San Sebastian and the Kursaal Palace, where the San Sebastian Film Festival is taking place

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San Sebastian Film Festival. San Sebastian Film Festival

San Sebastian International Film Festival opening today in the Basque Country is the most important cinema Fest in Spain and one of the fourteen most influential in the world. First edition dates back to 1953, which means it turns 67 today. Along its red carpet had showed off some of biggest names of celluloid history, from Alfred Hitchkock (who premiered his film Vertigo here in 1958) to Woody Allen, Francis Ford Coppola, Roman Polanski, Elizabeth Taylor, Bette Davis or Ava Gardner. All of them had a special relationship with the festival and the city. Formerly the festival was held at Victoria Eugenia Theater, but since 1999 its headquarters moved to the avant-garde Kursaal Palace, the cube illuminated in today’s picture.Behind it we can see La Concha (the shell) bay, the most emblematic San Sebastian place, which gives its name to the Festival awards (La Concha de oro – The golden Shell) and extends between the mountains Igueldo and Urgull. The bay is about two kilometers long and is surrounded by what is surely the best known sea-promenade in the country (San Sebastian Paseo Marítimo). Its balustrade is a jewel of urban furniture designed by architect Juan Rafael Alday, and was opened to public in 1916 by King Alfonso XIII. Today, it is one of the most representative symbols of the city. There are several workshops building replicas for those who want to install them on their balconys, and keychains with their shape are very popular souvenirs among locals and tourists. The balustrade ends when arriving to Ondarreta beach, at the end of the bay, another mandatory stop housing the famous sculptural complex “El peine del viento) (“The comb of the wind”) by Eduardo Chillida.