EITB and the San Sebastian Festival consolidate their partnership, with their continued backing of the Great Basque Cinema Gala

At our biggest gathering celebrating our cinema on 22 September, as well as presenting the Zinemira Award to Jose Ramon Soroiz, honours will also go to directors Ana Díez and Alauda Ruiz de Azúa, and the actress Aitziber Garmendia

The EITB Egile Berriak Saria award, given in recognition of emerging Basque talent, will go to the screenwriter and director from San Sebastián Alberto Gastesi

The Director of the San Sebastián Festival, José Luis Rebordinos, and the Director-General of EITB, Andoni Aldekoa, presented their collaboration agreement this Monday, 14 September, during a press conference at which the actress Miren Gaztañaga announced the awards of the upcoming edition of the Great Basque Cinema Gala.

The Great Basque Cinema Gala, to take place on 22 September in the Victoria Eugenia Theatre will be presented by Miren Gaztañaga and Ane Gabarain, and will be broadcast live on ETB and ETB ON. Prior to this, Basque cinema will take to the red carpet for an hour, a moment which can also be followed live on said channels. The ceremony will have top tier actresses, actors and performances demonstrating the excellent health of our cinema today. This is why acknowledging and celebrating talent is now more important than ever. These awards serve not only to highlight the importance of the Basque film industry, but also to recognise all the talent behind the scenes: the work that goes into screenwriting and directing, the production and distribution team, and all the artistic and technical crews.

This year EITB will give the Egile Berriak Award to Alberto Gastesi, for his cinematographic career marked by curiosity, creative interests and a constant desire to explore new audiovisual territories. “To honour Alberto Gastesi is to recognise a career which has already found its own voice, but also a creator who maintains his curiosity for all those things he still has to discover”, says EITB.

Another five awards will also be presented. The GIDOI + SGAE Award for Best Screenwriter in the Basque Country will go to Alauda Ruiz de Azua, for her work in the feature film Los domingos / Sundays, winner of the Golden Shell at the San Sebastián Festival in 2025 . The GIDOI Association stressed the manner in which the filmmaker develops in her screenplay a raft of characters laden with psychological depth, in a story that flows from everyday life and which skilfully manages the weight of restraint and of things that go unsaid. In their words “Los domingos / Sundays is an unbeatable example of meticulous work, maturity and excellence in screenwriting”.

Similarly, Los domingos / Sundays also carries off this year’s EZAE Award honouring the Basque production to have achieved the highest audience attendance in cinemas. As well as recompensing its success, the award recognises and rewards its commitment to taking Basque films into the cinema.

For the first time, the Filmoteca Vasca will give its historic award in the framework of the Great Basque Cinema Gala. The director from Navarra, Ana Díez will collect this prize honouring her career now that the Basque film archive and EITB, under the auspices of the Basque Government, have restored Ander eta Yul / Ander and Yul (Ana Díez, 1989). The film, the debut from its maker and the first feature film directed by a woman in the Basque industry, won the Goya Award for Best New Director. The Filmoteca award, honouring key figures of our film industry, has previously gone to directors such as Pedro Olea, Montxo Armendáriz, Anjel Lertxundi, Xabier Elorriaga, Alfonso Ungría and José Julián Bakedano.

The EAB Distira Saria award goes to Aitziber Garmendia. The Union of Basque Actors Vascos has highlighted, not only the excellence of her recent work, but also a career composed with rigour, talent and commitment to acting. “An award highlighting the path travelled while also looking towards the future of an actress whose career continues to grow”, they said.

Lastly, the Zinemira Award, given by the Film Festival and EPE IBAIA (Association of Independent Audiovisual Producers of the Basque Country) will be presented to Jose Ramon Soroiz. The award honours his more than four decades of professional career and his decisive contribution to the development and consolidation of Basque cinema.