(Madrid) Spanish director Víctor Erice will receive an honorary award at the San Sebastián Film Festival to be held September 22-30, organizers announced on Tuesday.
The Basque will receive his prize on September 29, “50 years after” winning the Concha de Oro (the Golden Shell), the festival’s most prestigious prize for his first solo feature, The Spirit of the Beehive. says the festival’s press release.
On this occasion, the latest film by the 83-year-old filmmaker, who had not filmed for thirty years, will be screened. Closing your eyes had been at the heart of a controversy at the last Cannes Film Festival: the director had not made it to the screening and had criticized the fact that his film had been presented out of competition.
Víctor Erice is a filmmaker admired in Spain and abroad, awarded at festivals such as San Sebastián and Cannes, and whose visual discourse has influenced generations of filmmakers. He is the only Spaniard present in the ranking of the 100 best films of all time, produced by the British Film Institute and unveiled at the beginning of the year.
He has had a very strong bond with San Sebastian since he won the prize for best director in 1969 at the Basque festival for his film Los desafíos (The challenges), which he co-directed.
Spanish actor Javier Bardem will also be honored at this 71st edition of the festival, although his attendance has not been confirmed due to the Hollywood actors’ strike.
The festival will open with Japanese director Hayao Miyazaki’s latest film Kimitachi wa Do Ikiruka (The Boy and the Heron) and close with British director James Marsh’s Dance First, both films screened out of competition.
