San Sebastián is where Basque cinema’s strategy plays out at scale. This year’s bumper lineup – 13 Basque world premieres and 38 total projects across features, shorts, docs and retrospectives – showcases linguistic resilience and industrial range: Jose Mari Goenaga and Aitor Arregi’s intimate Official Selection comeback “Maspalomas;” Asier Altuna’s historical epic “Karmele;” Koldo Almandoz’s noir-tinged “Mouths of Sky”; and Irati Gorostidi’s austere “Aro Berria.”
Documentaries include cultural portraits such as “Itoiz Summer Sessions,” “Ez gera alferrik pasako” and “Hombre Bala.”
In “Karmele,” one of the Basque films at this year’s festival, the Basque language itself comes under threat. For centuries, rulers sought to stamp out cultural difference, Franco banning Basque from being spoken, sung, or taught. An ancient tongue — believed to be Europe’s oldest still in use — Basque endures where Etruscan and Iberian have vanished.
Like Gaelic, Irish, and Breton, Basque has undergone revival, and filmmakers are at the forefront of it. Once seen as a barrier to distribution, subtitles are now far more standard in global viewing, especially for younger audiences raised on streaming. That shift has altered market dynamics. Ireland’s “The Quiet Girl,” shot largely in Irish, became its nation’s first international feature Oscar nominee. Basque producers hope for a similar breakthrough, positioning their language not as a handicap but as a marker of distinction.
Taken together, this year’s slate forms a wide canvas from exile and return, generational shifts, and political legacies to music, identity and memory and with it a broader industry play: Basque producers betting on language, story and place to stand out in a too crowded market.
We profile a number of projects below:
“Sundays” (“Los Domingos”) dir. Alauda Ruiz de Azua (Movistar Plus+, Buenapinta Media, Colosé Producciones, Sayaka Producciones, Encanta Films)
Ainara, 17, startles her liberal family by announcing she is contemplating joining an enclosed religious order. From the creator of Series Mania’s 2025 Grand Prix winner “Querer,” and offering many of the same pleasures: the mix of suspense drama and psychological and social observance grounded in a knowingly depicted Basque reality; the contrast of two mindsets and a top notch cast. One of San Sebastián’s most anticipated main competition titles, now with a trailer, backed by Movistar Plus+ (“Sirât”), sold by France’s Le Pacte.
“Sundays,” courtesy of San Sebastián Film Festival
“Los Tigres” dir. Alberto Rodríguez(Mazagón Films, Kowalski Films, Feelgood Media, Movistar Plus+, Le Pacte)
The “Marshland” and “Prison 77” helmer’s thriller follows siblings Antonio and Estrella, children of a diver, whose lives at sea collapse after Antonio suffers an accident. Discovering hidden cocaine on an oil tanker, Antonio sees escape. With Antonio de la Torre and Bárbara Lennie toplining, the Spain–France co-production mixes survival drama with social point.
“Maspalomas” dirs. José Mari Goenaga, Aitor Arregi (Irusoin, Moriarti, Maspalomas Pelikula)
Goenaga and Arregi (“The Endless Trench”) return with a 100% Basque production about Vicente, 76, who, after an accident, leaves Gran Canaria’s gay scene for a San Sebastián retirement home. There he hides his sexuality once more. Anchored by José Ramón Soroiz (“Homeland”,) the film explores aging, repression and reconciliation. Competing for multiple awards, including the Sebastiane, “Maspalomas” combines intimate storytelling with broader reflections on LGBTQ+ visibility in late life.
She Walks in Darkness (“Un Fantasma en la Batalla”) dir. Agustín Díaz Yanes(Basoilarraren Filmak)
Starring Susana Abaitua, Andrés Gertrúdix and Iraia Elias,, Díaz Yanes’ feature dramatizes Spain’s largest covert Civil Guard operation against ETA in the 1990s–2000s. Following Amaia, a young officer who spends a decade undercover, the latest from the Goya winning veteran – whose debut “Nobody Will Speak Of Us When We’re Dead” won a slew of awards – fuses an edge-of-the-seat survival thriller, spotlighting the toll of infiltration.
“Karmele” dir. Asier Altuna (Txintxua Films)
Altuna’s Basque-language epic traces Karmele’s life from 1937 exile to return from Venezuela, weaving love, music and resistance. “Karmele” is positioned as one of the year’s most ambitious Basque productions, revisiting war, displacement and cultural resilience through a personal love story rooted in history and identity. We linger on folded arms, stay with a hymn to the end and span many decades, this is a film that understands the power of time.
Mouths of Sky (“Zeru Ahoak”) dir. Koldo Almandoz(Zeru Ahoak, Garabi Films)
Almandoz (“Oreina”) returns with a noir-inflected thriller set in Bilbao. Former policewoman Nerea, dismissed from the force, is drawn back when ritualistic murders emerge, confronting ghosts of her past and city’s underworld. With “Querer” lead Nagore Aranburu and Josean Bengoetxea starring, “Mouths of Sky” plays in Special Screenings. Rooted in Basque atmosphere yet shaped by genre, the film offers both detective intrigue and reflections on personal trauma.
“Aro Berria” dir. Irati Gorostidi Agirretxe (Apellaniz y de Sosa)
Developed at Ikusmira Berriak in 2022, Gorostidi’s feature debut is set in San Sebastián, 1978. After a failed strike, disillusioned workers leave the factory for a mountain commune, seeking radical change in intimate spheres. Mixing political memory with collective portraiture, the Basque-language film explores post-Franco youthful idealism. Competing for the New Directors, Youth and Irizar Basque Film Awards, “Aro Berria” signals a new voice.
“Lurdes Iriondo, ez gera alferrik pasako” dir. Inge Mendioroz Ibañez (Maluta films)
Mendioroz Ibañez’s portrait revisits the life and legacy of singer Lurdes Iriondo. We see she was more than a performer, Iriondo was pivotal in transmitting Basque culture to younger generations, understanding children as the key to the language’s survival. We learn she wrote for both adults and children, she did theatre, she even drew, clearly aware of the importance to portray her culture by any means at hand throughout her life. A compelling tale of cultural resilience and identity.
“Hombre Bala” dir. Anuska Ariztimuño (Urrelili AIE, Gona Cinema S.L., Baleuko S.L.)
Ariztimuño’s documentary portraits veteran musician Mikel Erentxun, reflecting on four decades in Spain’s pop-rock scene and a 25-year relationship with his partner. The film captures the artist’s confrontation with age, mortality and time’s erosion. A public history with private reckoning.
“Arg(h)itzen: Speaking Clearly of Torture, Enlightening Torture” (“Arg(h)itzen: Torturaz argi hitz egiten, tortura argitzen”) dir. Mikelatxo Urbi Taldea (Nafarroako Torturatuen Sarea)
A collective work, “Arg(h)itzen” assembles testimony from 30 victims tortured in Navarre’s Sakana region between 1966 and 2011. We bear witness to the survivors’ accounts and expert analysis, it maps personal trauma against state structures of impunity. The project’s collaborative roots — neighbors joining to recover suppressed truths — lend urgency to its drive for recognition and eradication of torture.
“Daniela, Forever” dir. Nacho Vigalondo (Sayaka Producciones, Señor y Señora, Mediacrest, Wrong Men)
Playing last year Toronto’s Platform – one of international’s most prestigious competitions – the latest from Basque sci-fi auteur, and the Basque Country’s most international of filmmakers. The English-language movie boasts one of Henry Golding’s finest performances, some critics said, though the final results split reviewers.
“Eloy de la Iglesia, Film Addict” (“Eloy de la Iglesia, Adicto al Cine”) dir. Gaizka Urrest (Altube Filmiak, Allmura Films)
Double Goya winner Urresti’s (“Labordeta, un hombre sin más”) doc revisits Eloy de la Iglesia, enfant terrible of Spain’s Transition, fearless chronicler of marginal lives. Mixing testimony from collaborators José Sacristán, Fernando Guillén Cuervo and others, it maps a career marked by audacity, drug addiction, ostracism and revival. Competing for both the Irizar Basque Film and Sebastiane Awards, the film reclaims a director who made cinema itself his addiction.
“Pheasant Island” (“Faisaien Irla”) dir. Asier Urbieta (Arcadia Motion Pictures SL, La Tentación Producciones, La Fidèle Production, Galatea Films)
Set on Europe’s smallest co-sovereign territory, the Bidasoa River’s Pheasant Island, Urbieta’s fiction debut entwines local life and cross-border politics with a mystery thriller. After a couple witness two men swimming across the river, a corpse appears during the island’s ritual transfer of sovereignty between France and Spain. With Jone Laspiur, also seen in festival with “Karmele”, and Itziar Ituño starring, it balances geopolitical backdrop with intimate drama. Latido Films handles sales.
“Gregorio Ordóñez, el asesinato que despertó la rebelión contra ETA” dirs. Arantxa Aldaz, Javier Roldán, David Taberna(El Diario Vasco)
Marking 30 years since the killing of San Sebastián deputy mayor and People’s Party councillor Gregorio Ordóñez, the doc reconstructs the events of January 1995 and the subsequent mobilization against ETA. Combining archive and testimony, the film places Ordóñez’s assassination in the broader Basque context, tracing how his death galvanized resistance to ETA.
“Itoiz Summer Sessions” (“Itoiz Udako Sesioak”) dirs. Larraitz Zuazo, Zuri Goikoetxea, Ainhoa Andraka
(Doxa Producciones S.L.)
Prompted by the discovery of unpublished tapes, Juan Carlos Pérez, frontman of Basque cult band Itoiz, revisits the group’s arc from 1970s prog-rock to their controversial pivot toward pop. Mixing rare material with interviews, the documentary blends nostalgia with a meditation on artistic identity. For Pérez, retracing Itoiz’s trajectory becomes a reckoning with the past and with decisions that split the band at the height of their fame.
“Jone, Sometimes” (“Jone, Batzuetan”) dir. Sara Fantova
(Escándalo Films, ESCAC Studio, Amania Films, ECPV)
During Bilbao’s Semana Grande, Jone lives her first love with Olga, as her father’s Parkinson’s illness worsens. A Basque-language coming of age and family tale marking the first feature from Bilbao-born Sara Fantova, an Escac alum cherry-picked to direct three episodes of “This Is Not Sweden.” Produced by the Sergi Casamitjana-led Escac Estudios (“Salve, María”) and Amania Films, headed by director David Pérez Sañudo (“The Last Romantics”). A buzzy title thanks to wins at Málaga and Barcelona’s D’A.
“Breaking Walls” (“Los Aitas”) dir. Borja Cobeaga (Despadres, Inicia Films, BTeam Prods, Sayaka Producciones)
Cobeaga’s return to features unfolds in 1980s Bilbao, where a rhythmic gymnastics team prepares to compete in Berlin. When mothers can’t travel, reluctant fathers step in, embarking on a journey coinciding with the fall of the Wall. With Juan Diego Botto and Quim Gutiérrez among the cast, it layers comedy with social observation, charting how men averse to hands-on parenting confront their changing roles.
“Ombuaren Itzala” dir. Patxi Bisquert (Eguzki Art Zinema) Bisquert’s historical drama turns on poet and bertsolari Pello
Mari Otaño, who fled Spain to avoid conscription, later returning to Gipuzkoa, marrying, and staging verse performances before illness and political circumstances forced him back to Argentina. With Joseba Usabiaga and Sara Cózar starring, the film traces his struggle to balance literature, ideology and family. “Ombuaren Itzala” reflects on exile and self through the story of a cultural figure divided between continents.
“Ashes” (“Popel”) dir. Oier Plaza (Fmk media. Filmak, CinePoint, Babel Doc)
Plaza’s feature hybridizes documentary investigation and dramatization as two researchers probe the fates of Spaniards deported to Nazi camps. In Prague, their search intersects with the tale of František Suchý, who, with his son, risked their lives to preserve the ashes of 2,000 victims. With cross-border production backing, “Ashes” ties Spanish exile histories to Central European memory, exploring themes of loss, truth, and the persistence of human solidarity under atrocity.
“Maspalomas,” courtesy of San Sebastián Film Festival
“The Last Rapture” (“El Último Arrebato”) dirs. Marta Medina, Enrique López Lavigne (Apache Films, 39 Escalones Films)
Revisiting Iván Zulueta’s cult art house horror classic “Rapture,” Medina and López Lavigne probe the legacy of a film that presaged Spain’s “movida” collapse and mirrored its director’s descent. The documentary positions Arrebato as both prophecy and personal tragedy. Competing for Irizar and Sebastiane Awards, “The Last Rapture” frames Zulueta as Spain’s cursed auteur, embodying the dangers and intoxications of art, drugs and obsession.
“The Truce” (“La Tregua”) dir. Miguel Ángel Vivas, Spain–Kazakhstan) (Spassk 99, Umai Film)
Set in Spassk-99, a Soviet-era labor camp on the Kazakh steppe during WWII, it follows Spaniards from both sides of the Civil War — Republicans trained in the USSR and Blue Division volunteers captured at Leningrad — forced to cooperate for survival. With Miguel Herrán and Arón Piper starring, Vivas’ historical drama examines ideological enmity confronted by shared hardship. A rare cross border partnering between Spain and Kazakhstan showing in the RTVE Gala.
“Gipuzkoa Hegan” dirs. Javi Gutiérrez Pereda, Lorea Pérez de Albéniz (Leike Produkzioak)
Launching a multi-part docuseries, “Gipuzkoa Hegan” offers an aerial journey through the Basque province’s stunning coastline, landscapes and towns, tracing customs and history with narration by Toti Martínez de Lezea. Original music by Fernando Velázquez scores imagery shot from the air. Presented as an EITB Gala, the doc is framed as both cultural showcase and visual celebration of territory, situating Gipuzkoa within a broader project mapping the Basque Country from above.
“Tetsu, Txispa, Hoshi” dir. Jon Arregui Larrazabal(Digytal Audiovisuales)
Following Japanese chef Tetsuro Maeda, who built Michelin-starred restaurant Txispa at the foot of Mount Anboto, it blends food documentary with cultural meditation. Narrated through Maeda’s own reflections, the film charts his journey from Tokyo childhood to culinary reinvention in the Basque Country, anchoring his dishes in local landscapes and myths.
“Heidi: Rescue of the Lynx” (“Heidi, Katamotzaren Erreskatea”) dirs. Tobias Schwarz, Aizea Roca (3Doubles Producciones, Studio 100 Film, Heidi Production Film, Hotel Hungaria Animatie, Sumendi Uhartea)
Reinventing Johanna Spyri’s classic, the animated feature follows Heidi as she discovers an injured lynx and sets out with Peter to reunite it with its family. Facing off against an unscrupulous businessman threatening nature, Heidi’s mission blends adventure with ecological themes. Co-directed by Germany’s Tobias Schwarz and Spain’s Aizea Roca, and produced with Belgian backing, the family film screens in Movies for Kids, expanding Basque co-production into international animation.
“White Roses, Fall!” (“¡Caigan las Rosas Blancas!”) dir. Albertina Carri (Gentil Cine)
Argentine auteur Carri (“The Blonds”) returns with a hybrid autofiction where a young filmmaker, once author of a lesbian porn experiment, is hired to direct a mainstream porn production. Rejecting convention, she embarks on a schlep with friends from Buenos Aires to São Paulo, searching for alternative ways to narrate gender and desire. Radical politics, sex and cinema!
“The Story of Us,” courtesy of San Sebastián Film Festival
“8″ dir. Julio Medem (Morena Films, Eidan Produce, Barbazul La Película)
San Sebastián-born Julio Medem (“Lovers of the Arctic Circle”) premieres “8,” an epic intertwining Octavio and Adela’s lives across 90 years, beginning with their births on the day of Spain’s Second Republic proclamation. Played by Ana Rujas, Javier Rey and Álvaro Morte, the characters’ fates loop across history in the shape of infinity. Produced out of Spain with Basque involvement, “8” marks Medem’s ambitious return, mixing love story with sweeping political backdrop.
“Undercover” (“La Infiltrada”) dir. Arantxa Echevarría (Esto También Pasará, Bowfinger International Pictures, Beta Fiction Spain)
A big, big breakout in Spain last year, grossing €9.7 million ($11.3 million), the second highest box office score in Spain over the last 18 months. Echevarría (“Carmen & Lola”) directs a thriller about a police officer infiltrating ETA’s circles as a sympathizer, then tasked with sheltering militants preparing attacks. With Carolina Yuste and Luis Tosar starring, the feature dramatizes the most dangerous mission of her life, as she balances reporting to her superiors with the constant risk of discovery by the group. It squeezes the Basque conflict through a taut undercover drama.
“Queen of Coal” (“Miss Carbón”) dir. Agustina Macri (Morena Films, The Warning of Rivard)
A Netflix title in Latin America, providing the closing night gala for August’s Sanfic in Chile. Drawing from real events, Macri’s co-production follows Carlita, the first woman miner in a town where superstition barred female presence underground. Starring Lux Pascal and Paco León, “Queen of Coal” shows her fight for recognition against gendered prohibitions and community hostility. Produced between Spain and Argentina, the film plays Made in Spain, spotlighting themes of perseverance, gender boundaries and social prejudice in a narrative pitched between biopic and social drama.
“The Story of Us” (“Nosotros”) dir. Helena Taberna
(Lamia Producciones, Vértigo Films)
Navarre-born Helena Taberna (“Yoyes”) reconstructs a love story in reverse, beginning with its breakdown. Ángela and Antonio (María Vázquez, Pablo Molinero) sift through decades of shared life – children, struggles, compromises – interrogating how love fades and memory fractures. A Spain-Europe co-production developed at San Sebastián’s Co-Production Forum, “The Story of Us” plays Made in Spain, cementing Taberna’s reputation as a Basque filmmaker continuing to explore the intersection of intimacy, history and political undercurrents.
John Hopewell and Rafa Sales Ross contributed to this article.
