DAMA, a Spanish intellectual property managing entity, will sponsor the Youth Award at the 72nd edition of the San Sebastian Festival, to run from 20-28 September.  

Registration to sit on the Youth Jury can be made on the Festival website from 1-9 August. Those wishing to sit on the jury must be aged between 18 and 25 years, complete the form and attach a motivational letter, as well as accepting the rules of participation, which require full availability from 19-28 September.

The jury deciding the award will be made up of 150 young people between the ages of 18 and 25 years who will vote for each film after watching it. The ratings and ranking of favourites will be updated daily and can be followed through the official Festival media.

The films competing for the DAMA Youth Award are all those screening in the New Directors section and first or second features by filmmakers presenting their works in Horizontes Latinos. There will be almost twenty films, meaning that those sitting on the jury undertake to watch two or three films every day.

The award will be presented on Saturday 28 September, attended by a representative from DAMA together with a personality from the world of film and a member of the Youth Jury, all of whom will be announced during the Festival.

Although this is the first year that DAMA will have sponsored the Youth Award, its ties to the San Sebastian Festival are long standing. In recent years, for instance, the body has promoted a number of Thought and Discussion round tables and conversations, also having made the most of the event to present DAMA Lola Salvador Screenplay Award.

“At DAMA we are hugely excited to sponsor the DAMA Youth Award at the San Sebastian Festival. This award reflects our commitment to fostering a love of cinema among the new generations. It is also an initiative that helps to awaken and consolidate vocations. We have no doubt that the 150 members of the jury will include future authors who, perhaps in a few years' time, will present their own works at this same Festival”, said the president of DAMA, Virginia Yagüe.

About DAMA

With more than 20 years’ experience, DAMA is the only Spanish body specialised in the collective management of audiovisual rights, having become a reference in the sector thanks to its transparency with respect to amounts collected and their distribution.

It also works to promote and defend audiovisual creation by means of several programmes providing assistance and training.

Presided over by the film and television writer Virginia Yagüe, DAMA has more than 2,800 members and manages the remuneration rights of audiovisual authors (directors and screenwriters) in more than 40 countries.