SSIFF, San Sebastian International Film Festival

The San Sebastián International Film Festival is one of the world's leading cinema events and the defining cultural happening of San Sebastián (Donostia / San Sebastián). Each year, hundreds of films are presented across its various sections: the Official Section, New Directors (Nuevos Directores), Perlas, Culinary Cinema and Zabaltegi-Tabakalera, among others. The festival's top distinction is the Golden Shell (Concha de Oro), awarded to the best feature film in the Official Section.

Over its decades, the festival has drawn some of the most important names in cinema history: Federico Fellini, Alfred Hitchcock, Audrey Hepburn, Jean-Luc Godard, Sophia Loren, Luis Buñuel, François Truffaut, Agnès Varda and Orson Welles, among many others, have all come through San Sebastián. Each edition also awards the honorary Premio Donostia, recognising exceptional careers in film.

During the festival, international stars mingle daily with locals and visitors, turning the city into a distinctive meeting point between cinema and its audiences.