The San Sebastián International Film Festival (abbr. SSIFF;, ) is an annual FIAPF A category film festival held in the Spanish city of Donostia-San Sebastián in September, in the Basque Country. Since its creation in 1953 it has established itself as one of the 14 "A" category competitive festivals accredited by the FIAPF, of which it has one of the lowest budgets. It has hosted several important events of the history of cinema, such as the international premieres of Vertigo, by Alfred Hitchcock (who attended the Festival) and the European premiere of Star Wars. It was the first festival attended by Roman Polanski and has helped advance the professional careers of filmmakers such as Francis Ford Coppola, Bong Joon-ho and Pedro Almodóvar. José Luis Rebordinos has served as the director of the festival since 2011.

History

The festival was founded on September 21, 1953. Non-Spanish language films became eligible for consideration in 1955, when the festival was specialized in color films. It has been acknowledged by the FIAPF as an A category festival since 1957, with the exception of the 1980–1984 period, when no major awards were given. SSIFF has hosted the European premiere of Star Wars, the international premiere of Vertigo, presented by Alfred Hitchcock and Roman Polanski's first attendance at a film festival.

Sections

These are the main sections of the festival:

Awards

An international jury evaluates the films in the Official Selection and awards the following prizes: Former awards include: The following are the main awards for films in the parallel sections: