San Sebastian Film Festival

A slightly younger, slightly cooler and more accessible sister to Cannes, the prestigious Donostia-San Sebastián Film Festival is superbly curated, and suitably star-studded. What makes it our cinema spectacular of choice is its location: clinging to a sandy bay in the Basque region, San Sebastián has beautiful architecture and a reputation for Spain’s finest cuisine. The festival, with its mix of in-depth retrospectives and major previews, began in the 1950s, but remains intimate: A-listers rub shoulders with arthouse auteurs and local film buffs. San Sebastián is a favourite resort of the Spanish royal family but, come September, it’s Hollywood’s royalty – John Malkovich, Woody Allen, Penélope Cruz – who take the sea air.

Highlights

The Donostia Prize, a lifetime achievement award given to an outstanding actor, actress or director, is the focus of the festival; recent winners include Sean Penn, Annette Bening, Francis Ford Coppola and Max von Sydow.

San Sebastian Film Festival Highlight Image

In The Know

Head Count

Around 200,000 people come to attend the screenings and mingle with their celluloid heroes.

Meeting Point

People tend to meet up at the bar at Hotel Maria Cristina or, later on, at the clubs along La Concha (Bataplán, La Rotonda, La Kubutzia), where the film companies and sponsors hold their festival parties.

Best View

Get a VIP ticket, which will you ensure you are given seats with a better view. Between screenings, catch the ferry over to tiny Santa Clara island, opposite La Concha beach, and see if you're allowed up to the top of the lighthouse.

Packing Tips

Sunglasses – to help with the shock of coming out of a screening into the glare of the Spanish sunshine, and to give you that high-rolling film-producer look.

Escape

Take refuge in the Basilica of Santa Maria del Coro in San Sebastián’s old quarter, or go marvel at the 75-metre spire of the city’s gothic cathedral. San Sebastián is surrounded by green and gorgeous Basque country, if you feel like a drive or a walk. For an urban art pilgrimage, head to the Guggenheim in Bilbao, 100 kilometres away (+34 944 359 000, www.guggenheim-bilbao.es).

Dos and don'ts

• Try the local cider at a sagardotegiak or cider house in the hills around the city.
• Pick up a copy of the official festival poster. You’ll see them everywhere while you’re in town, and they make great artworks to take home.
• Visit one of the three gorgeous beaches that nestle up against the town.
• Don’t forget to brush up on your Spanish before settling down to watch the international fare. The Spanish-language films, and all those featuring in the official selection, will be subtitled in English, but many others will simply have Spanish subtitles.

Need To Know

Children

This is not the most spellbinding event for kids, but the area is great for families, and the festival organisers do screen one film specially for the young ’uns.

Parking

Cars don't have access to the old part of town, and parking spots can be difficult to come by and squeeze into.

Disability Access

The older part of the town is difficult to get around in a wheelchair, but the centre and the cinemas are fine. Contact the festival box office before you travel to check on any specific requirements.

Food & Drink

San Sebastián is rightly celebrated for its fine food, from world-class contemporary cuisine to spanking fresh tapas. The Parte Vieja – the old town – is where you’ll find the liveliest pintxo bars (that’s Basque for tapas), for an evening of txikiteo – like a more civilized pub crawl with snacking en route. Ormazabel and Martinez are two of our favourites, on Calle 31 de Agosto. Our taste buds can recommend courgette stuffed with crabmeat, the squid with onion, and the wonderful garlicky mushrooms… And because you’re in a great wine region, a glass of red costs next to nothing, and tastes all the better for it. On the gourmet side, San Sebastián has more Michelin stars per capita than anywhere else in the world (at the last count, 15 stars for a population of less than 200,000). Try century-old, family-run, three-starred Arzak, which serves up fresh, fabulous, locally sourced Basque food (+ 34 943 278 465). A little less pricey but still wonderful, and also family-run, is Zuberoa (+34 943 491 228), where the fish is superb.

Sleep

There are no Smith hotels in this neck of the woods, but we’ve found a few good alternative options. Hotel Niza is right in the middle of the bay, with gorgeous views and a decent restaurant (+34 943 426 663; www.hotelniza.com). Just 10 minutes drive out of San Sebastián is Hotel Karlos Arguiñano, a four-star stay in a mediaeval castle right on the Zarautz beach – it has an excellent Basque restaurant, too (+34 943 130 000; www.hotelka.com).

VIP

€300 will get you a VIP pass, which includes tickets for all afternoon and evening screenings at the Kursaal Centre, including the gala events.