The Basque Government Department of Housing and Urban Agenda and the San Sebastián Festival unite the cinema, information and public policies on youth independence at the event’s 74th edition. The collaboration combines the Cinema and Housing season, made up of four films addressing different ways to access, lose or build a home, while Gaztelagun, the rent assistance programme specifically focused on young people, will have a desk in the Plaza Okendo.

The initiative takes one of the main concerns among young Basque people to the language of the big screen and turns the Housing Department’s presence at the Festival into a useful resource: an invitation to approach housing from the field of culture while offering a space at which they can obtain information on the types of grant available and directly apply for them.  

“Today housing conditions too many life decisions in young people: when to leave the family home, where to live, with whom to share a project or what future expectations they can build. That’s why we want to bring Gaztelagun to the spaces not only where young people are to be found, but also to those inviting conversation, culture, discussion and critical thought on one of the public issues having the greatest impact on their lives”, said the Minister for Housing and Urban Agenda, Denis Itxaso.

Itxaso frames this collaboration within the line started last year with the informative action developed by Gaztelagun in the area of BBK Live, aiming to extend public information beyond the regular administrative channels and bring it into spaces where young Basque people meet, socialise and build community. 

The Minister recalls that Gaztelagun directly reduces the economic effort required of thousands of young people, while the Basque Government works to increase the availability of affordable housing. “Gaztelagun doesn’t replace the structural challenge of increasing that availability, but it does directly reduce the economic effort required of many young people and helps them not to have to indefinitely put their life project on hold. Our duty is to combine structural solutions with tools that are useful in the short term, and to do it with a language and spaces that connect with the reality of those who have the greatest difficulty when it comes to achieving their independence”, he added.

Four films to talk about housing

The cycle comes with four films set in different decades and geographical areas with housing at the centre of their plot: El pisito / The Little Appartment (Marco Ferreri, Isidoro Martínez-Vela Ferry, Spain, 1958), Cinco metros cuadrados / Five Square Meters (Max Lemcke, Spain, 2011), Gisaengchung / Parasite (Bong Joon-ho, South Korea, 2019) and another film, to be announced shortly.

The programme will kick off on 22 September at 9 am in the Trueba Cinema’s Screen 1 with the screening of 5 metros cuadrados / 5 Square Metres for the Youth Jury, introduced by Denis Itxaso, who will then take part in a Q&A. The showings of films in the cycle in the Príncipe Cinema’s Screen 10 are as follows:

• 23 September: El pisito / The Little Apartment (16:15).
• 24 September: 5 metros cuadrados / 5 Square Metres (16:00).
• 25 September: Gisaengchung / Parasite (16:00).

El pisito / The Little Apartment turns to humour to portray the difficulties of a couple as they try to find somewhere to live in the Madrid of the fifties; 5 metros cuadrados / 5 Square Metres follows a young couple’s frustration when their housing project falls to pieces; and Parasite turns the domestic space into a portrayal of inequality.

From the screen to independence

The collaboration also has a practical slant focused on young people. During the Festival, Gaztelagun will have an information point in the Plaza Okendo where people between the ages of 18 and 35 can learn more about the programme, solve their doubts and receive assistance to make their application there and then.

With the motto "All stories need their place", the space will bring the public housing policy to one of the major meeting points between culture and young people in the Basque Country.

Gaztelagun covers up to 60% of the monthly rent, with a maximum of 300 euros per person and month. Maximum income for accessing the programme stands at 30,000 euros for individual applications, 36,764 euros for houses with two occupants and 39,184 euros for large families. From this year on, subsidies are also available for the rental of rooms and sublets, with up to two grants per shared home being allowed provided that each of the occupants has their own contract. 

The improvements have sparked an immediate response: 526 applications in the first three months since they took effect, compared to the 258 for the same period in 2025, meaning an increase of 104%. The average subsidy amounts to 273 euros per month and covers approximately 52.1% of the rental for those receiving the grant.

The programme has 7.679 active recipients in 2026 and has provided economic assistance to 9,106 young people. Since it was set in motion, 17,326 people have benefitted from Gaztelagun, with an accumulated investment of more than 96.2 million euros.

With this initiative, the Department and the Festival connect the screen, the street and public policy: four stories inviting us to consider how we live and a space offering young people a specific tool for starting their own independence story.

More information and applications: gaztelagun.eus