Oman today_ The 2025 San Sebastián International Film Festival concluded with the announcement of its main award winners.
The film Sundays by Spanish director Alauda Ruiz de Azúa received the prestigious Golden Shell for Best Film, along with four additional prizes, making it the most celebrated work of this edition. The documentary The Voice of Hind Rajab, previously honored at the Venice Film Festival, won the Audience Award for Best Film.
The Special Jury Prize went to Good Valley Stories by José Luis Guerín, who had also received the same recognition in 2001 for Work in Progress. The Silver Shell for Best Director was awarded to Joachim Lafosse for Six Days in Spring. In the acting categories, the Silver Shell for Best Leading Performance was shared by José Ramón Soroiz for Maspalomas and Zhao Xiaohong for Her Heart Beats in Its Cage. The Silver Shell for Best Supporting Performance went to Camila Plátez for Belén.
This year’s jury, presided over by Society of the Snow director Juan Antonio Bayona, also included Portuguese filmmaker Laura Carreira, American director Gia Coppola, Chinese actress Zhou Dongyu, Argentine singer and actress Lali Espósito, British actor Mark Strong, and French producer Anne-Dominique Toussaint.
Other major awards included Best Screenplay for Six Days in Spring, Best Cinematography for Los Tigres, the New Directors Award for Weightless, and the Horizons Award for A Poet. Special Mentions were given to New Era, The Ivy, and A Loose End.
Additional prizes in parallel sections were presented to films from France, Portugal, Canada, India, Slovakia, and Germany, reaffirming San Sebastián’s status as one of Europe’s most prestigious film festivals.