Thought and Discussion, is San Sebastian Festival’s cross-cutting area that seeks to respond to the challenges facing international film festivals and contemporary cinematic culture by means of proposals running throughout the year, will organise a programme composed of conversations, masterclasses and work sessions at the 70th edition. The strategic subjects addressed this year include a number of aspects related to cinematic creation, the defence of equality and gender diversity, environmental and labour sustainability in the film industry and the impact of new technologies on the audiovisual landscape.

Takes on contemporary creation

Consolidating the path opened two years ago, the Conversations section will propose two meetings promoted by DAMA, audiovisual authors’ rights management entity, in order to take a closer look at the work and creative universes of contemporary artists. On the one hand, on September 19 at 16:00, the Tabakalera cinema will host a talk by the Catalan moviemaker Isabel Coixet, whose documentary El sostre groc screens this year in an Official Selection special screening, and who will reflect on her extensive cinematic career. In collaboration with the Literaktum Festival, that same day the Okendo Cultural Centre will provide the setting at 19:00 for a conversation to explore the relations between cinema and literature by the Argentinian writer Selva Almada, member of the Horizontes Latinos jury and whose work has been closely connected to the work of directors including Lucrecia Martel.  

The Conversations programme will be rounded off with five masterclasses programmed in the framework of Nest, the San Sebastian Festival’s international competition for shorts by film school students. All of these masterclasses will run in the Tabakalera cinema and will take an interdisciplinary look at the contemporary creative scene. 

The feature film El agua / The Water, participating in Zabaltegi-Tabakalera following its premiere at the Quinzaine des Réalisateurs in Cannes, will have its screening on Monday 19, at 11:00, and its director, Elena López Riera, will give a masterclass at which, among other subjects, she will recall her experience in the Ikusmira Berriak programme. On Tuesday 20 at 16:00, the producer Ariadna Dot and Giovanni Pompili, producer and coordinator of the Torino Green Lab, will discuss the environmental sustainability of film shootings and productions based on the study of a film they joined hands to produce, Carla Simón’s Alcarràs, winner of the Golden Bear at the Berlinale and programmed in Made in Spain. On Wednesday 21, at 15:30, the Austrian filmmaker Ruth Beckermann will give a masterclass after the screening of her latest feature movie, Mutzenbacher, also included in Zabaltagi-Tabakalera after winning the Encounters section at the Berlinale. The creation of sound for films will be the subject of the fourth session, on Thursday 22 at 16:00, with a meeting between the composer, electronic music producer and filmmaker Para One (Jean-Baptiste de Laubier) and the musician and composer Aránzazu Calleja, who will reflect on their work at this session in collaboration with BIME. Lastly, on Friday 23, at 11:00, the filmmaker Natalia López Gallardo will give a masterclass following the screening of her latest movie, Manto de gemas / Robe of Gems, screening in the Zabaltegi-Tabakalera programme after receiving the Jury Prize at the Berlinale.

On the other hand, the Press Club will provide the setting on Tuesday 20 at 19:00 for a conversation promoted by DAMA between the film critics Mariona Borrull, Elisa McCausland, Blanca Martínez and Júlia Olmo, the representatives of a new generation of young female critics who are currently innovating with respect to formats, approaches and channels in the field of cinematic thought.

Expanding diversity, audiovisual narratives, festivals and industry

The activities co-organised by Thought and Discussion and the Industry Department will place the accent on matters related to equality, gender diversity and sexual orientation from a cross-cutting point of view including other considerations, such as functional diversity.

The meeting To be continued… what happens after a successful first season?, programmed on Saturday 17 at 16:30 at the Press Club in collaboration with Europa Creativa Desk MEDIA, will take as its basis the analysis of how the series to have enjoyed the greatest public and critical acclaim in Spain are either producing their second season or how their directors are working on other projects. The meeting will open with a round table moderated by the journalist Marta Medina with participation of the creator of Cardo, Ana Rujas, and Anna R. Costa, producer of the original Movistar Plus+ series Fácil / Single, penned to premiere at the Movistar Plus+ Gala. The discussion will come with an additional brief conversation on the work of cast members with functional diversity and their on-screen representation by Anna Marchessi Riera, lead character of Fácil, and Jorge Gonzalo, president and CEO of the Observatory on Diversity in the Audiovisual Media. 

The Meeting of Ibero-American LGTBIQA+ Festivals will host a variety of activities. On the one hand, on Tuesday 20 at 12:00, San Telmo will provide the setting for a round table uniting the filmmaker Albertina Carri, director of Las hijas del fuego / The Daughters of Fire; Bianca Gaytán, Director of Institutional Communication and Press and Head of Residencies at the Cuórum Morelia Festival, and the producer Eugenia Campos Guevara, moderated by the expert in diversity Salima Jirari. This dicussion will give way to a conversation moderated by Pau Brunet, from the production company Amplitud, with moviemakers whose films, selected for this year’s Horizontes Latinos, open a critical exploration of masculinity from the audiovisual narrative: Mariano Biasin, winner of the Sebastiane Latino Award with Sublime, and Claire Charles-Fervais, co-producer of Un varón.   

On the other, that same day the Kutxa Kultur Klub will host a round table at 17:30 on projects which have participated at labs and works in progress at LGTBIQA+ festivals and which have subsequently been selected for non-specialised festivals. The session will be moderated by Jorge Vañó, programmer at FIRE!!, and will have as its speakers Bianca Gaytán together with the filmmakers Adrián Silvestre, director of Mi vacío y yo / My Emptiness and I, and Zaida Carmona, helmer of La amiga de mi amiga / Girlfriends and Girlfriends, both programmed in the Made in Spain section. 

An internal work meeting will also take place during the event at which members of the Festival team will meet representatives of the inter-territorial work group on equality (GTI) and CIMA. This meeting is a continuation of the work sessions at which, since 2021, effective policies have been drawn up on the inclusion of women professionals in the film industry, the ethical codes of festivals and recognition and equality between the different gender identities. 

Contemporary mutations: transformations underway in the film industry, new technologies and financing models

Another part of the Thought and Debate activities will focus on tracking some of the main transformations underway in the film industry. On Saturday 17 at 18:30 the Press Club will host a round table promoted by DAMA for discussion on public-private film festival sponsorship moderated by Juan Antonio Vigar, Director of the Malaga Festival and with the participation of  Inés Monguilot Lasso de la Vega, Director of Marketing, Advertising and Channels at Kutxabank; Jesús Huerta, President of the Sociedad Estatal Loterías y Apuestas del Estado, and Asier Aranbarri, Director of Social Innovation of the 2030 Agenda.

A round table promoted by Europa Distribution will provide the basis for discussion on how to reignite the passion of audiences for diverse, exciting and risk-taking European film. The rendezvous will take place on Monday 19 at 10:00 in San Telmo with speakers Andrei Agudaru, from the Transylvania Festival; Ben Johnson, from the GRUVI platform; Katarzyna Orysiak-Marrison, from the company Gutek, and Anne Vierhout, from Cinema Delicatessen.

On the same day at 13:00, San Telmo will also provide the setting for a round table promoted by the European Producers Club at which the producers Álvaro Longoria, Gudny Hummelvoll and Marco Chimenz will talk about the crisis in the SVOD market and the consequences for the film industry.

On Tuesday 20 at 10:00 in the Function Room of San Telmo Museum, a round table promoted by DAMA will see the filmmaker Roger Gual join producer Marisa Fernández Armenteros to reflect on the transformations introduced to traditional means of audiovisual production by the new digital media. The event will be moderated by Elena Neira, founder of the consultancy firm La otra pantalla.  

Diana Williams, from Kinetic Energy Entertainment, and Elisa Alvares, from Jaracanda Consultants, will participate in a round table on innovation moderated by Wendy Mitchell, UK and Nordic Delegate for the San Sebastian Festival. The event will take place on Wednesday 21 at 13:00 in San Telmo.

As part of the Zinemaldia & Technology programme, on Thursday 22 at 12:30, Tabakalera’s Patio room will host a panel on metaverse, shaping up as one of the main technological trends, with the participation of speakers Maitane Valdecantos, specialist in audiovisual rights and intellectual property; Beatriz Pérez de Vargas, Creative Executive at RTVE, and Kim Magnusson, from the Scandinavian Film Distribution production company. Also within Zinemaldia & Technology on the same day at 18:00, there will be a round table at 2deo on animation with three recognised professionals in the sector: Isabel Herguera, Iván Miñambres and James A. Castillo.

Monday 19, 11:00, Tabakalera cinema. Tickets on sale through the usual Festival channels; festival passholders can use their passes to book tickets by means of the usual system.

Monday 19, 16:00, Okendo Cultural Centre. Organised in collaboration with the Literaktum Festival. Free entry while places last.

Monday 19, 16:00, Tabakalera cinema. Tickets with invitation for the general public can be collected from the Zinemaldi Plaza ticket desk from September 16.

Tuesday 20, 16:00, Tabakalera cinema. Tickets with invitation for the general public can be collected from the Zinemaldi Plaza ticket desk from September 16. Festival pass holders can book through the usual Festival ticket booking system.

Wednesday 21, 15:30, Tabakalera cinema. Tickets on sale through the usual channels; festival pass holders can book through the usual booking system.

Thursday 22, 16:00, Tabakalera cinema. Organised in collaboration with BIME. Tickets with invitation for the general public can be collected from the Zinemaldi Plaza ticket desk from September 16. Festival pass holders can book through the usual Festival ticket booking system.

Friday 23, 11:00, Tabakalera cinema. Tickets on sale through the usual channels; Festival pass holders can book through the usual booking system.

With Ana Rujas and Anna R. Costa. Conversation between Anna Marchessi Riera and Jorge Gonzalo. Saturday 17, 16:30, Press Club. With industry accreditation.

Moderated by Juan Antonio Vigar with Inés Monguilot Lasso de la Vega, Jesús Huerta and Asier Aranbarri. Saturday 17, 18:30, Press Club. With accrediatation or invitation: eztabai@sansebastianfestival.com.

With Andrei Agudaru, Ben Johnson, Katarzyna Orysiak-Marrison and Anne Vierhout. Promoted by Europa Distribution. Monday 19, 10:00, San Telmo Museum Function Room. With industry accreditation. 

With Álvaro Longoria, Gudny Hummelvoll and Marco Chimenz. Produced by European Producers Club. Monday 19, 13:00, San Telmo Museum Function Room. With industry pass. 

With Roger Gual and Marisa Fernández Armenteros. Tuesday 20, 10:00, San Telmo Museum Function Room. With industry accreditation. 

With Mariona Borrull, Elisa McCausland, Blanca Martínez and Júlia Olmo. Tuesday 20, 19:00, Press Club. With industry accreditation: eztabai@sansebastianfestival.com.

With Albertina Carri, Bianca Gaytán, Eugenia Campos Guevara and Salima Jirari. Includes a conversation moderated by Pau Brunet with Mariano Biasin and Claire Charles-Fervais. Tuesday 20, 12.00, San Telmo Museum Function Room. With industry accreditation. 

Round table moderated by Jorge Vañó with Bianca Gaytán, Adrián Silvestre and Zaida Carmona. Tuesday 20, 17:30, Kutxa Kultur Klub. With industry accreditation. 

With Diana Williams and Elisa Alvares. Wednesday 21, 13:00, San Telmo Museum Function Room. With industry accreditation.

With Maitane Valdecantos, Beatriz Pérez de Vargas and Kim Magnusson. Thursday 22, 12:30, Tabakalera Patio. With industry accreditation. 

With Isabel Herguera, Iván Miñambres y James A. Castillo. Thursday 22, 18:00, 2deo (Tabakalera). With industry accreditation.