Some of the people who were attending the 68th edition of San Sebastian film festival were wearing face masks with the message “cinema is a safe place” because obviously the priority of the organisers of the festival was to make clear that cinema was a safe environment and the second priority was “to offer as pleasant a cinematic experience as possible”, which is the main aim of any film festival in the world. Fewer attendees, fewer journalists, fewer spectators, fewer venues, fewer screenings, a completely different red carpet, a carpet without fans asking film stars for autographs or selfies… regardless of all that, the festival has been held as usual and that´s the best way of knowing that we´re really going back to normal. The 77th Venice International Film Festival also took place at the beginning of September but the 73rd Cannes Film festival which was to take place last May had to be cancelled due to the Covid-19 pandemic; that´s why José Luis Rebordinos – the director of the festival – can be pleased and even proud as they have managed to keep the spirit of the festival alive and make the public become interested in the films that have been shown in the same way as in the previous editions.
Rifkin´s Festival, which was shot in San Sebastián last year, was premiered on 18th September. The Spanish actress Elena Anaya plays one of the main roles of the film and as she explained in a recent interview, Woody Alllen´s last film is a real tribute to cinema.
This year Viggo Mortensen has been presented with the Donostia award. The American film star has also made his debut as a film director thanks to Falling, a family drama whose leading roles are played by Lance Henriksen and the actor himself, who also wrote the screenplay.
Perhaps you haven´t been able to attend the film festival but the films which have been premiered these days will be on at your local cinema very soon so you´ll have the opportunity of watching them if you feel like discovering other people, other lives and even other countries. As for me, I´m looking forward to watching Woody Allen´s new film, a film which was being shot while I was visiting the city.
