XXIII SAN SEBASTIÁN HUMAN RIGHTS FILM FESTIVAL

From April 23 to 30, we welcome the 23rd edition of the San Sebastián Human Rights Film Festival. This event uses cinema as a tool to encourage reflection, raise awareness, and spark debate about human rights violations around the world.

This year, the film ‘Palestine 36’ (2025) will open the festival: a work directed by Palestinian filmmaker Annemarie Jacir, Festival Award winner in 2019. Set in the 1930s, it tells the story of the Palestinian people’s struggle against British colonialism.

The Human Rights Film Festival was founded in 2003 as an initiative of the San Sebastián City Council and is organized by the city’s Human Rights Department and Donostia Kultura. Since then, it has evolved very positively: in 2006, the Short Film Section became competitive, awarding Best Short Film to ‘Bawke’ (Hisham Zaman; Norway, 2004). Since then, new recognitions have been introduced. In the latest edition, in addition to the Festival Award, the lineup included four prizes: the Youth Jury Award for Best Short Film, the Audience Award for Best Feature Film, the Amnesty International Award, and the EITB Award for Best Basque Short Film.

The festival takes place at the Victoria Eugenia Theatre as its main venue (just a 5-minute walk from Hotel Parma) and at the Principal Theatre (7 minutes on foot). Screenings will also be held in other locations such as Okendo Kultur Etxea and Tabakalera, where the “Cinema and Memory” series will take place.

Through this festival, Donostia understands “cinema as a powerful and universal tool, highlighting the power of images to raise awareness, move audiences, and even change the world.” This spirit is clearly reflected in this year’s program, which addresses topics such as the role of women in religions, the climate emergency in Bangladesh, and the feminization of precarious work in the textile industry. There will also be spaces for discussion and sessions for younger audiences.

Some standout titles include:

• ‘Black Water’, by Natxo Leuza, on the climate emergency in Bangladesh
• ‘Made in EU’, by Stephan Komandarev, analyzing female labor precarity in the European textile industry
• ‘À bras-le-corps’, set during World War II
• ‘The Disappearance of Josef Mengele’, by Kirill Serebrennikov, about the “Angel of Death” of Auschwitz who escapes to South America to rebuild his life in hiding
• ‘Girls & Gods’, which questions the role of women in religions
• ‘Promised Heaven’, focused on sisterhood in Tunisia
• ‘Sucia’, based on actress Bàrbara Mestanza’s experience of sexual assault
• ‘Iván & Hadoum’, following the life of a trans man working as a seasonal laborer

This is not only an appropriate festival, but a necessary one in the times we live in. At Hotel Parma, we fully align with its purpose and values. You can be part of it too. We look forward to welcoming you!