If in 2020 the concept of distance was the centre of attention at the opening gala, a year later it will be hugs, together with the Donostia Award going to the French actress Marion Cotillard, that will play the lead parts in the launch of San Sebastian Festival’s 69th edition at the Kursaal Auditorium.

For the second year running, the dancer and choreographer Jon Maya will direct the opening and closing ceremonies, as well as the gala corresponding to the Donostia Award going to Johnny Depp and the one dedicated to Basque Cinema. The writer Harkaitz Cano will once again pen the script, accompanied by Ane García, while Luis Mari Moreno Urretavizcaya, Pirata, will be the musical director again.

Elena Irureta, Asier Etxeandia, Anne Igartiburu and Cayetana Guillén Cuervo will have the task of presenting a gala full or surprises and referring to the hugs of which we have been so sorely deprived during the pandemic. There will also be an abundance of choreographic pieces performed by the dancers of Kukai, as well as the musical performances of the Zea Mays band, accompanied by Rozalén, and by Etxeandia himself, among other performers.

"They say that applause was an evolution or substitute for the hug. We applaud because it’s impossible to embrace someone who is so far away. We applaud the people we’d like to hug. We’d like the opening gala, and each of the Festival films, to help lessen the distance towards that hug we’re so desperate to enjoy but are still waiting for”, said Harkaitz Cano.

In addition, Marion Cotillard will receive the Donostia Award for her career towards the end of a gala which will also serve to pay tribute, shortly after their death, to two figures with close ties to the Festival: Luis Gasca, who was its director in the late 70s and early 80s, and the filmmaker Bertrand Tavernier. This year too we will once again present the FIPRESCI Grand Prix as well as recognising the three decades on the air of the TVE programme Días de Cine.

The filmmaker Carlos Saura will present his short film Rosa rosae. La Guerra Civil / Rosa rosae. A Spanish Civil War Elegy, screening out of competition prior to the showing of the first competing feature film in the Official Selection, Yi miao zhong / One Second, directed by Zhang Yimou. The gala will broadcast live on Televisión Española’s La 2, ETB1, eitb.eus and on the Festival website.

Antonio Banderas and Emmanuel Carrère to visit the Festival

While the actor and director Noémie Merlant and the filmmaker Xavier Giannoli are also unable to attend, Emmanuel Carrère joins the other moviemakers who will present their films in San Sebastian, including Sean Baker, Laurent Cantet, Lucile Hadzihalilovic, Ryusuke Hamaguchi, Radu Jude, Kira Kovalenko, Joachim Lafosse, Gaspar Noé, Todd Haynes, Carlos Saura, Céline Sciamma, Claire Simon and Paolo Sorrentino, among many others. Female directors include the winner of the Palme d’Or at Cannes, Julia Ducournau, who will present Titane in Perlak, and the winner of the Golden Lion in Venice, Audrey Diwan, who will sit on the official jury, chaired by the latest winner of the Golden Shell, Dea Kulumbegashvili.