# 69th San Sebastián International Film Festival

The 69th San Sebastián International Film Festival took place from 17 to 25 September 2021 in San Sebastián, Gipuzkoa, Spain. The festival opened with Zhang Yimou's One Second. Marion Cotillard and Johnny Depp were awarded the Donostia Award for lifetime achievements. The Donostia Award bestowed to Johnny Depp was mired by controversy and public scrutiny.
The competitive awards were presented on 25 September 2021. Blue Moon by Alina Grigore won the Golden Shell award, whereas Jessica Chastain (The Eyes of Tammy Faye) shared the Silver Shell for Best Leading Performance (a new non-gendered category replacing the former gendered acting awards) with Danish teen Flora Ofelia Hofmann Lindahl (As in Heaven).

## Juries
### Official Selection

* Dea Kulumbegashvili
* Susi Sánchez
* Maite Alberdi
* Audrey Diwan
* Ted Hope

### Horizontes latinos

* María Zamora
* Lila Avilés
* Luciano Monteagudo

### New Directors

* Mary Burke
* Irene Escolar
* Suzanne Lindon

### Zabaltegi-Tabakalera

* Sergio Oksman [es]
* Miriam Heard
* Elena López Riera

## Sections
### Official Selection
#### In competition

The lineup of films selected for the Official Selection is as follows:
    Highlighted title indicates award winner.
| English title | Original title | Director(s) | Production country |
| One Second | Yi miao zhong · 一秒鐘 | Zhang Yimou | China |
| Arthur Rambo | Arthur Rambo | Laurent Cantet | France |
| Benediction | Benediction | Terence Davies | United Kingdom |
| Camila Comes Out Tonight [es] | Camila saldrá esta noche | Inés Barrionuevo | Argentina |
| Blue Moon [es] | Crai Nou | Alina Grigore [es] | Romania |
| Fever Dream | Distancia de rescate | Claudia Llosa | PeruUnited StatesChileSpain |
| As in Heaven [de] | Du som er i himlen | Tea Lindeburg [de] | Denmark |
| Earwig | Earwig | Lucile Hadzihalilovic | United Kingdom · France · Belgium |
| The Good Boss | El buen patrón | Fernando León de Aranoa | Spain |
| Enquête sur un scandale d'État (2021 film) | Enquête sur un scandale d'État | Thierry de Peretti [fr] | France |
| The Grandmother | La abuela | Paco Plaza | SpainFrance |
| Maixabel | Maixabel | Icíar Bollaín | Spain |
| Fire on the Plain [zh] | Ping yuan shang de huo yan · 平原上的火焰 | Zhang Ji | China |
| Who's Stopping Us | Quién lo impide | Jonás Trueba | Spain |
| The Eyes of Tammy Faye | The Eyes of Tammy Faye | Michael Showalter | United States |
| I Want to Talk About Duras [fr] | Vous ne désirez que moi | Claire Simon | France |

#### Out of competition

The following works (including a short and a miniseries) were selected to screen out of competition:
| English title | Original title | Director(s) | Production countrie(s) |
| Rosa Rosae. A Spanish Civil War Elegy | Rosa Rosae. La guerra civil | Carlos Saura | Spain |
| Las leyes de la frontera | Las leyes de la frontera | Daniel Monzón | Spain |
| La Fortuna | La Fortuna | Alejandro Amenábar | Spain |
| The Daughter | La hija | Manuel Martín Cuenca | Spain |

### Latin Horizons

The following films were selected for the Latin Horizons section:
    Highlighted title indicates award winner.
| English title | Original title | Director(s) | Production countrie(s) |
| Dusk Stone | Piedra Noche | Iván Fund | Argentina · Chile · Spain |
| The Employer and the Employee | El empleado y el patrón | Manolo Nieto [es] | UruguayArgentinaBrazilFrance |
| Jesús López | Jesús López | Maximiliano Schonfeld [de] | ArgentinaFrance |
| Madalena | Madalena | Madiano Marcheti | Brazil |
| Aurora | Aurora | Paz Fábrega | Costa RicaMexicoPanama |
| The Box | La caja | Lorenzo Vigas | MexicoUnited States |
| A Cop Movie | Una película de policías | Alonso Ruizpalacios | Mexico |
| Azor | Azor | Andreas Fontana | SwitzerlandArgentinaFrance |
| Prayers for the Stolen | Noche de fuego | Tatiana Huezo | MexicoGermanyBrazilQatar |
| Amparo | Amparo | Simón Mesa Soto | ColombiaSwedenGermanyQatar |

### New Directors

The following films were selected for the New Directors section:
    Highlighted title indicates award winner.
| English title | Original title | Director(s) | Production countrie(s) |
| Carajita | Carajita | Silvina Schnicer, Ulises Porra | Dominican RepublicArgentina |
| That Weekend | Ese fin de semana | Mara Pescio | ArgentinaBrazil |
| Aloners | Honja Saneun Salamdeul · 혼자 사는 사람들 | Hong Sung-eun | South Korea |
| Between Two Dawns | İki Şafak Arasinda | Selman Nacar | TurkeyFranceRomaniaSpain |
| Inventory | Inventura | Darko Sinko | Slovenia |
| Josephine | Josefina | Javier Marco | Spain |
| The Rust | La Roya | Juan Sebastián Mesa | ColombiaFrance |
| Hilda's Short Summer | Las vacaciones de Hilda | Agustin Banchero | UruguayBrazil |
| The Noise of Engines | Le bruit des moteurs | Philippe Grégoire | Canada |
| Mikado | Marocco | Emanuel Parvu | RomaniaCzech Republic |
| Mass | Mass | Fran Kranz | United States |
| Unwanted | Nich'ya | Lena Lanskih | Russia |
| Lost in Summer | Shu qi shi guang | Sun Liang | China |

### Zabaltegi-Tabakalera

The following films were selected for the Zabaltegi-Tabakalera section:
    Highlighted title indicates award winner.
| English title | Original title | Director(s) | Production countrie(s) |
| Mi iubita, mon amour | Mi iubita, mon amour | Noémie Merlant | France |
| Unclenching the Fists | Razzhimaya kulaki · Разжимая кулаки | Kira Kovalenko | Russia |
| Petrov's Flu | Petrovy v grippe · вы в гриппе | Kirill Serebrennikov | RussiaFranceSwitzerlandGermany |
| Playground | Un monde | Laura Wandel | Belgium |
| Vortex | Vortex | Gaspar Noé | France |
| Bad Luck Banging or Loony Porn | Babardeală cu bucluc sau porno balamuc | Radu Jude | RomaniaLuxembourgCzech RepublicCroatia |
| The Crossing [fr] | La Traversée | Florence Miailhe [fr] | FranceGermanyCzech Republic |
| They Carry Death | Eles transportan a morte | Helena Girón, Samuel M. Delgado | SpainColombia |
| The Great Movement | El gran movimiento | Kiro Russo | BoliviaFrance |
| 107 Mothers | Cenzorka | Péter Kerekes [fr] | SlovakiaCzech RepublicUkraine |
| Haruhara-san's Recorder | Haruharasan no uta | Kyoshi Sugita | Japan |

### Donostia Award Screenings

The following film was selected for the Donostia Award Screenings section:
| English title | Original title | Director(s) | Production countrie(s) |
| Bigger Than Us | Bigger Than Us | Flore Vasseur | France |

### Surprise film

The following film was programmed as a surprise:
| English title | Original title | Director(s) | Production countrie(s) |
| Spencer | Spencer | Pablo Larraín | United KingdomUnited StatesGermanyChile |

## Official Selection Awards

* Golden Shell: Blue Moon by Alina Grigore
* Special Jury Prize: Earwig by Lucile Hadžihalilović
* Silver Shell for Best Director: Tea Lindeburg (As in Heaven)
* Silver Shell for Best Leading Performance: Flora Ofelia (As in Heaven) & Jessica Chastain (The Eyes of Tammy Faye)
* Silver Shell for Best Supporting Performance: cast of Who's Stopping Us
* Best Screenplay: Terence Davies (Benediction)
* Best Cinematography: Claire Mathon (Undercover)

## Special Awards

Donostia Award for lifetime achievements: Marion Cotillard and Johnny Depp