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Festival coverage

San Sebastian Film Festival

18 September – 26 September 2020

Beginning won the Golden Shell
Beginning won the Golden Shell

The 2020 edition of the festival ran from September 18 to 26, with a 30 per cent reduction in screenings and a portion of the festival being held online. The festival's Official Selection will open with Woody Allen's romantic comedy Rifkin's Festival - which is set against a backdrop of the event itself. The Golden Shell was won by Dea Kulumbegashvili's Beginning.

Other years (17)

Box office and information

Latest reviews

  • Rifkin's Festival
    Review preview for Rifkin's Festival

    This new film, like all the others, has some of that old Woody sauce as well that gives it some charm, but it’s a mere shadow of its old self.

    Nikola Jovic · 2.5 out of 5
    The story of a couple who attend San Sebastian Film Festival only to find their romance tested.
  • One In A Thousand
    Review preview for One In A Thousand

    Following her subjects through the tangled streets, in an out of small concrete houses or under the archways and up the stairwells where they take shelter, Navas observes them almost as if she were filming a documentary, perhaps without permission.

    Jennie Kermode · 3.5 out of 5
    Iris is 17 and takes each day as it comes. When she meets the cool Renata, her life changes abruptly.
  • Herself
    Review preview for Herself

    Yes, Herself is first and foremost a film about a woman's journey. It is also, in a smaller way, about another journey, from selfishness to community spirit.

    Jane Fae · 4 out of 5
    A domestic abuse survivor tries to build a new life - and home - for her kids.
  • The World To Come
    Review preview for The World To Come

    Overall, the story is a familiar one, with a predictably, one could even say, cliched tragic sweep - a well-trodden pioneer trail that while watchable for the fine performances, still feels overly stuck in a rut.

    Amber Wilkinson · 3 out of 5
    In upstate New York in the 1850s, Abigail begins a new year on the rural farm where she lives with her husband Dyer. But a friendship with the wife of a new neighbour leads to trouble.
  • I Never Cry
    Review preview for I Never Cry

    The personal is prominent, with Domalewski leaving the viewer to draw their own picture of the broader socio-economic failings of all this.

    Amber Wilkinson · 3.5 out of 5
    A woman travels to Ireland to repatriate her father's body after he dies in a workplace accident.
  • Supernova
    Review preview for Supernova

    With eloquent, understated performances from both leads and a willingness to take its time, Supernova explores not merely the issues they face but the life they share.

    Jennie Kermode · 4.5 out of 5
    Old friends Sam and Tusker go on a road trip to make the most of their time together two years after Tusker was diagnosed with early-onset dementia.
  • Yellow Cat
    Review preview for Yellow Cat

    There's such a warmth to the comedy here that the inevitable tragic sweep of the film feels all the more steeped in sadness.

    Amber Wilkinson · 4 out of 5
    An ex-con goes on the run with his new-found love, while chasing his dream of opening a cinema.
  • Memories Of My Father
    Review preview for Memories Of My Father

    There's a relaxed warmth to the, largely, lowkey events, that encourages us to cosy up to the family.

    Amber Wilkinson · 3.5 out of 5
    The life of Héctor Abad Gómez, a prominent doctor and human rights activist in the violent Medellin of the 70s.
  • Rosa's Wedding
    Review preview for Rosa's Wedding

    With beautifully drawn characters and superb performances all round, Icíar Bollaín's enchanting comedy draws viewers into a world where romance is not dependent on a committed relationship and love takes many different forms.

    Jennie Kermode · 4.5 out of 5
    Rosa, about to turn 45, realises that she has always lived for others, so she decides to press the nuclear button, shake things up, leave it all and grab hold of the reins of her life.
  • Spring Blossom
    Review preview for Spring Blossom

    Artfully confected and directed with a light touch, this is a layered yet knowingly insubstantial creation, un amour choux.

    Jennie Kermode · 3.5 out of 5
    A bored teenager finds herself torn between the love of an older man and her adolescence.

A–Z of San Sebastian Film Festival 2020 reviews

Features

  • A woman in the moment
    Dea Kulumbegashvili on the international collaboration behind Beginning
  • Sniffing out secrets
    Directors Michael Dweck and Gregory Kershaw chat about their documentary The Truffle Hunters

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