Actors Johnny Depp and Andrew Garfield, along with actresses Monica Bellucci, Tilda Swinton, Isabelle Huppert, and Pamela Anderson, are set to walk the red carpet at the 72nd San Sebastian International Film Festival, a lineup that highlights the festival’s international reach and star power.
The organizers of Zinemaldia unveiled the list during their official presentation, underscoring the presence of renowned directors such as Paolo Sorrentino, Walter Salles, Jacques Audiard, Mike Leigh, Costa-Gavras, François Ozon, and Dea Kulumbegashvili among others. The edition, which starts in two weeks, promises a blend of premieres, competitions, and celebratory screenings that reflect the festival’s global appeal.
Among the illustrious names confirmed for the Donostia Awards are director Pedro Almodóvar and Australian Actress Cate Blanchett, with Javier Bardem also acknowledged for an award that could not be delivered the previous year due to a Hollywood actors’ strike. The festival’s leadership indicated that the jury details remain pending as they finalize the appointment of the president.
A significant number of cinema figures are expected to visit San Sebastian as part of the Official Section, spanning actors, directors, and producers who will showcase new work and engage with audiences.
Official Section
In this section, Noemí Merlant, Will Sharpe, Jamie Campbell Bower, and Chacha Huang are slated to open the festival with their screening and discussion of Emmanuelle, alongside director Audrey Diwan. The closing feature, Living in the Moment, will be presented by director John Crowley and stars Andrew Garfield in a lead role that has attracted considerable attention.
Gia Coppola and Pamela Anderson will introduce The Last Showgirl, while Joshua Oppenheimer will defend his forthcoming film The Last. Costa-Gavras, Mike Leigh, and Françoise Ozon are also among the directors presenting new projects in the Official Section. Johnny Depp will participate as a director for his second feature, Modi, Three Days, a project about the artist Amedeo Modigliani that will be screened out of competition.
In the Perlak segment, which gathers notable titles from other festivals, Paolo Sorrentino brings Parthenope and Monica Bellucci presents her film about Maria Callas, directed by Yannis Dimolitsas. Walter Salles, Sean Baker, Isabelle Huppert, Mohammad Rasoulof, and Lupita Nyong’o will travel to Donostia to support their Perlak entries. The Golden Shell winner Dea Kulumbegashvili will be featured in Zabaltegi, which recently premiered Abril with strong festival acceptance.
The festival will also host Franco Nero in a retrospective titled Italy of Violence, which explores Italian police cinema and includes the classic The Day of the Owl in which Nero starred in 1968. The San Sebastian red carpet will once again emphasize Spanish cinema, with Pedro Almodóvar’s The Room Next Door joined by Tilda Swinton and a host of Spanish talents including Raúl Arévalo, Juan Diego Botto, Victoria Luengo, and the composer Alberto Iglesias from La Mancha.
The Existence of Spanish Cinema
Patricia Gómez Arnaiz, Úrsula Corberó, Mario Casas, Eduard Fernández, Anna Castillo, Antonio de la Torre, Julián López, Ester Expósito, Greta Fernández, Najwa Nimri, Patrick Criado, Hovik Keuchkerian, Marisa Predes, Verónica Echegui, and Aixa Villagrán are among the many Spanish talents confirmed to attend San Sebastián. The festival will also welcome stage actors and directors such as Pilar Palomero, Albert Serra, Alauda Ruíz de Azúa, and Icíar Bollaín, who competed in the Official Division, with Jon Garaño, Aitor Arregui, Isaki Lacuesta, and Javier Giner contributing their works.
Antón Álvarez, known as C Tangana, will travel to San Sebastián for his directorial debut, supported by the musician who features prominently in The Flamenco Guitar of Yerai Cortés. The festival also announced a new Perlak selection, Apocalypse in the Tropics, by Brazilian cinema artist Petra Costa, which will compete for the City of Donostia Audience Award.
Among the festival’s milestones for this edition, José Luis Rebordinos highlighted the day of support for Argentine cinema amid industry challenges, and he reminded attendees that 2024 marks the 25th anniversary of the Sebastiane Award, which Gehitu awards to films portraying LGBTQI+ realities.