Spanish Film Festivals

Film Festival in San Sebastian

The International Film Festival in San Sebastian, Spain is the most prestigious festival in Spain and, in addition, one of the most important festivals in Europe, because of the leading films presented there and their international impact. It is the only film festival in Spain that is considered an A category event, one of only 13 in the entire world! The festival is held in Donostia-San Sebastian, one of the most beautiful northern cities in Spain, located on the coast of the Basque Country region. During this period, the city hosts well-known movie stars such as, Robert De Niro, Richard Gere, Michael Douglas, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Mel Gibson, Demi Moore, Naomi Watts and Brad Pitt and great directors such as Roman Polansky, Francis Ford Coppola and Pedro Almodovar.

The official awards for the San Sebastian Film Festival are: Golden Shell for Best Film, Silver Shell for Best Director, Silver Shell for Best Actress, Silver Shell for Best Actor , Special Jury Prize, Jury Prize for Best Cinematography, Jury Prize for Best Screenplay.

Film festival in Málaga

The film festival in Málaga is only for Spanish cinema and thus is not internationally oriented. The official name of the event is "Festival de Málaga Cine Español (FMCE)," and it has been carrying the Spanish film industry since 1998. As most know, Málaga is the hometown of the famous, international actor Antonio Banderas; one of the reasons the city has such a strong connection to Spanish film. Official awards of this festival are: the Golden and Silver Bignagas for Best Film, Best Director, Best Actress, Best Actor, Best Music, Best Cinematography et cetera. In recent editions, the festival also admits Latin American Spanish-language films in the Territorio Latinoamericano (literally: Latin American Territory) section. The result of admitting Latin American films is a renovated boost in Spain of this lesser-known film sector as well as the sharing of ideas between the two.

Sitges Festival

Besides the famous film festivals in Málaga and of course San Sebastian, Sitges in the autonomous state of Catalonia also has a film festival: 'El Festival de Cinema Fantàstic de Sitges / Catalunya'. It is one of the most famous film festivals. The Sitges festival first took place in 1967 in, how could it be otherwise, Sitges; a tourist city on the Mediterranean Sea, 40 km away from Barcelona. Sitges is a great place for all film lovers to admire the best new and upcoming films in special screenings. In past editions, the festival received as many as 50,000 spectators! Throughout the festival, some of the most famous directors, producers and actors have shared their new work. Some of the big names that have walked the red carpet of the Sitges Film Festival are: Vin Diesel, Tony Curtis, Guillermo del Toro, Jeroen Krabbé, Eli Roth, Joanna Cassady, Julia Adams, Guy Maddin, David Cronenberg and many more! In addition, these important films, among others, proudly celebrated their debut at this festival: Brotherhood of the Wolf (2001), The Bourne Identity (2002), Kill Bill (2003), The Holy Mountain (1973), Mulholland Drive (2001), and many others. The film festivals in Spain put Spain on the map!