The great cinema open to debate, 'Los domingos', wins the Golden Shell in a very Spanish list of awards.

Ruiz de Azúa, who became known with Cinco Lobitos and last year presented the series Querer (Querer) out of competition at the festival, immerses the viewer in a family microcosm, highlighting its fragility and avoiding judgment at all times. In his speech, he declared that he loves cinema because it teaches him to look "from another place" and to be able to "try" to understand something that is "different" to him. "I don't think that trying to understand something means validating or legitimizing it, but I do believe we live in a world where I have one certainty, and that is that there are always people who are different from you. And I think that's why it's worthwhile for cinema to be a space for encounter, reflection, and debate. You have restored my faith in this space," he said of a film that will hit theaters on October 24 and has been a critical favorite since its screening last Monday.

Sundays is the third Spanish film to win at the Zinemaldia in a row. Two years ago, it was O Corno , the debut of Basque director Jaione Camborda; in 2024, it was Catalan director Albert Serra's bullfighting film Tardes de soledad ; and now, Ruiz de Azúa is the second Basque director to achieve such recognition in her homeland. It also won the Feroz Award for best film at the festival, awarded by the Spanish Association of Film Journalists (AICE), and the Irizar Award for Basque Cinema.

The film about a young woman's religious vocation wasn't the only one to dominate a list of winners with a distinctly Spanish accent. José Luis Guerín took to the stage at the Kursaal to take home the Special Jury Prize and the Spanish Cooperation Award for Historias del Buen Valle (Stories of the Good Valley) , a documentary about the inhabitants of the humble Barcelona neighborhood of Vallbona that captivated audiences with its way of capturing the daily life of a multicultural community that becomes a symbol of resistance. The Catalan filmmaker recalled that he first received this award 25 years ago for En Construcción (Under Construction) and thanked the festival for hosting "such a handcrafted film."

"Documentary film is often treated with condescension, as a necessary but somewhat lazy form of cinema, and its quality or interest is equated with the merits of the cause it champions. It sometimes seems to carry a connotation, like exemplary cinema, which somewhat puts me off," said Guerín, who thanked the San Sebastián Film Festival for allowing the films to be worn in support of Palestine, something that, as he recalled, was not abandoned by the management of the Cannes Film Festival.

Los Tigres , the thriller about two diving brothers directed by Alberto Rodríguez, collected the award for Best Cinematography for Pau Esteve. And Basque actor José Ramón Soroiz won Best Performance for his role as a homosexual septuagenarian who is forced to come back into the closet upon entering a nursing home in Maspalomas , directed by José Mari Goenaga and Aitor Arregi. “This is what I like least, but I want to thank everyone for everything that's happening to me with this film. It's been wonderful working with this team, although I was a little scared at first. I told myself I couldn't back out,” said the veteran actor, who will be making waves during awards season. “I'm from Legorreta, and it's something that fills me with pride,” he concluded.

Hers was a fairly anticipated award, which she shares jointly with China's Xiaohong Zhao, who plays herself in Her Heart Beats in Its Cage , the true story of a woman who spent a decade in prison for killing an abusive husband and who, upon her release, has to deal with a difficult relationship with her young son. "It was a complete surprise. I would like to thank myself for the award for all the hardships I've been through. I've never abandoned myself. I want to share this happiness with my son, who is in China. Mom loves you," the very moved actress declared in a long speech.

And in the supporting category, applause went to Argentine actress Camila Plaate for Belén , directed by Dolores Fonzi. In this true story from 2014, she plays a young woman who went to a public hospital in Tucumán with acute abdominal pain, unaware she was pregnant, and hours later was accused of having an abortion. She spent more than two years in prison until a lawyer took on the case and turned her into a feminist symbol.

Political and social cinema whose premiere takes place in a critical context for Argentine film production. “This film brings us memory, truth, and justice,” said the emotional actress, who dedicated the award to the Tucumán Women's Movement. “Collective song never goes out of tune. This story is the fire of all. Long live the struggles of the masses, and we want to be alive and free! Belén won, and we are all Belén.”

For his part, Belgian Joachim Lafosse, accused in 2024 of psychological abuse and toxic practices on his film sets by a dozen collaborators, won the Silver Shell for Best Director for Six Days in Spring , a weak family drama about the unexpected and humiliating vacation on the French Riviera of a Black woman and her children to a luxury villa owned by her ex-father-in-law. The story also took home the award for Best Screenplay. Lafosse already won an award as a director ten years ago for White Knights (2015).

One of the most moving awards at the closing ceremony was the one given by the public, which went to The Voice of Hind . Tunisian director Kaouther Ben Hania's film about a six-year-old girl killed in an Israeli army attack in January 2024, has had a profound impact on the San Sebastian festival, just as it did a few weeks ago in Venice. It is heartbreaking to hear the conversations the little girl had with Red Crescent volunteers who were trying to save her life while she was trapped in a car next to the bodies of her relatives. Actor Motaz Malhees thanked the audience for the award for listening to the girl's voice and dedicated it to Hind Rajab's family, who are "the ones who will carry her memory amidst this immeasurable pain," and to the Red Crescent volunteers.

“Your hearts have also decided to raise their voices, refusing to remain silent. Hind, a little girl trapped in a car for hours, surrounded by nothing, pleading, begging for help. We must raise our voices because we are talking about a situation of devastation and genocide. Conflict prevails in the world. May this voice travel throughout the world and rise up in support of dignity and freedom, which are more than mere words. Thank you very much. Free Palestine,” she declared to applause from the audience.

Among the other awards, the Donostia City Audience Award for Best European Film went to the French film Little Amelie. A Poet , by Colombian director Simón Mesa, won the award for Horizontes Latinos. "It's a film that stems from my frustration with cinema," said the director. The RTVE award for Otra mirada went to Las corrientes , by Argentine director Milagros Mumenthaler.