The 71st edition of the San Sebastián Film Festival, which will be held from September 22 to 30 in Spain, will pay tribute to Spanish actor Javier Bardem, who will receive an honorary prize there, the organizers announced on Friday (May 12). The actor "will receive the festival's highest honor" at the opening gala on Friday, September 22, they said in a statement.
Javier Bardem, who came to the San Sebastián Festival for the first time thirty years ago for the presentation of the film Macho, will also see his face appear on the official poster for this 71st edition. According to the organizers, he will be the sixth Spanish actor to receive this honorary award, after notably Antonio Banderas in 2008, Carmen Maura in 2013 and Penélope Cruz – his wife – in 2019.
Born in the Canary Islands in 1969, Javier Bardem is the most awarded Spanish actor of his generation, but also one of the most prolific, with more than fifty films to his credit, particularly in Hollywood. The actor received the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor in 2008 for No Country for Old Men and the Best Actor Award at Cannes in 2010 for Biutiful.
In an interview with AFP, he confided in 2019 "not to receive projects" in Spain, "because people always think that I live abroad [...], which is not the reality". He has since returned to service in his country with El buen patrón by Fernando León de Aranoa, which won him the Goya for best actor in February 2022.