The San Sebastian International Film Festival took place this year between September 18-26. At a time when most festivals have undergone changes, either by postponing or even canceling the editions normally scheduled for this year, or by adapting them to the online environment, José Luis Rebordinos, the festival director, has confirmed San Sebastian’s “commitment” to the film industry in the belief that “festivals are necessary as meeting places at which to exchange experiences”. He also reaffirmed the “unequivocal engagement to show films before a physical audience in film theatres, the best places to watch movies”. “It’s time for us all to return to the cinema”, he proclaimed.

As a sign of solidarity towards festivals and filmmakers, the organizing team of the San Sebastian Festival decided to host 17 productions scheduled to be screened at the Cannes Film Festival, which had to cancel its 2020 edition.

13 feature films have competed for the Golden Shell, the Official Selection being smaller than in previous years, and the president of the Official Jury of the 68th edition of the festival was Italian filmmaker Luca Guadagnino (Call Me by Your Name).

The North American actor Viggo Mortensen received the Donostia Award in recognition of his career, and the big winner of the evening was:

Below is the full list of winners:

Golden Shell for Best Film: Beginning (dir. Dea Kulumbegashvili)

Special Jury Prize: Crock of Gold: A Few Rounds With Shane MacGowan (dir. Julien Temple)

Silver Shell for Best Director: Dea Kulumbegashvili (Beginning)

Silver Shell for Best Actress: Ia Sukhitashvili (Beginning)

Silver Shell for Best Actor: Mads Mikkelsen (Another Round)

Best Screenplay: Dea Kulumbegashvili and Rati Oneli (Beginning)

Best Cinematography: Yuta Tsukinaga (Any Crybabies Around?)

New Directors’ Award: Last Days of Spring (dir. Isabel Lamberti)

New Directors’ Award (Special Mention): Slow Singing (dir. Dong Xingyi)

Latin Horizons Award: Identifying Features (dir. Fernanda Valadez)

Latin Horizons Award (Special Mention): One in a Thousand (dir. Clarisa Navas)

San Sebastian Audience Award: The Father (dir. Florian Zeller)

Audience Award for Best European Film: The Mole Agent (dir. Maite Alberdi)

Zabaltegi-Tabakalera Award: The Metamorphosis of Birds (dir. Catarina Vasconcelos)

Zabaltegi-Tabakalera Award (Special Mention): The Woman Who Ran (dir. Hong Sang-soo)

TVE Another Look Award: Never Rarely Sometimes Always (dir. Eliza Hittman)

TVE Another Look Award (Special Mention): Gull (dir. Kim Mi-jo)

Spanish Cooperation Award: Identifying Features (dir. Fernanda Valadez)

Irizar Basque Film Award: Where is Mikel? (dir. Amaia Merino and Miguel Angel Llamas)

Melissa Antonescu

Writer, photographer and videographer. For Films in Frame she writes news about the latest happenings in the film world and brings to the readers' attention the productions that can be seen at the cinema. When she's not writing articles, she's photographing people in a small studio or searching for new cake recipes.