This year, the Sebastiane Award celebrates its 15th year at the San Sebastian Festival; fifteen years of endeavouring to present its award to the production that best reflects the realities, freedoms and social progress made by LGBTI people.

This collective and its particularities have remained hidden for years in both society and cinema. Today awards such as the Sebastiane at the leading Film Festivals seek to turn the spotlight on films that lend visibility to the LGBTI worlds. Productions of an increasingly excellent cinematic quality every year.

Along with the Sebastiane Award, we will present the 2nd Sebastiane Latino. This award, in keeping with San Sebastian Festival's line of supporting Latin American cinema, chooses the best Latin LGBTI film of the year. The film by Brazil's Karim Aïnouz, Praia do Futuro, will receive the Award on September 20 and can be seen in the Horizontes Latinos section.

Among the films shortlisted for the XV Sebastiane Award are hallowed filmmakers alongside new directors. The candidates are:

• UNE NOVELLE AMIE – François Ozon - FRANCE (Official Selection)
• LOS TONTOS Y LOS ESTÚPIDOS – Roberto Castón - SPAIN (New Directors)
• PRAIA DO FUTURO – Karim Aïnouz – BRAZIL-GERMANY (Horizontes Latinos)
• PASOLINI – Abel Ferrara – FRANCE-ITALY-BELGIUM (Pearls)
• FELICE CHI È DIVERSO – Gianni Amelio - ITALY (Zabaltegi)
• LOVE IS STRANGE – Ira Sachs – USA (Pearls)
• LIMBO – Anna Sofie Hartmann - GERMANY (New Directors)

We would like to mention three works that can be seen in the interesting Eastern Promises retrospective on films produced since 2000 in the countries that lived under Soviet influence. Ever since the Berlin Wall came down, these countries have experienced profound political, social and cultural changes. In many of them, instead of the "promises" of freedom, the homosexual collective has suffered a situation of repression and intolerance. We therefore recommend three of the films on this subject that did not compete for the Sebastiane Award:

• FINE MRTVE DJEVOJKE / FINE DEAD GIRLS– Dalibor Matanic – CROATIA - 2002
• KLASS / THE CLASS– Ilmar Raag – ESTONIA - 2007
• DUPA DEALURI / BEYOND THE HILLS – Cristian Mungiu – ROMANIA - FRANCE - BELGIUM - 2012

We also recommend the retrospective on Dorothy Arzner, the first woman director in Hollywood's golden age. A lesbian. Director of films with particular focus on female characters that questioned traditional sexual roles and the part played by women in society.

We would like to thank all of those who, over these 15 years, have worked selflessly on a project intended to create a better society, taking advantage of the "window" of cinema, and of the traditional frame offered by a prestigious Festival such as San Sebastian.

Gehitu