2018), has co-written his latest project with Paolo Giordano and Francesca Manieri, and once again has returned to the country of his birth – Italy.
We Are Who We Are is a coming-of-age story exploring burgeoning sexuality and friendship: it follows Jordan Kristine Seamón and Jack Dylan Grazer playing two teenagers who live on an American military base in Venice.
Grazer, who found success in his role in It (2017) and Shazam (2019), now delves into a more thoughtful project, starring as introverted Fraser, opposite newcomer Seamón, who plays Caitlin – a fellow army child struggling with her gender identity. The trailer for the series suggests parental conflict and a story of first love, and tentative exploration of gender expression by both young characters.
Chloë Sevigny stars at Grazer’s mother, and the cast also includes Alice Braga, Ben Taylor, Corey Knight, Faith Alabi, Francesca Scorsese, Kid Cudi, Sebastiano Pigazzi, Spence Moore II, and Tom Mercier.
Originally, We Are Who We Are was selected for the Directors’ Fortnight programme at Cannes, but the Coronavirus pandemic prevented this from happening. However, San Sebastian will screen all eight episodes of the series, and HBO will be airing the first two on the 14th September.
Alongside the news that We Are Who We Are will be premiering at San Sebastian, more additions have been made to the line-up, such as ‘Wuhai’, directed by Chinese director Ziynag Zhou. This completes the 12-film line-up competing for the Golden Shell at this year’s festival. Despite the recent surge in COVID-19 cases, organisers plan on going ahead with the festival on the 18th September until the 26th. Despite enforcing a strict lockdown earlier in the year, the number of cases has risen to a much higher number than in Italy and Germany.