Werner Herzog received the first Donostia Award

The director, screenwriter and producer Werner Herzog received the first Donostia Award of the San Sebastián Festival's 74th edition, at an opening gala in the Kursaal Auditorium, marking the official commencement of nine days of films, meetings and reflection. From today and until 26 September, the Festival will screen 263 films hailing from 47 countries, on a programme once again focused on plurality and diversity. 

The German director received the Festival's highest honour from actor Orlando Bloom, who features on the cast of his latest film, screened earlier at the Victoria Eugenia Theatre. The Festival wishes to highlight a career marked by an "exploration of the limits of the cinema and by an always extraordinary, free-thinking and bold approach".

After receiving an standing ovation, Herzog confessed his "connection" with the Basque people ever since directing Aguirre, der Zorn Gottes / Aguirre, the Wrath of God (1972) and recalled the filming of Cave of Forgotten Dreams (2010), during which he felt a deep connection with the people who created the cave paintings thousands of years ago.

He also praised Basque culture and the Basque language, describing it as "the most amazing language, which precedes all languages in Europe", and expressed his admiration for bertsolaris (oral improvisers), as representatives of a community of poets, "not knowing exactly what they are talking about but I feel a community; I feel as if I belong there. I receive this here from the poets", he concluded.

For his part, Bloom has highlighted Herzog as an "extraordinary filmmaker" with an "unmistakable voice". "Whether exploring the extremes of nature, the strange recesses of human behaviour or the boundaries between fact and fiction, Werner has always approached cinema as an adventure," he stated.