The 73rd San Sebastian Film Festival announces its 2025 award winners

According to the report of Mansour Jahani, an independent and international cinema journalist, the closing ceremony of the 73rd San Sebastian International Film Festival, headed by José Luis Rebordinos and the actress Itsaso Arana, the actor Óscar Lasarte presented in the Kursaal Hall in San Sebastian, Spain, and on behalf of the jury members of this prestigious film event; the winners of different Competition sections are announced and the “Golden Oyster” and “Silver Oyster” awards were presented to them.

The jury members of the Main Competition of the 73rd San Sebastian International Film Festival were; the Spanish filmmaker J.A. Bayona - President of the jury, the Portuguese filmmaker Laura Carreira, the American director Gia Coppola, the Chinese actress Zhou Dongyu, the Argentinian singer and actor Lali Espósito, the English actor Mark Strong and the French producer Anne-Dominique Toussaint; they announced their votes as follows:

The Golden Shell Award, to: “Sundays” by Alauda Ruiz de Azúa (Spain, France).

The special prize of the jury, to: “Good Valley Stories” by José Luis Guerin (Spain, France).

The Silver Shell award for best director, to: Joachim Lafosse for directing the “Six Days in Spring” (Belgium, France, Luxembourg).

The Silver Shell award for the best Leading Performance, to: Jose Ramon Soroiz for “Maspalomas” directed by Jose Mari Goenaga and Aitor Arregi (Spain).

The Silver Shell award for the best Leading Performance, to: Zhao Xiaohong (Txina) for “Her Heart Beats in Its Cage” directed by Qin Xiaoyu (China). 

The Silver Shell award for the best supporting Performance, to: Camila Plaate for “Belén” directed by Dolores Fonzi (Argentina).

The Jury Prize for Best Screenplay, to Joachim Lafosse, Chloé Duponchelle and Paul Ismaël for the script “Six Days in Spring” (Belgium, France, Luxembourg).

The Jury Award for Best Cinematography, to: Pau Esteve for the cinematography of “Los Tigres” (Spain, France).

The members of the jury of the New Directors Award, which were; Marco Müller, producer and programmer (Italy) - President of the jury, Beatriz Arias, filmmaker (Chile), Isabella Eklöf, director and screenwriter (Sweden), Charlène Favier, director, screenwriter and producer (France)

And Elsa Fernández Santos, film critic (Spain); they announced their votes as follows:

The best director award, to: Emilie Thalund for directing the “Weightless” (Denmark).

The jury special mention, to: Irati Gorostidi Agirretxe for directing the “Aro berria” (Spain).

The jury members of the Horizontes Make & Mark Award at the 73rd San Sebastian International Film Festival were; Pilar Palomero, director (Spain) - President of the jury, Christoph Friedel, producer (Germany) and Tatiana Leite, producer (Brazi) they announced their votes as follows:

The Horizontes Make & Mark award, to: “A Poet” by Simón Mesa Soto (Colombia, Germany, Sweden).

Special Mention, to: “The Ivy” by Ana Cristina Barragán (Ecuador, Mexico, France, Spain)

Special Mention, to: “A Loose End” by Daniel Hendler (Uruguay, Argentina, Spain).

The jury members of the avant-garde and experimental Zabaltegi-Tabakalera Award, which were; Yaël Fogiel, producer (France) - President of the jury, Xabier Arakistain, art curator (Spain) and Line Langebek Knudsen, screenwriter (Denmark); they announced their votes as follows:

The avant-garde and experimental Zabaltegi-Tabakalera Award, to: “The Ice Tower” by Lucile Hadzihalilovic (France, Germany) 

'Coup de Coeur' to: “Two Times João Liberada” by Paula Tomás Marques (Portugal)

Special Mention, to: “Blue Heron” by Sophy Romvari (Canada, Hungary).

The International Federation of Film Critics “FIPRESCI” Award, to: “Sundays” by Alauda Ruiz de Azúa (Spain, France).

The City of Donostia Award / San Sebastián Award decided by the audience of the Perlak section, went to “The Voice of Hind Rajab” by Kaouther Ben Hania (Tunisia, France).

The Audience Award for Best European Film was carried off by the animated film “Little Amélie or the Character of Rain” by Directors: Mailys Vallade and Liane-Cho Han (France).

The DAMA Youth Award, to “The Mysterious Gaze of the Flamingo” the debut film by Diego Céspedes (Chile, France, Germany, Spain, Belgium).

During the 73rd San Sebastian international film festival, world-renowned cinematographers including; Pedro Almodóvar, Angelina Jolie, Esther García, Jennifer Lawrence, Juliette Binoche, Paul Dano, Harris Dickinson, Matt Dillon, Colin Farrell, Denis Lavant, Maria de Medeiros, Ron Perlman, Renate Reinsve, Stellan Skarsgard, etc were present and filmmakers such as Olivier Assayas, Edward Berger, Arnaud Desplechin, Claire Denis, Lucile Hadzihalilovic, Agnieszka Holland, Richard Linklater, Kleber Mendonça Filho, Jafar Panahi, Raoul Peck, Walter Salles, Joachim Trier and Rebecca Zlotowski presented their films to the public and the media.

Spanish film producer Esther García, won the prestigious Donostia Lifetime Achievement Award from at the 73rd San Sebastian International Film Festival received. "Thank you for opening up the Donostia Award to production, a discipline that receives scant attention", said Esther García on accepting the festival's most prestigious honorary award from Pedro and Agustín Almodóvar, who founded the El Deseo company 40 years ago.

American actress Jennifer Lawrence received the prestigious Donostia Lifetime Achievement Award at the 73rd San Sebastian International Film Festival And in short words, she said: “When I think about the artists who have received this honour before me - like the incomparable Meryl Streep, the legendary Pedro Almodovar, and the iconic Lauren Bacall - I feel so incredibly fortunate and frankly awestruck.  To be counted among artists whose contributions and bold choices have shaped cinema and inspired me personally and creatively my entire life, it’s almost impossible to wrap my head around it.  It’s incredibly special. Thank you”. 

The 73rd San Sebastian International Film Festival will screen 254 films from 56 countries in various sections, including; the Main Competition, Donostia Award Screening, the New Directors, the Horizontes Make & Mark, the Zabaltegi-Tabakalera, the Perlak (A selection of the year’s best feature films, as yet unreleased in Spain, which have received critical acclaim and/or awards at other international festivals), Nest competition (short films by film students), the Culinary Zinema competition, Loterías Short films competition, the Eusko Label micro-shorts competition, the Zinemira (films produced in the Basque Government of Spain), the Made in Spain, the Velodrome, the Movies for kids, Klasikoak, Retrospective, the On the Other Island, the FIPRESCI Award (International Federation of Film Critics), Surprise film section, the EITB Gala, the RTVE Galas, discussion with directors and actors, specialized film meetings, etc was held in September 19 to 27, 2025, in San Sebastian, Spain.