San Sebastian Sets 2026 New Directors Lineup
Get the Culture newsletter
Daily culture — film, music, books, the trends and ideas worth your attention. Free.
- San Sebastian Film Festival confirmed its 2026 New Directors lineup, with the festival running September 18-26 and featuring 13 first and second feature films from filmmakers across Bulgaria, Chile, Germany, Iran, Japan, Kazakhstan, Mexico, Norway, South Korea, Spain, Taiwan, the UK, and Ukraine.
- Jaime Lorente opens the sidebar with his debut 'The Bad Son' (El mal hijo), a Spanish film in which an 11-year-old boy moves in with his grandmother after his father mysteriously disappears and learns that family wounds pass between generations.
- Billy Lumby closes the sidebar with UK-Sweden co-production 'Florid,' following Jamal, a schizophrenia patient in supported housing who stops taking medication and must confront the blurred line between reality and past family events.
- Massih Parsaei's 'Lovers Sleep Alone' (Iran) and Tatjana Moutchnik's 'February, Seven Days' (Ukraine) are among the sidebar titles — the former following an Iranian man in Berlin visited by a cousin from Tehran, the latter set on a Germany visit the day before the Ukraine war breaks out.
- Mike Leigh's 'Tender Loving Care' and Pablo Larraín's feature-length series 'My Sad Dead' — based on Mariana Enríquez stories and starring Mercedes Morán and Dolores Fonzi — are set for the festival's official competition alongside the New Directors program.
Why it matters: The 13-country scope gives early visibility to debut and second-time directors from regions underrepresented in major festival circuits. Pairing Mike Leigh with Pablo Larraín in San Sebastian's official competition during the same September 18-26 run positions the festival as an early fall launchpad for awards-season contenders.
