San Sebastián's competition welcomes four Spanish films

by Alfonso Rivera

23/07/2025 - The new works by Alauda Ruiz de Azúa, José Luis Guerín, Alberto Rodríguez and Aitor Arregi and José Mari Goenaga are set to vie for the Golden Shell

San Sebastián's competition welcomes four Spanish films

Sundays by Alauda Ruiz de Azúa

UPDATE (23 July 2025): The festival has added a fourth Spanish film to the Golden Shell competition: Sundays [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Alauda Ruiz de Azúa
film profile], by Alauda Ruiz de Azúa. The Basque director's follow-up to her awarded first feature Lullaby [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Alauda Ruiz de Azúa
film profile] tells the story of a 17-year-old who announces to her family that she feels increasingly closer to God and is considering embracing the life of a cloistered nun.

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This morning, Madrid played host to the announcement of the 22 Spanish-produced titles (17 features, two shorts and three series) set to take part in the various sections of the 73rd San Sebastián Film Festival, unspooling from 19-27 September.

Almost 25 years after taking home the Special Jury Prize and the FIPRESCI Prize from the gathering, thanks to En construcción, José Luis Guerin (selected for Berlin with his 1984 feature debut, Berta’s Motives, for Cannes with his previous titles Innisfree and Train of Shadows, and for Venice with In the City of Sylvia [+see also:
trailer
film profile] and Guest [+see also:
trailer
film profile]), he returns to the Basque festival’s official competition with his new non-fiction flick, Good Valley Stories [+see also:
film review
interview: José Luis Guerín
film profile], shot in Vallbona, a neighbourhood in Barcelona with a significant percentage of migrants among its population. Alongside this, Jose Mari Goenaga and Aitor Arregi will once again be duking it out for the Golden Shell (as they did previously with Flowers [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile], and the award-winning Giant [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Aitor Arregi and Jon Garaño
film profile] and The Endless Trench [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Aitor Arregi, Jon Garaño an…
film profile]) with Maspalomas [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Aitor Arregi and José Mari …
film profile].

What’s more, Alberto Rodríguez will premiere Los Tigres [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] in competition, a film toplined by Antonio de la Torre and Bárbara Lennie (see the news), which marks the filmmaker’s seventh time taking part in the festival, where he presented 7 Virgins [+see also:
trailer
film profile], Marshland [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Alberto Rodríguez
film profile], Smoke & Mirrors [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Alberto Rodríguez
film profile] and, out of competition, Prison 77 [+see also:
trailer
film profile] and the series The Plague [+see also:
interview: Alberto Rodríguez and Rafae…
series profile] and Offworld [+see also:
trailer
interview: Rodrigo Sorogoyen and Isabe…
series profile]. In addition, at this edition, he will be enjoying a double whammy, as he will present The Anatomy of a Moment [+see also:
series review
series profile], a miniseries about the attempted 1981 coup d’état in Spain, out of competition.

For his part, Agustín Díaz Yanes returns to the festival after picking up the Special Jury Prize with Nobody Will Speak of Us When We’re Dead. Also playing out of competition, his She Walks in Darkness [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] tells the story of a young female member of the Spanish Civil Guard who worked for more than a decade as an undercover agent in the ETA terrorist organisation.

The Special Screenings will include four Spanish titles: the historical drama Karmele, directed by Asier Altuna (Amama (When a Tree Falls) [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Asier Altuna
film profile]), and starring Jone Laspiur and Eneko Sagardoy; Flores para Antonio, a documentary in which Isaki Lacuesta (winner of the Golden Shell with The Double Steps [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] and Between Two Waters [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Isaki Lacuesta
film profile]) and Elena Molina explore the legacy of musician Antonio Flores; and the series Mouths of Sky by Koldo Almandoz (The Deer [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Koldo Almandoz
film profile]), a thriller starring Nagore Aranburu, Josean Bengoetxea and Ramon Agirre, and Fate [+see also:
series review
series profile], helmed by Paco Plaza (The Grandmother [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Paco Plaza
film profile]) and toplined by Óscar Jaenada, Ricardo Gómez and Pablo Guerrero, about a taxi driver-turned-chauffeur for a bullfighter.

As for the New Directors strand, there will be two Spaniards involved: Irati Gorostidi Agirretxe (who took part in the Cannes Critics’ Week with her short film Contadores) will premiere her feature debut, Aro berria [+see also:
film review
film profile], a look at working-class resistance in the Basque Country in the 1970s; and producer, DoP and director José Alayón (Slimane [+see also:
trailer
film profile]) will present his second feature, Dance of the Living [+see also:
film review
interview: José Alayón
film profile], in which he tells of the relationship between a father and daughter following the passing of their wife and mother.

In the Zabaltegi-Tabakalera section, audiences will see three features and a short film with Spanish involvement: A Scary Movie [+see also:
film review
film profile] by Madrid-based Brazilian director Sergio Oksman (On Football [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Sergio Oksman
film profile]), in which a documentary director and his son stay in an abandoned hotel in Lisbon; The Good Sister [+see also:
film review
interview: Sarah Miro Fischer & Marie …
film profile], the feature debut by Sarah Miro Fischer, about a young woman who discovers that her brother has been accused of rape, a movie that premiered in the Berlinale Panorama; The Last Rapture, a non-fiction title helmed by journalist Marta Medina and producer Enrique López Lavigne, focusing on Iván Zulueta, the man behind the cult Spanish film Rapture (1980); and Variations, a short film by Lur Olaizola Lizarralde, a reflection on life and bereavement that is showing out of competition.

Horizontes Latinos will be showing off the queer western The Mysterious Gaze of the Flamingo [+see also:
film review
interview: Diego Céspedes
film profile], the feature debut by Chile’s Diego Céspedes, which scooped the Un Certain Regard Prize at Cannes; as well as the road movie The Message [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Iván Fund
film profile], winner of the Silver Bear Jury Prize at the Berlinale, helmed by Argentina’s Iván Fund.

Among the titles scheduled to unspool in the Velodrome are Rondallas, the new opus by Daniel Sánchez Arévalo (DarkBlueAlmostBlack [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile], Seventeen [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Daniel Sánchez Arévalo
film profile]), about a town in Galicia that resolves to bring the local traditional music group back to life; and the documentary Hasta que me quede sin voz, directed by Mario Forniés and Lucas Nolla, zooming in on musician Leiva.

Lastly, in the Perlak section, viewers can enjoy Sleepless City [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Guillermo Galoe
film profile], with which Guillermo Galoe won the SACD Award in the Cannes Critics’ Week, while the Made in Spain strand will be opened by the feature The Delights of the Garden by Fernando Colomo and the short film Abril, hoy no es invierno by Mabel Lozano.

Here is the Spanish selection announced so far for the main sections:

Competition

Maspalomas [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Aitor Arregi and José Mari …
film profile] – José Mari Goenaga, Aitor Arregi (Spain)
Good Valley Stories [+see also:
film review
interview: José Luis Guerín
film profile] – José Luis Guerín (Spain/France)
Los Tigres [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] – Alberto Rodríguez (Spain)
Sundays [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Alauda Ruiz de Azúa
film profile] - Alauda Ruiz de Azúa (Spain/France)

Out of Competition

She Walks in Darkness [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] – Agustín Díaz Yanes (Spain)
The Anatomy of a Moment [+see also:
series review
series profile] – Alberto Rodríguez (Spain/France) (series)

Special Screenings

Mouths of Sky – Koldo Almandoz (Spain) (series)
Karmele – Asier Altuna (Spain)
Flores para Antonio – Isaki Lacuesta, Elena Molina (Spain)
Fate [+see also:
series review
series profile] – Paco Plaza, Pablo Guerrero (Spain) (series)

New Directors

Dance of the Living [+see also:
film review
interview: José Alayón
film profile]– José Alayón (Spain)
Aro berria [+see also:
film review
film profile] – Irati Gorostidi Aguirretxe (Spain)

Zabaltegi-Tabakalera

The Last Rapture – Marta Medina, Enrique López Lavigne (Spain)
The Good Sister [+see also:
film review
interview: Sarah Miro Fischer & Marie …
film profile] – Sarah Miro Fischer (Germany/Spain)
Variations – Lur Olaizola Lizarralde (Spain) (short film)
A Scary Movie [+see also:
film review
film profile] – Sergio Oksman (Spain/Portugal)