A long list of prestigious filmmakers, actors, screenwriters and producers have confirmed their presence in San Sebastian for the 70th anniversary of the Festival, whose official jury will be presided over by the actress Glenn Close. In addition to Juliette Binoche and David Cronenberg, who will collect the edition's Donostia Awards, Penélope Cruz (En los márgenes / On the Fringe), Ricardo Darín (Argentina, 1985), Kazuo Ishiguro (Living), Vicky Krieps (Corsage), Diane Kruger and Liam Neeson (Marlowe), Noémie Merlant and Nahuel Pérez Biscayart (Un año, una noche / One Year, One Night), Hannah Schygulla (Peter von Kant) and Olivia Wilde (Don't Worry Darling), among other figures, will come to the city to present their films.
Some of the biggest moviemakers on the contemporary filmmaking scene will come to San Sebastian to accompany their latest productions, including Sebastián Lelio (The Wonder), Ulrich Seidl with the actor Georg Fiedrich (Sparta), Hong Sangsoo (Walk Up), Wang Chao (A Woman) and Christophe Honoré, together with actors Vincent Lacoste and Paul Kircher (Le Lycéen / Winter Boy) who compete for the Golden Shell at the Official Section, which will be closed by Neil Jordan (Marlowe). French cinema will also be represented by the filmmaker Claire Denis (Avec amour et acharnement / Both Sides of the Blade), the director, actor and screenwriter Louis Garrel (L'innocent / The Innocent), François Ozon (Peter von Kant) and Thomas Salvador (La montagne / The Mountain). Other representatives of European cinema will take to the red carpet or attend the talks with the public, such as Cristian Mungiu (R.M.N.) and the Dardenne brothers (Tori et Lokita / Tori and Lokita).
After the pandemic, Asian cinema will once again enjoy widespread presence at the Festival. In addition to Wang Chao and Hong Sangsoo, who will be accompanied by the actors Song Sunmi, Cho Yunhee and Kwon Haehyo, this year will see the return of the Donostia Awardwinner Hirokazu Koreeda (Broker). The team of the film Hyakka / A Hundred Flowers (its director Genki Kawamura, the actor Masaki Suda and the actress Mieko Harada), and by the directors Erik Shirai (Nowhere To Go But Everywhere) and Takayuki Fukata (Naname no rouka / Itchan and Satchan) will also attend.
Latin American cinema will have very widespread representation: Santiago Mitre (Argentina, 1985), Diego Lerman (El suplente / The Substitute) with actors Juan Minujín and Alfredo Castro, Laura Mora (Los reyes del mundo / The Kings of the World), Manuel Abramovich (Pornomelancolía), Santiago Loza (Amigas en un camino de campo / Friends on a Country Road), Natalia Beristain (Ruido / Noise), Andrés Di Tella (Diarios / Diaries), Diego Céspedes (Las criaturas que se derriten bajo el sol / Les créatures qui fondent au soleil), Patricio Guzmán (Mi país imaginario / My Imaginary Country), Manuela Martelli (1976), Carolina Markowicz (Carvão / Charcoal), Laura Baumeister (La hija de todas las rabias / Daughter of Rage), Natalia López Gallardo (Manto de gemas / Robe of Gems), Juan Pablo González, with the actress Teresa Sánchez (Dos estaciones), Valentina Maurel (Tengo sueños eléctricos / I Have Electric Dreams) and Ana Cristina Barragán (La piel pulpo / Octopus Skin) will visit San Sebastian.
The list of directors, actors, screenwriters and producers from the world of Spanish film coming to San Sebastian is never-ending. In the Official Selection, the opening film, Modelo 77 / Prison 77, will be accompanied by Alberto Rodríguez and Rafa Cobos together with Javier Gutiérrez, Miguel Herrán, Jesús Carroza, Fernando Tejero and Catalina Sopelana; for Suro, Vicky Luengo, Pol López and Ilyass El Ouahdani will accompany Mikel Gurrea; coming to present Girasoles silvestres / Wild Flowers are Jaime Rosales with Anna Castillo, Oriol Pla, Carolina Yuste and Manolo Solo; Pilar Palomero will present La Maternal together with Ángela Cervantes and Carla Quílez; La consagración de la primavera / The Rite of Spring will see the presence of Fernando Franco, Valèria Sorolla, Telmo Irureta and Emma Suárez; Isabel Coixet will attend with the protagonists of El sostre groc; and the five directors and several of the actors in the series Apagón / Offworld will attend: Rodrigo Sorogoyen, Raúl Arévalo, Isa Campo, Alberto Rodríguez, Isaki Lacuesta, Patricia López Arnaiz, María Vázquez, Ainhoa Santamaría, Miguel Fernández and Luis Callejo.
Sorogoyen (As Bestas / The Beasts, with Isabel Peña, Luis Zahera and Diego Anido) and Lacuesta and Campo (Un año, una noche / One Year, One Night, with Noémie Merlant, Nahuel Pérez Biscayart and Natalia de Molina) will also attend their screenings in Perlak. Juan Diego Botto will present his directorial debut, En los márgenes / On the Fringe with Luis Tosar and the Donostia Awardwinner Penélope Cruz, who will collect the National Cinematography Award on the Saturday; and Oriol Paulo will do the same with Los Renglones torcidos de Dios / God's Crooked Lines, accompanied by Bárbara Lennie, Eduard Fernández and Loreto Mauleón (who also stars in Gelditasuna ekaitzean / Stillness in the Storm, the film screening in the Basque Cinema Gala).
In Zabaltegi-Tabakalera, Elena López Riera will present El agua / The Water accompanied by Luna Pamies, Nieve de Medina and, once again, Bárbara Lennie; and the director and screenwriter of Cerdita / Piggy, Carlota Pereda, will be accompanied by Laura Galán, Richard Holmes, Pilar Castro and Claudia Salas.
Travelling to San Sebastian for the two RTVE galas with Historias para no contar / Stories Not to Be Told are the director Cesc Gay together with Chino Darín, Verónica Echegui, Javier Rey and Nora Navas, and, for Las paredes hablan / The Walls Can Talk, the filmmaker Carlos Saura. Coming to present the series Fácil, the Movistar Plus+ Gala premiere, are its creator Anna R. Costa with the actors Natalia de Molina (also in Un año, una noche / One Year, One Night), Anna Marchessi and Carolina Coria Castillo. In Zinemira, the director Alauda Ruiz de Azúa will present her debut, Cinco lobitos, accompanied by the actress Susi Sánchez.
In Made in Spain, Carla Simón (Alcarrás) -who will also present the short film Carta a mi madre para mi hijo / Letter to My Mother for My Son- and Albert Serra (Tourment sur les îles / Pacifiction) will present their films to the public, Marta Etura and Francesc Garrido will accompany Joan-Marc Zapata for the premiere of El color del cielo; the actors Daniel Grao and Ricardo Gómez will do the same with the director Carlota González-Adrio for the presentation of La casa entre los cactus / The House Among the Cactuses; and the musicians Alejo Stivel and Ariel Rot will tell the tale of Tequila: sexo, drogas y rock and roll, the documentary directed by Álvaro Longoria.
The films screening in the Velodrome will also have a strong musical component: Sintiéndolo mucho will bring Joaquín Sabina and Leiva to San Sebastian together with the director, Fernando León de Aranoa; Fermin Muguruza will be escorted by Ariadna Gil, Antonio de la Torre, Itziar Ituño, Darko Peric and María Cruickshank to premiere Black is Beltza II: Ainhoa; and Paco León will have the company of Dora Postigo, Carmen Maura, Carmen Machi, Luis Bermejo, Ayax Pedrosa, Wekaforé and Hovik Keuchkerian to present Rainbow.
The programme will be published on the Festival website, app and in the local press on Monday 5, and the Film-by-Film Guide will be available from Wednesday 7. On Sunday 11, tickets will go on sale at 9:00, both via the online system and at the Zinemaldi Plaza ticket desks in the basement of the Kursaal, which return this edition. Like last year, Like last year, on Sunday 11 tickets can be purchased for the first three days of the Festival (Friday 16, Saturday 17 and Sunday 18), and on Monday 12, those corresponding to Monday 19, Tuesday 20 and Wednesday 21, and so on.
Tickets for the three films screening at the Velodrome (Sintiéndolo mucho, Rainbow and Black is Beltza II: Ainhoa) have been on sale since August 16 and, since yesterday, September 1, for the opening (Friday 16) and closing (Saturday 24) galas and for the Juliette Binoche and David Cronenberg Donostia Award galas (on Sunday 18 and Wednesday 21, respectively).
The press conference of the 70th edition has served as a framework for the presentation of the new Festival theme tune, created by the composers Aranzazu Calleja and Maite Arroitajauregi.
The Official Selection jury will be presided over by the Donostia Awardwinner Glenn Close, lead character in Fatal Attraction, Dangerous Liaisons, Albert Nobbs (Official Selection, 2011) and The Wife (Official Selection closing film, 2017) nominated for an Academy Award eight times. Accompanying her in the deliberations are the casting director and filmmaker Antoinette Boulat (France), the director and screenwriter Tea Lindeburg (Denmark), the producer Matías Mosteirín (Argentina), the author and journalist Rosa Montero (Spain), the filmmaker and visual artist Lemohang Jeremiah Mosese (Lesotho) and the director and screenwriter Hlynur Pálmason (Iceland).