Catherine Deneuve and Anouk Aimée add their names to those attending the Jacques Demy cycle

The actor Michael Fassbender and director Steve McQueen will present Shame in the Zabaltegi-Pearls section

The two most emblematic actresses of Jacques Demy’s cinema will come to San Sebastian, where they will pay homage to and recall the director to whom the 59th Festival dedicates a complete retrospective.

Catherine Deneuve, one of European cinema’s most popular and best-loved actresses, she played the leading role in Jacques Demy’s Les parapluies de Cherbourg (The Umbrellas of Cherbourg, 1964), winner of the Golden Palm at the Cannes Festival and of an Academy Award nomination for Best Foreign Film. Deneuve later starred in another two of Demy’s best known movies, Les demoiselles de Rochefort (The Young Girls of Rochefort, 1967) and Peau d’âne (Donkey Skin, 1970). The actress received the San Sebastian Festival’s Donostia Award for lifetime achievement at its 43rd edition in 1995.

Anouk Aimée is another myth for film aficionados thanks to her lead part in Demy’s first feature film, Lola (1960). She repeated this character years later in another of the director’s works, Model Shop (1969), going on to lend her voice and presence to his last picture, La table tournante (1988).

Aimée is also specially remembered for her collaboration with Federico Fellini in La dolce vita (1960) and Fellini 81/2 (1963), and will therefore, during her stay in San Sebastian, visit the exhibition Fellini. The Circus of Illusions, organised by the “La Caixa” Social and Community Project and NBC Photographie, in collaboration with the San Sebastian City Council and the San Telmo Museum.

Another two distinguished members of today’s cinema have also confirmed their presence at this year’s Festival: Michael Fassbender and Steve McQueen, lead actor and director of the film Shame, to be presented in the Zabaltegi-Pearls section.

Michael Fassbender recently landed the Volpi Cup for Best Actor at the last Venice Film Festival for his part in Shame. One of the most remarkable actors on today’s movie scene, Fassbender’s filmography includes titles like Steve McQueen’s first film, Hunger (2008), Fish Tank (2009), Quentin Tarantino’s Inglorious Basterds (2009), Centurion (2010), Jane Eyre (2011), X-Men: First Class (2011) and David Cronenberg’s latest film, A Dangerous Method (2011).

Steve McQueen made a name for himself on the film scene when his first work, Hunger (2008), won the Caméra d’Or at the Cannes Festival. The film went on to earn recognition and accolades at numerous international festivals and was presented in the Zabaltegi-Pearls section of San Sebastian’s 56th edition. His second film, Shame, competed at the recent Venice Film Festival, where it won the FIPRESCI Critics’ Prize.