San Sebastián Closes Rebordinos Era as Spain Hits Record Spend

The 74th San Sebastián Film Festival closed as the last edition under director José Luis Rebordinos, who has led the event since 2011. The festival's run ended with a slate that mixed star power, awards-season momentum and hard questions about the global film business.

Brad Pitt was the festival's most visible draw, spending an hour and a half signing autographs and taking selfies with fans. David Ayer's The Heart of the Beast, produced by Plan B and starring Pitt, ranked among the event's most popular titles.

The industry side of the festival had its own headline: Spanish film and TV production reached an all-time high of €5.68 billion in 2025, according to the Spain Film Commission. Spain also picked up five International Emmy nominations during the festival.

On the awards front, Los Javis' La Bola Negra arrived in San Sebastián after winning the TIFF People's Choice Award, and Thierry Frémaux presented the duo with a copy of their Cannes best director award. Well-received competition entries included What Remains, In My Father's Room, Saints and Border, while Mike Leigh's Tender Loving Care topped the Spanish reviewers' poll in El Diario Vasco.

Panels also turned to structural strain. France's film industry was described as being in shambles in a Variety news report, and in South Korea, Heejeon Kim of Barunson C&C said film revenues are shrinking while financiers struggle to invest. The Marché du Film's Investors Circle held closed-door sessions with four investors at San Sebastián's Creative Investors' Conference.

Among Spanish projects in the spotlight, Sira, the sequel to The Time in Between, is produced by Buendía Estudios with Atresmedia and Netflix and premieres on Atresplayer. Jesse Eisenberg also told the festival that Jeremy Strong will play Mark Zuckerberg in Aaron Sorkin's The Social Network sequel.