Six films from the San Sebastian Film Festival are eligible for the Agenda 2030 Euskadi Basque Country Award

Six films from the official programme of the 71st San Sebastian Film Festival are eligible for the Agenda 2030 Euskadi Basque Country Award. It recognises the film that best reflects the values of sustainability and solidarity as the main emblems of the Sustainable Development Goals promoted by the 2030 Agenda at the United Nations.

Two of the films in contention are part of the Official Selection and are All Dirt Roads Taste of Salt, by Raven Jackson, and The Royal Hotel, by Kitty Green. The remaining four come from the Perlak category: Aku wa Sonzai Shinai / Evil Does Not Exist (Evil does not exist), by Ryusuke Hamaguchi, who has just won the Silver Lion Grand Jury Prize and the FIPRESCI in Venice; Io Capitano/I'm Captain, directed by Matteo Garrone and winner of the Silver Lion for best director and the Marcello Mastroianni Award for best young actor (Seydou Sarr). Bâtiment 5 / Les Indésirables (The undesirables)by Ladj Ly, and The Zone of Interest , by Jonathan Glazer, who won the Grand Prix of the Cannes Film Festival and the FIPRESCI Prize.

The jury for the Agenda 2030 Euskadi Basque Country Prize was made up of the Catalan actress Greta Fernández; Concha de Plata for her work in La hija de un ladrón, the Basque interpreter Loreto Mauleón, recognised with a Platino (platinum award) and a Feroz award for her role in Patria, and the Director of Social Innovation of the Basque Government, Asier Aranbarri. The three of them attended this afternoon's presentation of the award that took place in Tabakalera.

The award ceremony, which is 20,000 euros for the major producer or production company of the winning film, will take place on Thursday 28 at the Prisma de Tabakalera at 7 pm.

In a new addition to the festival, this year the Festival Conversations section will host a talk by Australian film-maker Kitty Green, author of The Royal Hotel, who will talk about the transformative power of cinema. This will be held on the 25th at 4.30 pm in Room Z of the Tabakalera and the tickets are available free of charge on the Festival website, at the Zinemaldi Plaza ticket offices and at the Tabakalera ticket office from the eve of the event.

“Nothing changes if we don't change anything”

Jonan Fernandez, Secretary General of Social Transition and 2030 Agenda, positively appreciated that, for the second consecutive year, the Festival and the Basque Government “go hand in hand” in the defence of the sustainable development goals. In his opinion, given the local and international nature of the competition, this is a framework “especially suitable for educating people about what the 2030 Basque Country Agenda represents”.

“The primary goals are to better combat poverty and share prosperity; contribute more towards equality and avoid discrimination; reduce waste, consume less energy and recycle more. Because nothing changes if we do not change anything,” Fernández reminds us.

The director of the San Sebastian Festival, José Luis Rebordinos, stated that “the Festival cannot remain oblivious to the global challenges pursued by the 2030 Agenda”. “Therefore, we adhere to that commitment of a more sustainable world and life, and we do so by implementing measures such as those included in our sustainability plan, a project that we started three years ago and the goal of which is to become a carbon-neutral event within the next five years,” he said.

2030 Agenda

The 2030 Agenda is a United Nations agreement reached in 2015. It represents the commitment of 193 countries with the same approach for 2030: a sustainable world and a sustainable life; and the same priority: eradicating poverty. It aligns worldwide the policies of public institutions, private entities and social partners with 17 goals, 169 targets and evaluation indicators, for a more just, ecological, prosperous and peaceful world.

Its five major commitments can be summarised: (I) Put a stop to inequality, promote inclusion and end poverty; (II) reverse climate change and enhance the ecological-energy transition; (III) strengthen health, education or digital progress and universalize their access; (IV) make business, work and employment share the values of dignity, prosperity and sustainability; and (V) strengthen peace, coexistence and respect for human rights around the world.

The 2030 Agenda, in addition to governments, provincial councils and municipalities, involves companies, universities, organisations, social agents and people. It is a commitment of the Basque institutions, which give top priority to this global and local agenda of transformation and solidarity.

The Basque Government, in particular, proposes that the 2030 Agenda and its goals be a social contract for progress and equality in the Basque Country. This proposal and the legislative plan are included in the Basque Agenda 2030 Priorities Programme, which was approved by the Governing Council on 29 June 2021.