San Sebastián Film Festival 2026 Opens: Jennifer Lawrence Honored

The 74th San Sebastián Film Festival opened on 18 September 2026 and runs through 26 September in the Basque coastal city of Donostia San Sebastián.

The festival is regarded as one of the most important in the world and is one of the few festivals fully accredited as competitive by FIAPF. Each year, over 150,000 spectators and around 5,000 industry professionals travel to the city to see premieres from around the globe and follow the top prizes of European auteur cinema.

Competition and program overview

At the center of the event is the Official Selection at the Kursaal Auditorium, where feature films compete for the Golden Shell (Concha de Oro) and the Silver Shell (Concha de Plata). The program also includes several other sections: New Directors for debut and second features by emerging directors, Horizontes Latinos, a competition for Latin American cinema, Perlak, showcasing highlights of the festival year not yet screened in Spain, and the experimental strand Zabaltegi Tabakalera. Culinary Zinema pairs film screenings with themed gala dinners, while Made in Spain and Zinemira spotlight Spanish and Basque productions, Movies for Kids offers a children's program, and open air screenings take place at the Antonio Elorza Velodrome. The 2026 retrospective is dedicated to filmmaker José Giovanni.

Prizes, guest of honor and venues

The festival's top prize remains the Golden Shell for best film in the Official Selection; the jury and partner organizations also award, among others, the Kutxabank Prize for new directors, worth 50,000 euros, the Make and Mark Horizontes prize and the audience award of the city of Donostia. Since 1986 the festival has also presented the Donostia Award, an honorary prize for outstanding careers; in 2026, Jennifer Lawrence will receive the award at a gala at the Kursaal on 26 September. Screenings take place at several venues across the city, including the Kursaal center with its K1 and K2 halls, the Art Nouveau Teatro Victoria Eugenia, the Teatro Principal, the Cines Príncipe and Antiguo Berri cinemas, the Trueba cinema and the Tabakalera cultural center, home to the Zabaltegi section.

Single tickets start at 8.75 euros; regular K1 screenings cost 8.75 euros in the general zone or 10.50 euros in Zone B. Opening and closing gala tickets at Kursaal K1 range from 80 to 95 euros depending on zone, the Donostia Award gala costs between 50 and 55 euros, and children's screenings are available from as little as 2 euros. Discounts include 25 percent off 8.75 euro tickets when booking ten or more at once, 50 percent off up to two tickets per screening with the Kutxabank Gazte card, and 10 percent off at the box office with the Donostia Kultura card. Tickets are sold through the official festival website and at the Zinemaldi Plaza ticket booths; since tickets cannot be exchanged or refunded, buying early and booking accommodation in San Sebastián in advance is recommended.