For the ninth consecutive year, AECID, together with the San Sebastian Festival, is promoting the accolade which recognises the Ibero-American film making the best contribution to human development, the eradication of poverty and the full exercise of human rights

The Award is part of the alliance between the AECID and the Festival to promote the Ibero-American audiovisual industry 
 

Five films programmed at San Sebastian Festival's 71th edition will compete this year for the Cooperación Española Award given by the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation (AECID), an organisation dependent upon the Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, European Union and Cooperation. The accolade goes every year, since 2015, to the producer of the Ibero-American film (including Spanish and Portuguese films) making the best contribution to human development, the eradication of poverty and the full exercising of human rights.

Enric-Sol Brines i Gómez, Director of Communication of the AECID, will lead the jury, which is completed by Xabier Díaz de Cerio, a journalist from San Sebastián based in Peru, and Ana Garayalde, a technician in the Human Rights department of the San Sebastián City Council.

The Cooperación Española Award goes to an Ibero-American film screened in the Official Selection, New Directors or Horizontes Latinos. Its objective is to strengthen the commitment to work jointly with the Ibero-American audiovisual industry in order to promote new talents, stimulate the production of film projects, disseminate the values of development cooperation and boost commercialisation and internationalisation of the films. In its ninth edition, result of the collaboration between San Sebastian Festival and AECID, the award comes with a prize of 10,000 euros.

The Cooperación Española Award will be announced on September 30 at the closing gala in the Kursaal.

Candidate films for the IX Spanish Cooperation Award

Two of the candidates, El sueño de la sultana / Sultana's Dream (Spain-Germany), by Isabel Herguera, and Puan (Argentina-Italy-Germany-France-Brazil), by María Alché and Benjamín Naishtat, come from the Official Selection, while La estrella azul / The Blue Star (Spain-Argentina), by Javier Macipe, is included in the New Directors section. The others will participate in the Horizontes Latinos section: El eco / The Echo (Mexico-Germany), by Tatiana Huezo, and Los colonos / The Settlers (Chile-Argentina-UK-Taiwan-France-Denmark-Sweden), by Felipe Gálvez.

Official Selection

EL SUEÑO DE LA SULTANA / SULTANA'S DREAM ISABEL HERGUERA (SPAIN) Country(ies) of production: Spain - Germany Taking her inspiration from a feminist sci-fi short story written in Bengal in 1905, Inés sets out on a voyage of discovery around India in search of Ladyland, the Utopian land of women.

PUAN MARÍA ALCHÉ (ARGENTINA), BENJAMÍN NAISHTAT (ARGENTINA) Country(ies) of production: Argentina - Italy - Germany - France -Brazil Cast: Marcelo Subiotto, Julieta Zylberberg, Alejandra Flechner, Mara Bestelli, Andrea Frigerio, y Leonardo Sbaraglia Proyecta 2022   Marcelo has devoted his life to teaching philosophy at the Public University of Buenos Aires. When his mentor Professor Caselli dies unexpectedly, Marcelo expects to become the new head of Department. However, his plans turn upside down with the unexpected arrival of Rafael Sujarchuk. Charismatic and seductive, Rafael returns from his pedestal in European universities to claim the vacant position for himself. Marcelo's clumsy efforts to prove he is the right candidate will trigger a philosophical duel, while his life -and the country- enter a spiral of chaos.

New Directors

LA ESTRELLA AZUL / THE BLUE STAR JAVIER MACIPE (SPAIN) Country(ies) of production: Spain - Argentina Cast: Pepe Lorente, Cuti Carabajal, Bruna Cusí, Marc Rodriguez, Mariela Carabajal, Noelia Verenice Díaz, Catalina Sopelana The 90s. A famous Spanish rock star travels around Latin America in the endeavour to reconnect with his vocation. There he meets an old musician down on his luck, prompting the birth of an unlikely duo with every chance of becoming an epic commercial failure.

Horizontes Latinos

© Radiola Films EL ECO / THE ECHO TATIANA HUEZO (EL SALVADOR) Country(ies) of production: Mexico - Germany El Eco is a remote village in northern Mexico where life is made up of very simple things. Being a child there is a unique experience from day one: closely linked to nature, animals and people. But also to love, intimacy and the cycles of life. And to education, at least for the youngest generation.

LOS COLONOS / THE SETTLERS FELIPE GÁLVEZ (CHILE) Country(ies) of production: Chile - Argentina - UK - Taiwan - France - Denmark - Sweden Cast: Mark Stanley, Camilo Arancibia, Benjamín Westfall, Alfredo Castro, Mishell Guaña, Agustín Rittano, Mariano Llinás, Sam Spruell, Adriana Stuven, Luis Machín, Marcelo Alonso Chile, early 20th century. A rich landowner hires three horsemen to fence the boundary of his extensive property and open a route to the Atlantic Ocean through the vast Patagonia. The expedition, made up of a young mixed-race Chilean, an American mercenary, and led by an impulsive British henchman, soon turns into a "civilizing" incursion.