Cate Blanchett, one of contemporary cinema’s leading actors, will receive a Donostia Award at the San Sebastian Festival’s 72nd edition as well as featuring on the official poster of. The image of the poster is the work of graphic designer José Luis Lanzagorta based on a photograph by Gustavo Papaleo.

Over a career spanning more than three decades, Blanchett has racked up more than 200 acknowledgements and accolades, including two Academy Awards (and another six nominations), two Volpi Cups at the Venice Festival, four Baftas and four Golden Globes, an honorary César and International Goya for lifetime achievement in a career combining cinéma d’auteur with crowd pleasers. The Australian actor and producer has worked with filmmakers including Martin Scorsese, Terrence Malick, Steven Soderbergh, Steven Spielberg, David Fincher, Ridley Scott, Sally Potter, Wes Anderson, Alfonso Cuarón, Alejandro G. Iñárritu, Woody Allen, Gillian Armstrong, Taika Waititi, Peter Jackson, Todd Haynes, Richard Linklater, Jim Jarmusch, Guillermo del Toro, Adam McKay and Todd Field.  

While this will be Blanchett’s first visit to San Sebastian, the Festival has already screened a number of her films: Babel (Alejandro G. Iñárritu, Perlak, 2007) and Veronica Guerin (Joel Schumacher, Official Selection, 2003), competing for the Golden Shell.

Cate Blanchett is the second Australian actor to receive the Festival’s highest honorary award after Hugh Jackman (2013).

In 2018 the Festival revamped its posters to feature a figure from contemporary cinema. Isabelle Huppert, Penélope Cruz, Willem Dafoe, Sigourney Weaver, Juliette Binoche and Javier Bardem precede Blanchett as the official image, this year created by the graphic designer from San Sebastian, José Luis Lanzagorta, based on a portrait by the photographer Gustavo Papaleo.

Lanzagorta has also created the poster for the other sections. Joining photographer José Luis López de Zubiria, the pair have decided to combine illustration and photography. Thus, a moviemaker’s megaphone churns out paper ideas for New Directors; an ocean liner lets off cactus-shaped steam for Horizontes Latinos; a boxer fights an incandescent bulb filament for Zabaltegi-Tabakalera; a female swimmer dives for mother-of-pearl treasures in Perlak; a retro camera screens soap bubbles for Nest; a strawberry morphs into an adventure island for Culinary Zinema; and a lightening-root pays homage to the Basque artist Vicente Ameztoy for Zinemira. In addition, this year the poster of the Made in Spain section joins the others, coloured in indigo blue and featuring an astronaut who explores the planet in the shape of a carnation, a flower tying in with the Spanish cinema universe. 

These posters are added to the three previously presented to illustrate the Klasikoak initiative, organised by the San Sebastian Film Festival and the Basque Film Archive, which brings together three existing proposals under the same brand: the spring cycle of the Basque Film Archive, the retrospective of the Festival (dedicated this year to Italian poliziesco) and the Klasikoak section.

Cate Blanchett Biography

Cate Blanchett is an internationally acclaimed actor, producer, artistic director, humanitarian and dedicated member of the arts community. She is the co-Founder and Principal of film and television production company Dirty Films, alongside her partners Andrew Upton and Coco Francini, which recently launched Proof of Concept, a program offering financial support, mentorship and exhibition opportunities to emerging filmmakers. For the company, in 2023 Blanchett produced and appeared in Warwick Thornton’s award-winning The New Boy (Perlak, 2023). She also produced Christos Nikou’s Apple Original Films feature Fingernails (San Sebastian Official Selection, 2023), with Jessie Buckley, Riz Ahmed and Jeremy Allen White, and Noora Niasari’s award-winning debut feature Shayda, starring Zar Amir Ebrahimi.

With Dirty Films her producing credits include Todd Haynes’ Carol and Todd Field’s Tár, Christos Nikou’s Apples, the 10-time EMMY nominated Mrs America for FX and producing and co-creating the 13-time AACTA-winning series Stateless for Netflix. She also created and produced the award-winning Audible Original podcast Climate of Change, and produced Evolver, a VR interactive experience which premiered at Tribeca and has been selected for the first ever Immersive Competition at the Cannes Film Festival in 2024.

Blanchett’s acting credits include: Tár, Nightmare Alley, Don’t Look Up, Ocean’s 8, Thor: Ragnorok, Carol, Blue Jasmine, I’m Not There, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Notes on a Scandal, The Life Aquatic, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, The Lord of the Rings trilogy and The Hobbit, The Good German, The Aviator, The Talented Mr Ripley and Elizabeth.  She has won countless awards including four BAFTAs, two Academy Awards, three Golden Globes and three Screen Actors Guild awards.

Blanchett served alongside Andrew Upton as co-Artistic Director and co-CEO of the multi award winning Sydney Theatre Company between 2008-2013, producing 16 shows a year across four stages, which toured extensively nationally and internationally. Their most notable productions include; Tennessee Williams’ A Streetcar Named Desire, directed by Liv Ullman; Anton Chekhov’s Uncle Vanya directed by Tamas Ascher,  Steven Soderbergh’s Tot Mom; Benedict Andrew’s highly acclaimed productions of The War of the Roses, Genet’s The Maids and Bottho Straus’ Gross und Klein (Big and Small), the seminal adaptation of The Secret River by Neil Armfield which has since inspired the title-sharing ABC television series; productions by director Kip Williams; and Andrew Upton’s The Present directed by John Crowley for which Blanchett earned a Tony Award nomination. Blanchett was most recently on stage in the adaptation of Martin Crimp’s National Theatre production When We Have Sufficiently Tortured Each Other.

Blanchett and Upton were awarded with the Green Globe Award for their influential work at Sydney Theatre Company, having transformed the company into one of the world’s greenest arts organisations, including the erection of Australia’s second-largest rooftop solar array.

She has presided over festival juries in Cannes and Venice, and The Venice Film Festival has twice awarded her with The Volpi Cup for Best Performance. Blanchett holds a BFI Fellowship from the BFI London Film Festival, has received the Stanley Kubrick Award for Excellence in Film and has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Numerous other accolades include the Honorary Cesar, International Goya and Chaplin Awards. Blanchett has been appointed Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres in France, named a Companion of the Order of Australia, presented with a Centenary Medal for service to Australian Society, and has been awarded Honorary Doctorates by the University of New South Wales, the University of Sydney and Macquarie University. 

Blanchett is a Global Goodwill Ambassador for UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, and is a member of the Earthshot Prize Council. She is the inaugural Ambassador for Wakehurst and the Millennium Seed Bank. She received the Crystal Award at the World Economic Forum in Davos and the Kuwait-America Foundation Humanitarian Award, is lifetime member of the Australian Conservation Foundation, a strong supporter of the Actors Benevolent Fund, the SAG-AFTRA Foundation, the Australian Wildlife Conservancy, an AFI Ambassador and Patron of the Sydney Film Festival and the NIDA Foundation, the drama school at which she trained. She lives in the English countryside with her husband, four children, three dogs, two cats, pigs and chickens. 

José Luis Lanzagorta Biography

Graphic designer and musician, founder and creative director of Estudio Lanzagorta, a company with vast experience in the cultural sector. His clients include Koldo Mitxelena Kulturunea, Tabakalera, San Telmo Museoa, Kutxa Fundazioa, San Sebastian Jazz Festival (Jazzaldia), Fundación Kursaal, Quincena Musical, Euskadiko Orkestra, Warner Music, Sony Music and Get In. Founding member of the Orquesta Mondragón and the music bands Puskarra and Amateur, he was also a member of the San Sebastian pop group La Buena Vida.

Virtual exhibition of the 1st Poster Competition (1959-1960)

On the occasion of the presentation of the posters for the 72nd edition, the Festival opened today a virtual exhibition entitled Draw the Festival on its Artxiboa website. The exhibition brings together the sketches from the 1st San Sebastian Festival Poster Competition, held in December 1959 with a view to the celebration of its eighth edition in July 1960. This exhibition retrieves the Festival’s unknown pioneering initiative by showing the designs submitted. It proposes an approach to the materials used and takes an in-depth look at the competition ins and outs.

Matías Fajn and Laura Alhach, alumni of the Elías Querejeta Zine Eskola, carried out the research and curated the exhibition together with the Artxiboa project team. The sketches were found in 2022 and have been studied after meticulous conservation, cataloguing and digitisation work.

SPONSORS AND COLLABORATORS

The Festival is possible thanks to the collaboration and enthusiasm of many people and companies, including:

• RTVE, Official Festival Sponsor.

• EITB, Sponsor of the Festival, Sponsor of Zinemira and co-organiser of the Basque Film Party.

• MOVISTAR PLUS+, Festival Media Partner.
• AUDI, Official Collaborator and Official Vehicle.
• KUTXABANK, Official Collaborator and Sponsor of the Kutxabank-New Directors Award.
• AECID-SPANISH AGENCY FOR INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION, Sponsor of the Spanish Cooperation Award.
• ANTIGUO BERRI, Surprise Film Sponsor.
• ARMANI BEAUTY, Official Beauty Sponsor and Sponsor of the Perlak Section.
• BASQUE CULINARY CENTER, Co-organiser of Culinary Zinema.
• BASQUE FILM ARCHIVE, Co-organiser of Klasikoak and collaborator of Ikusmira Berriak and the Artxiboa Project.
• BASQUE GOVERNMENT DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE, FISHERIES AND FOOD POLICIY.
• BASQUE GOVERNMENT DEPARTMENT OF ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT, SUSTAINABILITY AND ENVIRONMENT, for its support of the Industry Department, promoter of Europe-Latin America Co-Production Forum and promoter of Zinemaldia Startup Challenge.
• BASQUE GOVERNMENT DEPARTMENT OF TOURISM, TRADE AND CONSUMER.
• BASQUE GOVERNMENT GENERAL SECRETARIAT FOR SOCIAL TRANSITION AND THE 2030 AGENDA.
• DAMA, Festival Sponsor.
• DONOSTIA INTERNATIONAL PHYSICS CENTER (DIPC), Co-organiser of the screenings for children.
• DONOSTIA SAN SEBASTIAN TURISMOA
• DOPPLER, Festival Collaborator.
• EGEDA, for its support of WIP Latam.
• EL DIARIO VASCO, Festival Sponsor.
• ELÍAS QUEREJETA ZINE ESKOLA, Co-organiser of Ikusmira Berriak, the Artxiboa Project, the José Ángel Herrero-Velarde Grants and Filmmakers’ Dialogues.
• FILMOTECA DE CATALUNYA, Collaborator of Klasikoak.
• HAZI, PUBLIC COMPANY OF THE BASQUE GOVERNMENT DEPARTMENT OF ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT, SUSTAINABILITY AND THE ENVIRONMENT, Sponsor of the Eusko Label Award.
• HISPANITAS, Made in Spain Sponsor.
• ¡HOLA!, Festival Collaborator.
• IBERMEDIA PROGRAMME, for its support of WIP Latam.
• INSTITUT LUMIÈRE, Collaborator of Klasikoak.
• ISTITUTO ITALIANO DI CULTURA, Collaborator of Klasikoak.
• IRIZAR, Sponsor of the Irizar Basque Film Award.
• JAMONES IBÉRICOS DE ESPAÑA, Sponsor of the Official Cocktails.
• KELER, Festival Sponsor.
• KUTXA FUNDAZIOA, Collaborator of the Artxiboa Project.
• LA GULA DEL NORTE®, Sponsor of the Openning Party.
• LA PERLA, Festival Collaborator.
• LOTERÍAS Y APUESTAS DEL ESTADO, Sponsor of the Loterías Award.
• PERRIER JOUËT, Official Festival Champagne.
• RENFE, Sustainability Collaborator.
• REPSOL, Sustainability Sponsor.
• SADE, Festival Collaborator.
• SAN TELMO MUSEOA, Festival Collaborator.
• SGAE FOUNDATION, Festival Collaborator.
• TABAKALERA-INTERNATIONAL CENTRE FOR CONTEMPORARY CULTURE, Co-organiser of Nest, Ikusmira Berriak and Zabaltegi-Tabakalera, collaborator of Artxiboa, organiser of 2deo seriak and Noka.
• THE EUROPEAN UNION CREATIVE EUROPE MEDIA PROGRAMME, for its support of the Industry Department.
• THE GIPUZKOA PROVINCIAL COUNCIL DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENT AND WATER ENGINEERING, Sustainability project Collaborator
• THE GIPUZKOA PROVINCIAL COUNCIL DEPARTMENT OF ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT, TOURISM AND THE RURAL ENVIRONMENT.
• URBIL, Zinemira Sponsor.
• VICHY CATALAN, Official Water.
• ZINEUSKADI, Collaborator of Movies for Kids and Ikastetxeak Belodromoan.

And to the the Ministry of Culture through the Institute of Cinematography and Audiovisual Arts (ICAA), the Ministry for Digital Transformation and of Civil through ICEX España Exportación e Inversiones and Festival de Málaga for their involvement in the initiative “Spanish Screenings: Financing & Tech”.

And to the members of the Board of Directors of the Sociedad Anónima Festival de San Sebastián: Spanish Government Ministry of Culture, Basque Government Department of Culture, Provincial Council of Gipuzkoa and San Sebastian City Council.