Actor Karra Elejalde and the presenter Edurne Ormazabal will be the masters of ceremonies of the 62nd San Sebastian Festival opening gala, to take place on 19 September at 21:00 in the Kursaal Auditorium.
To present the contents of this edition, they will be accompanied by other big names from Spanish cinema: Maribel Verdú, Unax Ugalde, Cayetana Guillén Cuervo, Mireia Gabilondo, Eduard Fernández and Imanol Arias.
During the gala, Denzel Washington will receive the Donostia Award from the director Antoine Fuqua. The two will introduce the opening film, The Equalizer, the latest collaboration between the actor and director who previously worked together on Training Day (2002).
Edurne Ormazabal will return to the stage alongside José Coronado to present the closing gala and awards ceremony on 27 September at 20:30 in the Kursaal Auditorium.
Both galas will once again be directed by Patxi Barco, who was responsible for last year's ceremonies.
Patxi Barco has developed a wide-ranging career in the world of show business and has worked in film, theatre and television. He has written the scripts for and directed programmes for Basque television, including Kaixo 87, La traka, Kaixo 89, Bertan Zoro, and for other channels, such as La bola de cristal (TVE). As a producer, he has been responsible for programmes such as Ciudadanos or the comedy series Jaun ta Jabe, Kilker Dema, Metropolis and Bi eta Bat. He has also directed three shorts and the feature films for the big screen, El final de la noche (At the End of the Night, 2003) – selected for the San Sebastian Festival – and El cazador de dragones (Dragon Hunger, 2010), in addition to the TV movie: Sabin (2011). As a theatre producer and director, he has produced four plays, including: Estás ahí, El apagón, Todo Shakespeare o casi, Club de caballeros, Cueva de ladrones and Por los pelos. He wrote and directed the shows Los Golden en blanco y negro and Los Golden en serio, in addition to the musicals Galipotx, Karabas and Goibel by the Golden Apple Quartet. He also directed and produced the Centenary Gala for the Athletic Club de Bilbao, and wrote the script for and directed the Gala Fun & Serious 2012 at the Campos Eliseos theatre in Bilbao. He currently directs and writes the shows for the vocal company, Demode Quartet.