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San Sebastian Film Festival · 2026

San Sebastian Film Festival 2026

Official Selection

The selection will also include TV series El Castillo and Beyond Society, which are out of competition.

Programme

23 films · 6 reviews

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5 More Minutes

Review preview for 5 More Minutes

The five-minute nature of the loop is perfect for escalating humour.

Amber Wilkinson · 4 out of 5
A husband and wife in an ailing marriage discover that actions really do have consequences in this twist on the time loop motif.

(Country: Spain; Year: 2026; Director: Javier Ruiz Caldera; Writer: Javier Ruiz Caldera; Stars: Berto Romero, Belén Cuesta, Javier Cámara, Carlos Bernardino, Marc Soler, Cláudia Mello, Puchi Lagarde, Tian Tosas, Nia Tosas)

Full review

Bajañí

Bajañí is the word for guitar in Caló language. Based on this instrument, and specifically, on the guitar and art of Niño Josele, Fernando Trueba invites spectators to listen to music as never before.

(Year: 2023; Director: Fernando Trueba; Stars: Niño Josele, Caetano Veloso, Rubén Blades, Ron Carter, Kenny Barron, Marisa Monte, Estrella Morente, Soleá Morente)

Special screening - out of competition

Border (Bian jing)

In a forgotten town where men have learned to survive by keeping their feelings buried and their words few, a broke young miner quietly drifts through a life he barely feels. His numb routine fractures with the arrival of an enigmatic young woman.

(Country: Hong Kong, US, South Korea; Year: 2026; Director: Ah Biao)

Brace Your Heart (Garrat du váimmu)

Review preview for Brace Your Heart

Kernell’s drama feels embedded within the community and the landscape.

Amber Wilkinson · 4 out of 5
Ejva inherits her late father's reindeer herd. As she struggles to keep the herd thriving, local leader Heaika falls for her, and though hesitant, she feels compelled to accept. But everything changes when Nejla, Heaika's cousin, arrives.

(Country: Sweden, Norway, Denmark, France, Bulgaria, Iceland; Year: 2026; Director: Amanda Kernell; Writer: Amanda Kernell; Stars: Elli-Sara Valkeapää, Andte Gaup-Juuso, Vincent Niia, Nils Peder Gaup, Siri Marakatt, Risten Alida Siri Skum)

Full review

The Debut

Review preview for The Debut

Eisenberg’s obvious love of amateur dramatics provides The Debut with a foundation that feels akin to a warm hug.

Amber Wilkinson · 4 out of 5
A shy housewife is unexpectedly cast in a local am-dram original musical. Under the spell of the strong-willed and enigmatic director, she loses herself in the role.

(Country: US; Year: 2026; Director: Jesse Eisenberg; Writer: Jesse Eisenberg; Stars: Julianne Moore, Paul Giamatti, Halle Bailey, Havana Rose Liu, Jesse Eisenberg, Cara Buono, Bernadette Peters, Lilli Cooper, Colton Ryan, Maulik Pancholy, Eldar Isgandarov, Bonnie Milligan, Patrick Fabian, Danny McCarthy)

Full review

El Mal Padre

After years of estrangement, the famous writer and academic Santiago Balmes gathers his three children for a last request: to spend Christmas in the house where they used to spend summers as kids. ​

(Country: Spain; Year: 2025; Director: Roberto Bueso; Stars: Eduard Fernández)

Le Faux Soir

1943. The Nazis occupy Belgium and have turned the national daily Le Soir into their propaganda tool. With 1918 Armistice Day commemorations forbidden, a group of Resistance fighters comes up with a wild idea: what if, to lift the spirits of the Belgian people, they could print a fake edition of Le Soir?

(Country: France, Belgium; Year: 2026; Director: Michaël R Roskam; Writer: Michaël R Roskam, Bernard Falaise, Domenico La Porta; Stars: Arieh Worthalter, Mélanie Thierry, Karim Leklou, Mara Taquin, Bouli Lanners, Julien Frison, François Damiens, Ruth Becquart, Peter van den Begin, Jean-Benoît Ugeux, Laurent Capelluto, Pierre Gervais, Alexis Manenti, Yolande Moreau, Viviane de Muynck)

Ghost Song (Geister)

Farasha and Faris are 20 when they meet at a graduation party – one glance that changes everything. But Farasha dies that very same night. Refusing to be separated from him, she discovers a way to cross the boundary between worlds: for 40 nights, and 40 nights only, she can meet Faris in his dreams.

(Country: Germany; Year: 2026; Director: Fatih Akin; Writer: Ruth Toma, Fatih Akin; Stars: Mariam Dawoud, Eren M. Güvercin, David Schütter, Anna Bederke, Carlotta von Falkenhayn, Gabriel Amorin, Lama Alhalabi, Jale Arıkan)

Glaxo

An act of betrayal between a close group of friends has terrible consequences.

(Country: Argentina, Brazil; Year: 2026; Director: Benjamín Naishtat; Writer: Benjamín Naishtat; Stars: Lali Espósito, Marcelo Subiotto, Esteban Lamothe, Joaquín Bonadeo, Manu Fanego, Alan Sabbagh, Esteban Bigliardi, Josela Barbeito, Martín Armendáriz, Franco Repetti)

Growth Of The Soil

Isak, a man without a past, seeks a place to settle and carve life from the earth. High above the tree line, he finds a barren stretch of land, as unforgiving as it is full of promise but the land tests him to its limits until the day he meets a solitary woman.

(Country: Norway; Year: 2026; Director: Hans Petter Moland; Writer: Hans Petter Moland, Gard B. Eidsvold; Stars: Herbert Nordrum, Asta Kamma August, Gard B. Eidsvold, Anders Baasmo Christiansen, Sjur Vatne Brean, Oddgeir Thune)

The Harvester (Sacamantecas)

Álava, 19th century. Towards the end of the Third Carlist War, several women are found strangled to death on the outskirts of Vitoria. Ángela Berrosteguieta, sister of one of the victims, arrives seeking justice, determined to prove that Juan Díaz de Garayo, an illiterate farmer, is responsible for the crimes.

(Country: Belgium, Spain; Year: 2026; Director: David Pérez Sañudo; Writer: David Pérez Sañudo, Sergio Granda; Stars: Patricia López Arnaiz, Antonio de la Torre, Josean Bengoetxea, Eneko Sagardoy, Luis Callejo, Urko Olazábal, Haizea Carneros, Isabel Gaudí, Fernando Albizu)

Special screening - out of competition

Heart Of The Beast

Review preview for Heart Of The Beast

Imagine all the Terrible/Awesome Clichés That Could Happen In The American Wilderness and construct a mental bingo card to tick them off. Spoiler warning: There's a good chance you're going to get a full house.

Amber Wilkinson · 2.5 out of 5
After a harrowing plane crash, Special Forces officer James Belmont and his combat dog, Odin, find themselves stranded deep in the Alaskan wilderness. Together, they are forced into a brutal fight for survival against the elements.

(Country: US; Year: 2026; Director: David Ayer; Writer: Cameron Alexander; Stars: Brad Pitt, JK Simmons, Anna Lambe)

Full review See: Brad Pitt on the 'moving' Heart Of The Beast shoot thanks to furry co-star Odin

Out of competition

Ink

Review preview for Ink

Danny Boyle brings his customary energy to James Graham’s adaptation of his own stage play, which flies along quicker than paper through a printing press.

Amber Wilkinson · 4 out of 5
Drama charting Rupert Murdoch's acquisition of The Sun newspaper and its upturning of the landscape under editor Larry Lamb in 1969.

(Country: 2026; Year: 2026; Director: Danny Boyle; Writer: James Graham; Stars: Jack O'Connell, Guy Pearce, Claire Foy)

Full review

Surprise film - out of competition

In My Father's Room

Satomi works at an art museum until an envelope arrives, containing a mysterious key. It leads to an unknown room once belonging to her late father, who died alone a month earlier. Drawn by this small object, she retraces his final days.

(Country: Japan; Year: 2027; Director: Maha Harada; Writer: Maha Harada; Stars: Yu Aoi, Issey Ogata, Eri Watanabe, Eita Nagayama)

Krux

As World War Two nears its end, the women, children and elderly and disabled men remaining in a small German village discover that their right wing neighbours have been told to leave no German alive for the advancing Russian army.

(Country: Germany, Poland; Year: 2026; Director: Tony Vahl; Writer: Tony Vahl; Stars: Jella Haase, Frida-Lovisa Hamann, Clemens Schick, Lukas Miko)

The Last Goodbye

When you own a non-denominational funeral parlour. When you’ve lost your driver’s license for drinking too much. When you fall in love with an office trainee 25 years your junior. When your daughter begins to understand that you're not the father she thought you were. When the retired boxer who lent you money is on your back. When death seems more interesting than life… What could go wrong?

(Country: Spain; Year: 2026; Director: Koldo Almandoz; Writer: Koldo Almandoz; Stars: Iñigo Azpitarte, Izaro Nieto, Iñaki Beraetxe, Iraia Elias, Josean Bengoetxea, Laia Escribano, Sara Cózar, Miguel Garcés, José Ramón Soroiz)

Special screening - out of competition

Milo (7h40 ce matin-là)

Alice arrives in a quiet provincial town and takes a job at a local café, blending easily into a life that isn't hers. Her presence is no coincidence. She is there because of Milo, a young mechanic who works at a nearby garage. To him, Alice is a stranger. To her, he is someone tied to a past she has never truly left behind.

(Country: France; Year: 2026; Director: Nicole Garcia; Writer: Nicole Garcia, Jacques Fieschi; Stars: Marion Cotillard, Théodore Pellerin, Artus, Laure Calamy, Charles Berling, Éric Elmosnino, Anne Brochet, Alexis Manenti)

Les Misérables

French adaptation of the Victor Hugo classic.

(Country: France; Year: 2026; Director: Fred Cavayé; Writer: Fred Cavayé; Stars: Vincent Lindon, Tahar Rahim, Camille Cottin, Noémie Merlant, Benjamin Lavernhe, Vassili Schneider, Megan Northam, Marie Colomb, Léonard Signoret, Ryan Fartout, Maryne Bertieaux, Giorgia Sinicorni, Louis Peres, Agustín Bruzzone)

My Sad Dead

Ema, a recently retired doctor who can see the dead, tries to process her mother's death and her own unresolved matters. The arrival of her niece Julie and the murder of three teenagers in Piedrabuena, a suburban neighborhood marked by violence, trigger a strange phenomenon that breaks the fragile balance between the living and the dead.

(Year: 2026; Director: Pablo Larraín; Writer: Pablo Larraín, Anastasia Ayazi de Marchi, Guillermo Calderón; Stars: Carlos Donoso, Dolores Fonzi, Mercedes Morán, Carlos Portaluppi, Germán de Silva, Alejandra Flechner, Luz Jiménez, Carolina Sánchez Álvarez)

Pray For Us (Ruega por nosotras)

1974. Ana is a rebellious 19-year-old. Having run away one night, her father decides to hand her over to the Women’s Protection Board. She is sent from Barcelona to Madrid for internship in a reformatory run by nuns who follow a brutal disciplinary regime.

(Country: Spain, France; Year: 2026; Director: Daniel Monzón; Writer: Daniel Monzón, Jorge Guerricaechevarría; Stars: Zoe Bonafonte, Manuela Calle, Carla Domínguez, María Gandiaga, Shiara Fernández, Adelfa Calvo, Malena Gutiérrez, María Cerezuela, Belén Cruz, Xavi Sáez, Bea Segura)

Special screening - out of competition

Saints (Sants)

While dealing with her mother’s impending death, Lali joins a gang of thieves dedicated to stealing religious artefacts. ​

(Country: Spain, Italy; Year: 2026; Director: Mikel Gurrea; Stars: Victoria Luengo)

Tender Loving Care

Review preview for Tender Loving Care

Tender Loving Care is all about the little bits of conversation that make the world a bit more comfy for others.

Amber Wilkinson · 4.5 out of 5
In contemporary London, social workers Amy and Rosie navigate the stressors and joys of life together, be that work, family or messy dating lives.

(Country: UK, US, Singapore; Year: 2026; Director: Mike Leigh; Writer: Mike Leigh; Stars: Kate O'Flynn, Alice Bailey Johnson, Marion Bailey, Paul Jesson)

Full review See: Mike Leigh and the Tender Loving Care cast on humanity and looking out for one another

What Remains (Artakalan)

A poet breaks free from a life that has become suffocating to reconnect with her inner voice and conscience and allow her creativity to flow again. As she begins to question the conventions of family, identity and the meaning of life, her journey towards self-discovery challenges those around her.

(Country: Turkey, Bulgaria, France, Luxembourg; Year: 2026; Director: Yeşim Ustaoğlu; Writer: Yeşim Ustaoğlu)