The San Sebastian International Film festival is the largest film event of Spain, and one of the 14 a-list festivals on the globe. It has become a regular (and keenly awaited) fixture on our calendar since we first attended it in 2021. This year, the Festival’s programme consisted of approximately 200 films divided into seven competitive sections (Official Selection, New Directors, Horizontes Latinos, Zabaltegi-Tabakalera, Perlak, Culinary Zinema and Nest) and six non-competitive sections (Made in Spain, Zinemira, Velodrome, Movies for Kids, Retrospective and Klasikoak).

San Sebastian is the capital of the Gipuzkoa region of the Basque country, as well as one of the world’s culinary capitals and a top tourist destination (particularly after people learnt that the city and the region became a major Game of Thrones filming location). The streets of the city are packed with locals and tourists alike, and countless restaurants and bars serving pintxos, the elaborate, portion-size servings associated with the autonomous region of Spain. The weather is mostly sunny and generous, with the nearby Concha beach serving those keen to don a bikini and catch the sun. Just be prepared for the occasional rain (often combined with massive windstorms). The Festival remains one of the most punctual and well-organised ones (late-comers are strictly turned away), with most screenings completely sold-out, and enthusiastic crowds that religiously clap at the beginning of each screening as the festival logo rolls.

The big winner this year was Albert Serra’s Afternoons of Solitude (pictured above), which our editor Victor Fraga describes as “the most disturbing viewing” of his life. This entirely observational documentary follows the routine of a Peruvian bullfighter in Spain as he brutally and sadistically murders countless bulls, to cheering crowds. Victor wrote of the filthy genius movie, which he viewed as a call to action: “anyone with a scintilla of humaneness will leave the cinema with the urge to set fire to the nearest bullring“. The Jury Prize (the event’s second highest award) went to The Last Showgirl, Gia Coppola’s “well-worn” comment on ageism in the entertainment industry (featuring Pamela Anderson).

One topic was very prominent in the event’s Official Competition, with four films dealing with terminal cancer: Costa-Gavras’s devastatingly beautiful Last Breath, epic and gorgeously-shot Chinese drama Bound in Heaven (Xin Huo; pictured above), Pilar Palomero’s finely acted and superbly humanistic Glimmers, and Britain’s very unusual romcom We Live in Time (by John Crowley, featuring Andrew Garfield and Florence Pugh). I don’t think this was intentional, however the coincidence is very peculiar, and merits a mention.

Another interesting fact is that the main strand contained an unusually high number of British films (also four in total): Laura Carreira’s filthy genius social realist On Falling, Edward Berger’s papal intrigue drama Conclave, Mike Leigh’s “bitter wife, mum and sister from hell” Hard Truths, and We Live in Time.

The extra-official Wooden Shell for least sexy, funny and witty film went undisputed to the event’s opening feature, Audrey Diwan’s ultra-processed, insipid and indigestive Emmanuelle.

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The winners

Here is the tip of the iceberg (the winners from the main selection, and a few other ones, all reviewed exclusively for you):

• Golden Shell for Best Film: Albert Serra’s Afternoons of Solitude;
• Jury Prize: Gia Coppola’s The Last Showgirl;
• Silver Shell for Best Director Ex Aequo (1): Laura Carreira’s On Falling;
• Silver Shell for Best Director Ex Aequo (2): Pedro Martin-Calero’s The Wailing;
• Silver Shell for Best Cinematography: Xin Huo’s Bound in Heaven;
• Silver Shell for Best Lead Performance: Patricia Lopez Arnaiz, in Pilar Palomero’s Glimmers;
• Silver Shell for Best Supporting Performance: Pierre Lottan, in Francois Ozon’s When Fall is Coming;
• Silver Shell for Best Screenplay: Francois Ozon’s When Fall is Coming (written by the director himself);
• Sebastiane LGBT+ Prize: Lola Arias’s Reas;
• Horizons Award: Luiz Ortega’s Kill the Jockey;
• City of Donostia Audience Award: Mohamad Rasoulof’s The Seed of the Sacred Fig;
• Irizar Basque Film Award: Carmen Chaplin’s Chaplin: Spirit of the Tramp; and
• Otra Mirada (Another Look) Award: Payal Kapadia’s All We Imagine as Light.

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Our dirty picks

Our editor’s dirty pick this year were (all of them except for Costa-Gavras and Salvador del Solar left the event with major prizes):

• Costa-Gavras’s Last Breath;
• Salvador del Solar’s Ramon y Ramon (pictured above);
• Serra’s Afternoons of Solitude;
• Carreira’s On Falling; and
• Mohamad Rasoulof’s The Seed of the Sacred Fig.

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Click here for the full coverage of this year’s event, including all 28 pieces (27 reviews and this article).