The actors Johnny Depp and Andrew Garfield and the actresses Monica Bellucci, Tilda Swinton, Isabel Huppert and Pamela Anderson will be some of the stars who will walk the red carpet of the 72nd edition of the San Sebastian International Film Festival.
The Zinemaldia announced this Friday, at the official presentation ceremony, the names of the most famous performers who have confirmed their attendance at this edition, which begins in two weeks, in addition to those of directors such as Paolo Sorrentino, Walter Salles, Jaques Audiard, Mike Leigh, Costa-Gavras, François Ozon and Dea Kulumbegashvili, inter alia.
These illustrious names join the already confirmed presences of the Donostia Awards: the director Pedro Almodovar and the Australian actress Cate Blanchett, in addition to Javier Bardemwho will collect the award he received last year on September 20, when it could not be presented due to the Hollywood actors’ strike.
The organization of the Zinemaldia still has not disclosed the composition of the jury because, as its director, José Luis Rebordinos, has commented, they have not finished closing their president.
Many of the film stars who will visit San Sebastian are taking part in the Official Section.
Official Section
This is the case of Noemí Merlant, Will Sharpe, Jamie Campbell Bower and Chacha Huang, who, with director Audrey Diwan, will open the festival with their review of ‘Emmanuelle’.
The closure, ‘Live the moment‘ will be presented by its director, John Crowley, and its leading actor, the popular Andrew Garfield.
Director Gia Coppola and actress Pamela Anderson will arrive with ‘The Last Showgirl’ and Joshua Oppenheimer will personally defend his film ‘The End’.
Directors Costa-Gavras, Mike Leigh and Françoise Ozon will also be presenting their latest works in the Official Section, as well as Johnny Depp, who is not attending as an actor but as the director of his second film, ‘Modi, three days on the wing of madness’, the film about Amedeo Modigliani that is being screened out of competition.
The Perlak sectionwhich brings together the best of other festivals, also attracts a good number of prestigious names from world cinema, such as Paolo Sorrentino, who arrives with ‘Parthenope’ and Monica Bellucci, who will present the work on Maria Callas directed by Yannis Dimolitsas.
Walter Salles, Sean Baker, Isabelle Huppert, Mohammmad Rasoulof and Lupita Nyong’o will also travel to Donostia to present their films, which will be screened in this section.
Golden Shell winner Dea Kulumbegashvili will be visiting Zabaltegi to present ‘April’, which recently premiered with great success at the Venice Film Festival.
The famous actor Franco Nero will be at the Zinemaldia to present the retrospective ‘Violent Italy. Italian crime films’, a cycle that includes ‘The Day of the Owl’, which he starred in in 1968.
Spanish cinema, as usual, will have a strong presence on the red carpet in San Sebastian. Pedro Almodóvar and his ‘The room next door‘ He will be accompanied by one of its leading actors, Tilda Swinton, and part of the national cast – Raúl Arévalo, Juan Diego Botto and Victoria Luengo – as well as the usual composer of the director from La Mancha’s films, Alberto Iglesias.
Presence of Spanish cinema
Patricia Gómez Arnaiz, Ursula Corbero, Mario Casas, Eduard Fernandez, Anna Castillo, Antonio de la Torre, Julian Lopez, Ester Exposito, Greta Fernandez, Najwa Nimri, Patrick Criado, Hovik Keuchkerian, Marisa Predes, Veronica Echegui and Aixa Villagran are some of the actors and actresses from the Spanish scene who will be attending San Sebastian, as well as directors such as Pilar Palomero, Albert Serra, Alauda Ruiz de Azua and Iciar Bollain -who are competing in the Official Section-, Jon Garaño, Aitor Arregui, Isaki Lacuesta and Javier Giner, among others.
Anton Alvarez, better known as C Tangana will also pass through the capital of San Sebastian with his debut as a director alongside the musician who stars in ‘Yerai Cortés’ Flamenco Guitar’.
The festival announced this Friday a new title from Perlak, ‘Apocalypse in the tropics’, by Brazilian director Petra Costa, which will compete for the City of Donostia Audience Award.
Among the main milestones of this 72nd edition, Rebordinos has mentioned the celebration of a day of Support for Argentine cinema “in view of the dismantling of its industry that is taking place by the Government” of that country.
He also recalled that 2024 marks the 25th anniversary of the establishment of the Sebastiane Prize, which is awarded by the Gehitu association to the film that best reflects the reality of the LGTBi+ community.
