The San Sebastián International Film Festival has published a forceful statement denouncing “the genocide” that, according to its Management Committee, the government of Benjamin Netanyahu is carrying out in Gaza. In the text, read by director José Luis Rebordinos and head of communications Ruth Pérez de Anucita, the festival demands “an immediate ceasefire and the release of all hostages kidnapped by Hamas,” while reaffirming its defense of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. “Such atrocity, such terror, is unbearable. We are overcome by anger and pain in the face of such injustice,” the statement declares.

The declaration recalls that “the Israeli army kills civilians, including children, journalists, and humanitarian workers,” in addition to denouncing the use of hunger as a weapon and the systematic destruction of infrastructure. The festival, which this year celebrates its 73rd edition from September 19 to 27, stresses that “from the world of cinema and culture” lessons must be learned from the horrors of the 20th century to prevent their repetition. The Mark Twain quote included in the text —“history doesn’t repeat itself, but it rhymes”— serves as a warning about the magnitude of the current tragedy.

Beyond the political statement, the Zinemaldia confirmed that it will screen 254 films from 56 countries, including 22 national productions and three Spanish feature films competing for the Golden Shell: Maspalomas, by Jose Mari Goenaga and Aitor Arregi; Historias del buen valle, by José Luis Guerín; and Los tigres, by Alberto Rodríguez. The festival will pay tribute to Jennifer Lawrence and Esther García, and will welcome stars such as Juliette Binoche, Paul Dano, Matt Dillon, Colin Farrell, and Charlotte Rampling, under a jury presided over by J. A. Bayona.

Full statement:

On the genocide in Gaza
The Management Committee of this Festival defends the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. We also believe it necessary to make a general appeal in favor of democracy and to warn of its fragility in the face of the rise of authoritarian tendencies and discourses that currently generate spurious comparisons with dictatorial regimes. No, dictatorship is not the same as democracy. No, respecting human rights is not the same as systematically violating them. From the world of culture we need democracy and human rights to exist, to safeguard the freedoms of our societies.

We also know that the provisions of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights are violated daily and in many parts of the world. But we have considered it necessary to publicly express our rejection of the genocide, the unimaginable massacres to which the government of Benjamin Netanyahu has subjected the Palestinian people since Hamas carried out the terrorist attack of October 7, 2023, which, of course, we also condemn. They kill Palestinian civilians. They kill children. They kill journalists and humanitarian workers. They use hunger as a weapon. They block and obstruct access to humanitarian aid. They force the mass displacement of the Palestinian population. They destroy buildings. They bomb hospitals as well. They humiliate, conquer, crush. They destroy Gaza. They scorn international law. Such atrocity, such terror, is unbearable. We are overcome by anger and pain in the face of such injustice.

As Mark Twain said, history does not repeat itself but it rhymes. From the world of cinema, of culture in general, we have always wanted to learn the lessons of the horrors of the 20th century that historical knowledge has bequeathed to us so that they may never again rhyme so terrifyingly. It is therefore imperative to condemn today the systematic and programmed violation of human rights, the genocide that the Netanyahu government is perpetrating. Although it may seem naïve, we demand an immediate ceasefire and the release of all hostages kidnapped by Hamas, and we wish for a future of peaceful coexistence between the Israeli and Palestinian peoples.