San Sebastián Festival to honour Naomi Watts with a Donostia Award

Naomi Watts, one of her generation's most talented and award-winning actresses, will receive the Donostia Award on Saturday 19 September at a gala in the Kursaal, where the acclaimed actress and producer will introduce the feature film The Housewife, directorial debut from the Canadian Ben Shirinian.

Watts combines independent films with big productions on both the big and the small screen. She has received Academy Award nominations twice: for her role in Alejandro González Iñárritu's 21 Grams (2003), and for J.A. Bayona's The Impossible (Official Selection out of competition, 2012).

She achieved international fame thanks to Mulholland Drive (2001), by David Lynch, a performance ranked among the finest in contemporary cinema. She has also worked with filmmakers including Peter Jackson, David Cronenberg, Clint Eastwood, Michael Haneke, Audrey Diwan, Noah Baumbach and Rodrigo García, with whom she came to San Sebastián in 2009 to close the Official Selection out of competition with Mother & Child.

Director, writer, producer and actor Werner Herzog will also receive a Donostia Award in recognition of his career during the opening gala of the San Sebastián Festival, which will take place from 18 to 26 September for its 74th edition. The Festival’s highest honorary distinction for the German filmmaker will be accompanied by a screening of his new feature film, Bucking Fastard, which will compete in the upcoming Venice Film Festival.