Six films from the official programme of the 71st San Sebastian Festival compete for the Agenda 2030 Euskadi Basque Country Award, recognising the film that best reflects the values of sustainability and solidarity as the core emblems of the Sustainable Development Goals promoted by the United Nations in the 2030 Agenda.

Two of the competing films participate in the Official Selection and are All Dirt Roads Taste of Salt, by Raven Jackson, and The Royal Hotel, by Kitty Green, while the remaining four come from Perlak: Aku wa Sonzai Shinai / Evil Does Not Exist, by Ryusuke Hamaguchi, recent winner in Venice of the Silver Lion Grand Jury and FIPRESCI prizes; Io Capitano / I’m Captain, directed by Matteo Garrone, winner of the Silver Lion for Best Director and the Marcello Mastroianni Award for Best Young Actor (Seydou Sarr); Bâtiment 5 / Les Indésirables, by Ladj Ly, and The Zone of Interest, by Jonathan Glazer, winner of the Grand Prix and the FIPRESCI Prize at the Festival de Cannes.

The Agenda 2030 Euskadi Basque Country Award jury will be made up of the Catalan actress Greta Fernández, Silver Shell for her work in La hija de un ladrón  / A Thief’s Daughter, the Basque actress Loreto Mauleón, winner of Platino and Feroz awards for her role in Patria, and the Basque Government Director of Social Innovation, Asier Aranbarri. All three were present this afternoon at the press conference to launch the award in Tabakalera.

Presentation of the award, coming with 20,000 euros for the majority producer of the winning film, will take place on Thursday 28 in the Tabakalera Prisma at 19:00.

As a new feature, this year the Festival’s Film Talks include a talk by the Australian moviemaker Kitty Green, author of The Royal Hotel, who will discuss the transformative power of the cinema. The rendezvous will be on the 25th at 16:30 in Tabakalera’s Z Room and invitations, free of charge, can be collected from the Festival website, and the Zinemaldi Plaza and Tabakalera ticket desks from the day before the event.

If you change nothing, nothing changes

Jonan Fernandez, Secretary General for Social Transition and the 2030 Agenda, believes it is positive that, for the second year running, the Festival and the Basque Government “go hand in hand” in defending the sustainable development goals. In his opinion, given the event’s local and international outreach, this is an “particularly appropriate framework for showing people what the Agenda 2030 Euskadi Basque Country is about”.

“The essential goals are to do more against poverty and share wealth; to contribute more to equality and prevent discrimination; to reduce waste, consume less energy and recycle more. Because if you change nothing, nothing changes, recalled Fernández.

The 2030 Agenda