The San Sebastián International Film Festival (Donostia Zinemaldia) is held every year in the second half of September. It is one of the FIAPF-accredited category A festivals, alongside Cannes, Venice and Berlin, and the most important in the world for Spanish-language cinema. For the city see San Sebastián.
History
Born in 1953 as a film week to extend the tourist season, the festival grew rapidly and in the 1950s and 1960s drew stars such as Alfred Hitchcock, who presented Vertigo there, Audrey Hepburn, Elizabeth Taylor and Bette Davis. Under Franco it was also a window on foreign cinema and one of the few chances to see films censored elsewhere. With democracy it was renewed, becoming a showcase for international art-house cinema and for Spanish and Latin American film (see Spanish cinema).
Awards
- The Golden Shell (Concha de Oro) for best film, and Silver Shells for direction and performance.
- The Donostia Award, for lifetime achievement, given each year to great international actors and directors.
- The New Directors award for first and second films, and Horizontes Latinos, for Latin American cinema.
- The audience award and the Perlak section, with the most acclaimed films from other festivals, Zabaltegi-Tabakalera and Culinary Zinema, devoted to film and food, a fitting idea for the city of pintxos.
Venues
The main screenings are at the Kursaal, Rafael Moneo's glass-cube auditorium at the mouth of the Urumea, and the Victoria Eugenia Theatre, an elegant Belle Époque venue, as well as Tabakalera, a contemporary culture centre in a former tobacco factory, and the city's cinemas. The María Cristina hotel, where the stars stay, is one of the festival's symbols, with fans waiting at the door.
How to attend
Unlike other major festivals, in San Sebastián the public can buy tickets for most screenings, including many premieres. Tickets go on sale online and at box offices a few days before the festival and sell out fast for the most awaited films. During the festival hotels are full and expensive: book well ahead (see accommodation). Between screenings, the pintxo bars of the Parte Vieja are the ideal place to meet film lovers and, sometimes, an actor or two (see eating in San Sebastián).