The 73rd edition of the San Sebastián International Film Festival took place from September 19 to 27, marking a historic milestone for Colombia. Un poeta (A Poet) , directed by Simón Mesa Soto, won the Horizontes Make & Mark Award, the first time a Colombian film has received this honor. Meanwhile, in the WIP Latam section, the project A la hora de poner la mesa ya no éramos cinco (We Were No Longer Five) won the Egeda Platino Industry Award in its category. Colombian participation also included La lucha (Dance of the Living) in the New Directors section, and Llueve sobre babel (Rains Over Babel) , which competed for the Sebastiane Latino Award. Cinematographer Angello Faccini took part in Horizontes Latinos with La misteriosa mirada del flamenco (The Mysterious Gaze of the Flamingo) . In addition, two projects - Elogio del crimen (Praise for Crime) and Hijas del agua (Daughters of the Water) were presented in the EuropeLatin America Co-Production Forum. The Colombian delegation included five talents and representatives from 19 companies, including production houses and film festivals. Proimágenes Colombia was represented by its director, Claudia Triana, and deputy director of Promotion, Katalina Tobón.
Colombia was present with the premiere of La lucha (Spain, Colombia), directed by José Alayón, in New Directors; Llueve sobre babel by Gala del Sol, competing for the Sebastiane Latino Award after its world premiere at the Sundance Festival and its international premiere at the Rotterdam Festival; and Un poeta by Simón Mesa Soto, in Horizontes Latinos, which received the top award in the category. This film arrived in San Sebastián after winning the Jury Prize in Un Certain Regard at the 2025 Cannes Festival, the Special Jury Prize, the Jury Prize for Best Cinematography (Juan Sarmiento), the Jury Prize for Best Actor (Ubeimar Ríos), and the APRECI Award for Best Latin American Fiction Film at the Lima Festival. It also received the Bright Horizons Award at the 74th Melbourne International Film Festival, and the awards for Best Feature and Best Director Ex Aequo at the 21st Santiago International Film Festival – SANFIC. At the same time, at the Biarritz Festival, Ubeimar Ríos received the Best Performance Award in the Fiction Feature Competition.
In the same section, Angello Faccini participated as cinematographer of La misteriosa mirada del flamenco (Chile, France, Germany, Spain, Belgium), directed by Diego Céspedes, which came to the festival after winning the Grand Prix in Un Certain Regard at the 78th Cannes Festival.
Meanwhile, at the Europe–Latin America Co-Production Forum, two Colombian projects stood out: Elogio del crimen by Andrés Ramírez Pulido (1 hijo & 1 padre), produced by Valiente Gracia, and Hijas del agua by Jacques Toulemonde Vidal (Anna), produced by 64A FILMS. At WIP Latam, also part of the industry program, the project A la hora de poner la mesa ya no éramos cinco (Colombia, USA), directed by Esteban Hoyos and Juan Miguel Gelacio, and produced by La Selva Producciones, was showcased. The film received the Egeda Platino Industry Award for Best WIP Latam.
The Colombian delegation also took part in several scheduled activities, including a networking breakfast organized in partnership with ACAU, Cinema do Brasil, DG Cine, Canarias, and ICAA; and a co-production meeting with a meet-and-mingle format at the start of industry days, bringing together delegations from Colombia, Uruguay, Brazil, the Dominican Republic, and Spain. Another session, promoted by Zineuskadi and Basque Audiovisual, brought the Colombian delegation together with those from Nouvelle-Aquitaine, Brazil, Galicia, Germany, North Macedonia, Cantabria, the Philippines, and the Dominican Republic.
The talents selected for Meet Them! were Mirlanda Torres of La Selva Cine with her project Todo esto eran mangas (This Used to be Grasslands, fiction), Juan Pablo Heilbron Fernández of Civil Jornal SAS with Madera (Wood, fiction), Juan Paulo Laserna of Dago García Producciones with No es mi nombre (Not My Name, fiction), Alberto "Beto" Rosero of Guerrero Films with Reina del pueblo (Queen of the People, documentary), and Hans Fresen of Querida Productora with La cábala del pez (The Chances of the Fish, fiction).
Finally, Colombian companies represented included Valiente Gracia, Ágata Azul Films, Séptima Films LTDA, Ciudad Lunar Producciones, Cartagena International Film Festival – FICCI, Blond Indian Films, Selva Producciones, Babilla Cine, Ocultimo, Santander International Film Festival, Distrito Pacífico, Cinemateca de Bogotá / Lichter Filmfest Frankfurt International, Preciosa Media, FICUNAM – National Autonomous University of Mexico International Film Festival, RCN Televisión, Lago Films Entertainment, DOCCO, Guerrero Films, and Álamo Audiovisual.
