Artxiboa: What is the purpose of a film festival?

This project proposes a critical exploration of two visions, or ways of conceiving a film festival, that competed to dominate and to define the identity of the San Sebastián International Film Festival in its early editions: a cultural vision –more present between 1955 and 1960– and an industrial vision –which started to gain ground from 1961, becoming entrenched after 1967. On the one side were those who saw film as an artistic form of expression and an educational tool; and on the other, those who considered film as a spectacle and a business model. 

The foundations of this project has a precedent in Zinemaldia 70. All Possible Histories, a research project developed by Elías Querejeta Zine Eskola between 2018 and 2022, which led to the creation of Artxiboa, the San Sebastián International Film Festival archive. This time, the research will focus primarily on the collection owned by José María Aycart (1928-2010), who was a member of the Festival’s Executive Committee (1958-1964) and Management Committee (1963). Aycart is a key figure owing to the dual nature of his involvement: as a politician (he was deputy mayor of San Sebastián City Council) and as founder and vice-president of the San Sebastián Film Club (1950-1961) and member of the National Federation of Film Clubs. The Aycart Collection, which remains uncatalogued as at June 2025, includes five boxes containing audiovisual material related to the functioning of the San Sebastián Film Club and the activities it organised jointly with the San Sebastián Film Festival. In any case, the research work will include the ad-hoc consultation of other Artxiboa collections –such as the General Archive, Media Archive, Photographic Collection, Film Collection, and the archive of the magazine Festival–, as well as other local, regional and national archives.

The project proposes two key work objectives:

1. To develop a critical research study based on four research lines:
   1. The training work carried out by the San Sebastián Film Club, its programming strands and the various initiatives with a clear educational focus undertaken by the Club, as well as its links with other film clubs and with the Institute of Cinematographic Research and Experiences (IIEC) and the Official Film School (EOC), the first official film studies centre in Spain.
   2. The relationships between the Film Club and the Festival and their direct or indirect collaborations, which were constant in the early years of the Festival and crucial for developing a specialised audience. 
   3. The work of Javier Aguirre, especially in his three facets as director of the San Sebastián Film Club, student filmmaker at the IIEC and screenwriter. 
   4. The San Sebastián Film Club from a feminist perspective. At first glance, the history of these institutions presents a bleak panorama of the participation of women in leadership and decision-making roles. However, on closer inspection, we can detect their presence, revealing an interest in film knowledge that is echoed in the women who studied at the IIEC-EOC. 
2. To design public programmes and carry out dissemination:
   1. This project proposes to establish synergies with training processes at the School, such as the subject “The map of the (three) archives”, the permanent research line “Poetics of Knowledge” being developed by the research department, and the Zine Eskola Film Club, organised and developed by the Film Curating students.  
   2. Conception, design and creation of brochures and programmes that accompany the screenings.
   3. Collaboration with the dissemination work undertaken by Artxiboa via the production of ‘Documents of the month’.

Lead Researcher: Sonia García López 
Associated institutions: San Sebastián International Film Festival (SSIFF)
Timeframe: New creation