The San Sebastián Festival’s Other Activities section will include, among other proposals, screenings of the non-fiction series Gènesi, the films The Mission (1986), El coraje del matiz (Todas las vidas de Isabel Coixet); and the Argentinian films Cyrano en mi cabeza / Cyrano in My Head and La verdadera historia de Ricardo III. La película / The True Story of Richard III. The Film.

David Pujol (Andorra, 1970), who directed the documentary series elBulli: Historia de un sueño (2010), returns with Gènesi, in which he portrays the early days of a young Ferran Adrià, who arrives at elBulli by chance in the 80s and ends up spearheading a gastronomic revolution that will forever change contemporary cuisine. Outstanding among the works signed by the director and screenwriter are the TV movie Morir en tres actos (2011) and the documentary trilogy Salvador Dalí, as well as his debut feature film Esperando a Dalí / Waiting for Dalí (2023).  

To commemorate the 40th anniversary of the release of The Mission (1986), one of the great masterpieces by Roland Joffé (London, 1945), the Festival now recovers this film set in the 18th century in which a Jesuit missionary heads deep into the tropical jungle near the Iguazú Falls to establish the San Carlos mission, armed with nothing but his faith and an oboe. The film, with a cast headed by Jeremy Irons, Robert De Niro and Liam Neeson, won the Academy Award for Best Cinematography and the Palme d’Or at Cannes, while Ennio Morricone won the Golden Globe for Best Original Score with his immortal composition. Furthermore, Joffe also landed his second Academy Award for Best Director nomination after winning the accolade with his debut film, The Killing Fields (1984).

Borja Zausen (Madrid, 1972) creates, in El coraje del matiz (Todas las vidas de Isabel Coixet), an intimate portrait of the Catalan filmmaker, who chooses constant doubt and questioning in times of polarisation and absolute truth. The photographer and documentary-maker focuses his work on sociocultural identity, knowledge transmission and the stamp left by human activity on the planet. Following his debut with El beso salado (2007), he has made several short films and documentary portraits, including Som Taujà (2011), winner of an award at the Ibiza International Film Festival, and a series dedicated to shepherds, his contemporary heroes.

The Argentinian production Cyrano en mi cabeza / Cyrano in My Head tells the tale of a time-honoured actor who returns to the character who marked his vocation: Cyrano de Bergerac. While the play enjoys success on the stage, the role confronts him with his personal fears and the intimate scrutiny of his profession. The director and screenwriter Maxi Gutiérrez (Rosario, 1970), who alternates commercial fiction and independent projects, has put his name to films including El vagoneta en el mundo del cine (2012), Tokio (2015), La panelista / The TV Panelist (2021) and La dicha en movimiento (2025). 

Having screened at the Málaga Festival and BAFICI, La verdadera historia de Ricardo III, la película / The True Story of Richard III., the film now comes to San Sebastian. In this movie, the Argentinian director, screenwriter and producer Marcelo Piñeyro (Buenos Aires, 1953) explores the intersection between the cinema and theatre with the stage director Calixto Bieito (Miranda de Ebro, 1963), currently one of the most influential in his field. The mise en scène by Bieito, who has reinterpreted works by Shakespeare, Lorca, Mozart and Verdi, discovers in Piñeyro’s camera details invisible from the stalls, constructing an own language. The works by the filmmaker from Buenos Aires include titles such as Tango feroz: la leyenda de Tanguito / Wild Tango (Youth Jury Award, 1993), Plata quemada / Burnt Money (2000), Kamchatka (Zabaltegi, 2002) and Las viudas de los jueves / Thursday’s Widows (2009), recognised at international festivals.