Soy Nevenka / I Am Nevenka, directed by Iciar Bollain, has carried off the Euskadi Basque Country 2030 Agenda Award given, for the third year running, by the Basque Government in the framework of the San Sebastian Festival, to the film that best reflects the values of sustainability and solidarity as the key flagships of the Sustainable Development Goals promoted by the United Nations 2030 Agenda. The award comes with 20,000 euros for the majority producer of the winning feature film.

The jury was made up of the actor and director Juan Diego Botto, the screenwriter Alicia Luna and the Director of Social Innovation with the Basque Government, Asier Aranbarri, and the presentation ceremony took place in Tabakalera’s Prism Room. The event was attended by the stars of Soy Nevenka / I Am Nevenka, Mireia Oriol and Urko Olazabal, and the producers Koldo Zuazua and Juan Moreno, as well as the First Vice-President and Minister of Culture and Linguistic Policy, Ibone Bengoetxea.

In its official decision, the jury giving the award “unanimously”, said “For its direct and instructive story, for its ability to take a closer look at the study of the impunity of sexual abuse, particularly in the field of power. For the call for the dignity of victims and their right not only to obtain truth and justice, but also social reparation. For its quality and its necessary contribution to the debate on equality and the struggle against the covering-up of sexual abuse in our society, it is a pleasure for this jury to give this award”.

In her speech, First Vice-President Ibone Bengoetxea stressed that “culture is a social springboard” underlining that, thanks to the selected works, “you are responding to the UN Sustainable Development Goals. This is making cinema with a purpose. Making cinema for social change”. In this respect, she explained that “we at the Basque Government wish to recognise this contribution you are making to society, a necessary transformation in the shape of values which aims to add its grain of sand to the 2030 Agenda, from the local to the global”. The Vice-President also defended the need to reflect on Goal 16 calling for peace in view of the international context and assured that the Basque Government will continue to champion the “necessary” inclusion of goal 18 to the 2030 Agenda connected to culture.

For his part, the Director of the San Sebastian Festival, José Luis Rebordinos, recalled that, for the third year running, the Euskadi Basque Country 2030 Agenda is a San Sebastian Festival sponsor. “This enormously important agreement with the Basque Government makes our Festival a fundamental stakeholder of the Basque commitment to the Sustainable Development Goals”, he said.

Soy Nevenka / I Am Nevenka, included in the Official Selection, was chosen from among the other seven movies competing for the Euskadi Basque Country 2030 Award: On Falling (Official Selection), Le dernier souffle / Last Breath (Official Selection), Gülizar / Gulizar (New Directors), Reas (Horizontes Latinos), Sujo (Horizontes Latinos), Cidade; Campo (Horizontes Latinos) and Ainda estou aqui / I’m Still Here (Perlak).

In addition to this award, the Festival has also hosted a series of talks related to the values promoted by the 2030 Agenda. The conversations held in San Sebastian in recent days were: Production From a Feminist and Intersectional Perspective, The Inclusion of Transmasculine Realities in Ibero-American Cinema, Diversity and Inclusion On- and Off-screen and New Narratives: The Climate Lens in Cinema. A talk was also given by Laura Carreira, director of the feature film On Falling (Official Selection), on the process of making a film and the possibilities offered by the cinema for bringing about change.

Soy Nevenka / I Am Nevenka Iciar Bollain (Spain) Country(ies) of production: Spain In the year 2000, Nevenka Fernández, the Finance Councillor of Ponferrada Town Council, is relentlessly hounded by the mayor, a man used to getting his way both politically and personally. Nevenka decides to report him, knowing that it will cost her dearly. A story based on true events turning its lead character into a forerunner of the #metoo movement due to being the first person to take an influential politician to court for sexual and labour harassment.