Dear Asian filmmakers, the San Sebastian International Film Festival (Spain) is accepting films until June 19, 2023.

About the festival:
The San Sebastián International Film Festival (Spanish: Festival Internacional de Cine de San Sebastián; Basque: Donostiako Zinemaldia) is an annual film festival which originated in 1953 and is held in the Spanish city of San Sebastián (officially Donostia-San Sebastián). Although the festival was originally intended to honour Spanish language films, films of other languages became eligible for consideration in the late 1950s.

The majority of awards are determined by a jury, but an audience award is also given for the most popular film. The main awards are the Golden Shell and Silver Shell. Every year the festival honours one, two or three actors with the Donostia Lifetime Achievement Award.

Note: There are more sections than the ones display here. We are posting those that may interest our readers (most from Asia). For more information, please go to https://www.sansebastianfestival.com/

* Official Selection Rules*
– Films should be over 60 minutes in length.
– Have been produced in the 12 months prior to the start of the Festival.
– Have not been premiered in any country other than their country or countries of production.
– Films produced or co-produced in countries other than Spain must not have participated in any other festival taking place prior to the dates of the San Sebastian Festival. This excludes festivals accredited by the FIAPF in the category: “non-competitive festivals” and national competitions at festivals in their countries of production.
– No film presented in the Official Selection can have been publicly screened in Spain prior to its official presentation at the Festival.
– The inclusion in VOD platforms of films participating in the Official Section is not allowed, with the exception of cases where their use is strictly professional and with restricted access.
– The format accepted for films in the Official Selection is exclusively DCP.
– All of the films selected by the Festival must be presented in their original version, with subtitles in Spanish if the original version of the film is not in Spanish. The cost of subtitling the copy will be paid by the producers or representatives of the film.

* New Directors Section *
– Films should be the 1st or 2nd film from a director.
– Films should be over 60 minutes in length.
– Have been produced in the 12 months prior to the start of the Festival.
– Have not been premiered in any country other than their country or countries of production.
– Films produced or co-produced in countries other than Spain must not have participated in any other festival taking place prior to the dates of the San Sebastian Festival. This excludes festivals accredited by the FIAPF in the category “non-competitive festivals” and national competitions at festivals in their countries of production.
– No film presented in the New Directors Section can have been publicly screened in Spain prior to its official presentation at the Festival.
– The inclusion in VOD platforms of films participating in the New Directors Section is not allowed, with the exception of cases where their use is strictly professional and with restricted access.
– The format accepted for films in the New Directors Section is exclusively, DCP.
– – All of the films selected by the Festival must be presented in their original version. With subtitles in Spanish if the original version of the film is not in Spanish. With subtitles in English if the original version is in Spanish and/or Basque.

* Zabaltegi- Tabakalera Section*
– The Zabaltegi-Tabakalera Section of the San Sebastian Festival consists of a selection of the most varied and surprising films of the year, as yet unscreened in Spain.
– Accepts any length and format.
– Films should have been completed in the 12 months prior to the start of the Festival.
– No film presented in the Zabaltegi-Tabakalera Section can have been publicly screened in Spain prior to its official presentation at the Festival.
– The inclusion in VOD platforms of films participating in the Zabaltegi – Tabakalera Section is not allowed, with the exception of cases where their use is strictly professional and with restricted access.
– If the format is DCP, the Festival’s technical department will send the server certificate for the generation of DKDM to the producers or representatives of the film. Only this type of encryption will be accepted and it must be sent together with the film in order to generate from the Festival the necessary keys for quality controls, technical tests and projections.
– All of the films selected by the Festival must be presented in their original version. The film subtitles can be in either Spanish or English.

* Perlak Section*
– The Perlak Section of the San Sebastian International Film Festival consists of a selection of the year’s most outstanding feature films, not yet released in Spain, all of which have received critical acclaim and/or awards at other international festivals.
– Films should be over 60 minutes in length.
– Films should have been completed in the 12 months prior to the start of the Festival.
– Not have been commercially released or publicly screened in Spain prior to their official presentation at the Festival.
– The inclusion in VOD platforms of films participating in the Perlak Section is not allowed, with the exception of cases where their use is strictly professional and with restricted access.
– The format accepted for films in the Perlak Section is, exclusively: DCP.
– – All of the films selected by the Festival must be presented in their original version. With subtitles in Spanish if the original version of the film is not in Spanish. With subtitles in English if the original version is in Spanish and/or Basque.

*Nest Section*
– Open to the works of students attending intermediate or advanced level schools in any country in the world.
– Each school may propose a maximum of three works completed in the 12 months prior to the start of the Festival (September 2022 – September 2023).
– No premiere status required.
– Students will not be able to submit their short films themselves. Short films must be registered by the school.
– The works shall have a maximum duration of 30 minutes and shall be presented in their original language with English subtitles.

– Submission Fees:
* Short and Medium Length Films – 70 Euros (including 21% VAT)
* Feature Films – 100 Euros (including 21% VAT)
* Physical Format DCP (2.5 Hard Drive, CRU or similar) – 150 Euros (including 21% VAT)
* Digital DCP (Signiat Media Shuttle or Similar) – 200 Euros (including 21% VAT)
– Deadline: June 19, 2023 (Except Nest Section which closes on July 3, 2023)

We recommend filmmakers to read the full Rules and Regulations here: https://www.sansebastianfestival.com/film_registration/1/3514/in

To submit to the festival, you will need to register here: https://www.sansebastianfestival.com/2023/film_registration/1/4908/in

We remind readers that the 71st San Sebastian International Film Festival will take place from September 22 – 20, 2023 in Donostia-San Sebastián, Spain.

To see other Calls please follow the next link: “Call For Entries”.