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San Sebastian 2025: a festival evening of faith, politics and craft
The 73rd San Sebastian International Film Festival closed with a night that felt both intimate and urgent. At the Kursaal Theater, international press and cinephiles watched a tightly contested main competition that ranged from historical biopics to queer drama — but it was the Basque coming-of-age drama Sundays (Los domingos) that walked away with the Golden Shell.
Directed by Alauda Ruiz de Azúa, Sundays tells the story of Ainara, a brilliant 17-year-old pulled between family expectations and an unexpected, deepening devotion to faith. The film’s sensitive portrayal of adolescence and religious longing resonated with jurors and audiences alike, offering a contemplative counterpoint to some of the festival’s louder, more overtly political entries.
Why Sundays stood out
Ruiz de Azúa, who first gained attention with the quieter family drama Ane (2018), deepens her focus on interior conflict here. Where Ane interrogated familial bonds in a rural Basque setting, Sundays narrows to the spiritual and moral landscape of a teenager — a move that foregrounds performance and atmosphere. The film’s pacing and visual restraint recall recent European arthouse trends that favor character-driven narratives and naturalistic cinematography.
Sundays also benefited from strong lead work and a production design that roots Ainara’s spiritual quest in recognizably local textures. In a festival season crowded with spectacle, the film’s humility felt like an intentional statement about the value of small-scale storytelling.
Other major winners and festival highlights
- Silver Shell for Best Director and Jury Prize for Best Screenplay: Joachim Lafosse for Six Days in Spring — a personal and tightly written drama that critics noted as one of Lafosse’s most intimate works since Our Children.
- Audience Award: The Voice of Hind Rajab by Kaouther Ben Hania — a harrowing reconstruction that uses voice recordings to trace the final moments of a six-year-old in Gaza, recognized by festivalgoers for its emotional impact.
- Special Jury Prize: Good Valley Stories, José Luis Guerin.
- Notable acting awards: shared Silver Shell for Best Leading Performance for Zhao Xiaohong (Her Heart Beats in Its Cage) and Jose Ramon Soroiz (Maspalomas); Silver Shell for Best Supporting Performance to Camila Plaate for Belén.
- Technical prizes included best cinematography for Los Tigres (Pau Esteve) and a screenplay prize also awarded to Lafosse and collaborators.
Festival programmers again balanced political urgency with formal experimentation. Kaouther Ben Hania, who previously earned acclaim with The Man Who Sold His Skin, returned with a film that foregrounds documentary elements and ethical questions about representation and witness. Audience reaction to The Voice of Hind Rajab was immediate and intense — many viewers left the screenings visibly moved.
"Sundays is a reminder that festivals still celebrate cinema's quieter powers," said film critic Anna Kovacs. "Alauda Ruiz de Azúa trusts her actors and the camera, and the result is a film that gains authority through restraint. It’s a mature, assured work that rewards patient watching."
Where this edition fits in the wider festival map
San Sebastian continues to be a bridge between commercial European releases and daring art cinema. This year’s mix — from Alice Winocour’s Couture to James Vanderbilt’s Nuremberg — illustrated the festival’s range. The awards also point to a continued appetite for films that blend intimate human stories with clear formal ambitions.
For cinephiles tracking festival circuits, Sundays’ win marks it as a title to follow during the awards season and in arthouse distribution. The Voice of Hind Rajab’s audience prize, meanwhile, signals that films with urgent social content still deeply move public sentiment.
In short, the 73rd San Sebastian handed its top honors to films that prize human detail and ethical engagement — a fitting snapshot of current trends in international cinema.
Source: hollywoodreporter
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