Basque cinema takes over San Sebastian with 31 titles
Thirty-one productions with Basque involvement are screening across the 74th San Sebastian Film Festival, according to The Hollywood Reporter. That spreads Basque work through the selections. The festival runs from 18 to 26 September 2026 in San Sebastian, according to the festival.
The 31 titles comprise 26 feature films, one medium-length film, one short film, two series and one project, according to the festival. Twelve of the 31 are documentaries. Fiction sits alongside factual work, features alongside shorts and series.
David Pérez Sañudo's The Harvester carries the Basque presence in competition, the festival's main competitive line-up. It is one of the Basque-linked titles competing for the festival prizes. The rest play across the other sections.
Nitya López Saitua's debut feature Family Drill screens in the Zinemira section. The film is a co-production with Mubox Studio, which is also distributing it, meaning handling its release into cinemas. It was shot with 10 people over three days in the director's childhood home on the Basque coast, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Small shoots sit beside larger structures of support. The Basque Country offers a 60% production tax rebate, a cash return on money spent locally, rising to 70% for projects shot in Euskera, the Basque language. Basque projects earned a record 45 nominations at this year's Goya Awards, Spain's national film prizes.
Mar Izquierdo is coordinator of Zineuskadi, a non-profit working in the Basque film and television industry. Support also includes Noka Mentoring, a programme promoted by the Basque Government, according to the festival. Both bodies form part of the network around production and talent in the region.
What makes this stand out is the continuity from set to screen. A three-day shoot in a family home reaches the same festival week as a competition title and a run of documentaries. For audiences, this means a single edition offers a full cross-section of what is being made locally.
