SSIFF; Spanish: Festival Internacional de San Sebastián, Basque: Donostia Zinemaldia) is an annual FIAPF A category film festival held in the Spanish city of Donostia-San Sebastián in September, in the Basque Country.
[1][2] Since its creation in 1953 it has established itself as one of the 14 "A" category competitive festivals accredited by the FIAPF, of which it has one of the lowest budgets.
It was the first festival attended by Roman Polanski and has helped advance the professional careers of filmmakers such as Francis Ford Coppola, Bong Joon-ho and Pedro Almodóvar.
[citation needed] José Luis Rebordinos has served as the director of the festival since 2011.
It has been acknowledged by the FIAPF as an A category festival since 1957, with the exception of the 1980–1984 period, when no major awards were given.