The San Sebastián Film Festival is preparing for a landmark transition. As the 2026 edition begins, longtime director José Luis Rebordinos is overseeing his final year at the helm, closing a 17-edition run that helped transform the event into one of Europe’s most respected gatherings for cinema, industry networking, and cross-cultural collaboration.
For film and TV professionals alike, this moment is bigger than a leadership change. It marks the end of a defining chapter for the San Sebastián Film Festival and the start of a new one, with deputy director Maialen Beloki set to take over in January 2027.
San Sebastián Film Festival leadership changes after 17 editions
Rebordinos has made clear that he believes the festival’s future is secure. He has publicly praised Beloki as a deeply experienced figure with long institutional knowledge, having spent 17 years on the team and more than a decade as deputy director. That continuity matters for a festival known for balancing prestige, discovery, and accessibility.
The handover is especially significant because the San Sebastián Film Festival has grown far beyond a red-carpet event during Rebordinos’ tenure. Under his direction, it evolved into a year-round cultural platform with educational initiatives, filmmaker development programs, archival preservation, and a stronger international industry presence.
How José Luis Rebordinos reshaped the San Sebastián Film Festival
Asked to reflect on what he is proudest of, Rebordinos has pointed to three core achievements:
- The expansion of industry activities
- The development of year-round projects, including film education and residencies
- The creation and growth of the festival archive
Those pillars help explain why the San Sebastián Film Festival now carries influence well beyond Spain. It has become a strategic meeting point between European film institutions and Latin American talent, financing, and storytelling.
A stronger bridge between Europe and Latin America
One of the festival’s most important contributions has been its role in connecting two major film ecosystems. The San Sebastián Film Festival has long supported emerging filmmakers from Latin America, but that mission expanded substantially in recent years through targeted initiatives.
Programs such as the Europe-Latin America Co-Production Forum, launched in 2012, and Works in Progress LatAm, introduced in 2020, helped strengthen the festival’s reputation as a key platform for international partnerships. These spaces are designed not only to spotlight projects, but to help them secure financing, visibility, and long-term support.
That approach has tangible results. Across the years, the festival has backed early-career directors who later gained major international recognition, reinforcing its image as a launchpad for important global cinema voices.
Residencies and talent development with lasting impact
Another major part of the San Sebastián Film Festival legacy under Rebordinos is its investment in filmmaker development. In 2015, the festival launched the Ikusmira Berriak residency in partnership with Tabakalera and Elías Querejeta Zine Eskola. The initiative was built to nurture bold new filmmaking voices in a focused creative environment.
The residency has already produced standout success stories. Filmmakers including Diego Céspedes and Gabriel Azorín emerged from that ecosystem and went on to premiere acclaimed work at top-tier festivals such as Cannes and Venice. That kind of progression illustrates how San Sebastián is not merely exhibiting finished films; it is actively helping shape the future of cinema.
The San Sebastián Film Festival archive and year-round mission
Perhaps one of the most quietly transformative projects of Rebordinos’ tenure is Artxiboa, the festival’s digital and physical archive created with EQZE. Since 2018, this archive has worked to preserve more than seven decades of festival history, including thousands of photographs, paper records, journals, press materials, and posters dating back to 1953.
For researchers, journalists, programmers, and film historians, this gives the San Sebastián Film Festival an identity that extends beyond annual premieres. It positions the event as a custodian of cultural memory.
The archive also aligns with a broader philosophy that a modern film festival should not exist for just nine days on a calendar. It should educate, preserve, incubate talent, and maintain relevance throughout the year.
Why the industry sees San Sebastián as a global destination
Rebordinos also pushed the festival deeper into the business side of entertainment without turning it into an impersonal market. A major example is the Creative Investors’ Conference, launched in 2022 with CAA Media Finance. The conference has attracted influential executives, financiers, distributors, and producers from across the international film world.
Its success reflects one of the San Sebastián Film Festival’s defining strengths: intimacy. Rather than competing with the scale of Cannes or the machinery of larger film markets, San Sebastián has leaned into being smaller, more human, and relationship-driven.
That identity has won praise from respected industry figures, who credit Rebordinos with elevating the festival into a top-tier global destination. Supporters have highlighted his hospitality, curatorial taste, and ability to create an environment where real conversations and real deals can happen.
A festival built on optimism and personal trust
Beyond strategy and structure, Rebordinos is widely admired for his personal style. Producers and executives have described him as optimistic, direct, and deeply supportive of filmmakers, especially first-time directors and projects facing financial obstacles. That reputation became especially visible during the pandemic-era 2020 edition, when many events were canceled but San Sebastián pressed ahead.
That determination helped define the tone of his leadership: pragmatic, encouraging, and committed to cinema even in uncertainty.
What comes next for José Luis Rebordinos and the festival
Although he is leaving the front line, Rebordinos is not stepping away from the industry entirely. He has indicated that he may continue advising other festivals, particularly on matters related to Spanish and Latin American cinema. That suggests his influence will likely continue even after his formal departure from the San Sebastián Film Festival.
Meanwhile, Beloki inherits a festival with strong foundations, international credibility, and a clear cultural mission. The challenge ahead will be to preserve what works while finding new ways to respond to changes in financing, streaming, audience behavior, and the evolving role of festivals in the TV and video landscape.
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Conclusion
The San Sebastián Film Festival enters 2026 with celebration and reflection in equal measure. José Luis Rebordinos leaves behind a festival that is more international, more influential, and more structurally ambitious than the one he inherited. His legacy is not just in premieres or headlines, but in institutions built to last: industry forums, artist residencies, and a living archive of film culture. As the San Sebastián Film Festival moves into its next chapter, its future looks steady precisely because its outgoing director spent years building it for continuity.
