The race for tickets to Zinemaldia 2026 has already begun. The San Sebastián Festival opened this Sunday, September 13, at 09:00 hours the general sale of tickets for the first three days of its 74th edition, which will be held between September 18 and 26. The organization maintains a staggered system to prevent the entire program from going on sale simultaneously: this Sunday, sessions for the days 18, 19, and 20 can be purchased; on Monday the 14th, those for the 21st, 22nd, and 23rd will be added, and on Tuesday the 15th, those corresponding to the 24th, 25th, and 26th. From Wednesday the 16th, all passes that still have tickets will be available.
The recommendation for those who have a must-see film is not to wait too long. The Festival programs numerous reruns, but certain screenings concentrate the presence of the teams, the red carpets, or the first screening before the public, circumstances that usually significantly increase demand. In addition, the passes for the Official Section of the Kursaal are already sold out, a first sign of interest in this edition.
How to buy tickets for the San Sebastián Festival
Tickets can be purchased online through the official sales platform of the Festival and Kutxabank, and it is not necessary to print them: it is enough to carry the digital ticket on the mobile phone. They can also be purchased in person at Zinemaldi Plaza, on Avenida de la Zurriola, 1, where the box offices will be open between 09:00 and 20:00 hours from September 13 to 17. Once the festival has started, the box offices of the venues themselves will also be opened, including the Kursaal, Victoria Eugenia, the Príncipe, Trueba, and Antiguo Berri cinemas, Tabakalera, and the Velódromo.
There is an important limit for those buying for groups: each person can purchase a maximum of four tickets per session. The tickets are numbered except in the Velódromo and Tabakalera-Sala 1. Ordinary tickets generally cost 8.75 euros, while certain afternoon and evening sessions of Kursaal 1 reach 10.50 euros in zone B. An additional 0.65 euros in management fees is added to each ticket.
‘The black ball’, one of the tickets to watch
Among the titles that may concentrate greater demand stands out ‘The Black Ball’, by Javier Calvo and Javier Ambrossi. The film arrives in San Sebastián after winning the award for best direction at Cannes and features a particularly media-friendly cast: Guitarricadelafuente, Miguel Bernardeau, Carlos González, Lola Dueñas, Penélope Cruz, and Glenn Close, among others.
Its first open screening within the ticket release this Sunday will take place on Saturday the 19th at 10:15 PM at the Principal Theater, while on Sunday the 20th it has another of its highlighted sessions at 10:15 PM at the Victoria Eugenia Theater. Precisely because of the combination of prior success at Cannes, the pull of its directors, and the announced presence of a good part of the cast, it is one of the titles for which it is less advisable to leave the purchase for the last minute.
It cannot be stated in advance which session will be the first to hang the sold-out sign, but ‘The Black Ball’ practically gathers all the usual ingredients of a high-demand screening.
Naomi Watts: Donostia Award and ‘The Housewife’
Another focus of the first weekend will be Naomi Watts, who will receive the Donostia Award on Saturday the 19th and will present The Housewife (The Perfect Wife). The gala will be held at the Kursaal and its tickets had a specific presale starting from September 1, just like the opening and closing ceremonies.
The program places the Donostia Award ceremony for Watts and the subsequent screening of The Housewife at 10:15 PM on Saturday at Kursaal 1. The actress, twice nominated for an Oscar and star of films like Mulholland Drive and The Impossible, is one of the major international stars announced for this edition.
In these galas, the situation is different from ordinary sales: a good part of the tickets could already be purchased during the presale. The Festival explains, however, that when a presale sells out, tickets may be put back on sale on the same day of the screening, always depending on availability.
Werner Herzog also sparks interest on the first day
The opening on Friday the 18th brings together another of the major events of the edition. The German filmmaker Werner Herzog will receive the Donostia Award during the Opening Gala, in which Geister / Ghost Song, by Fatih Akin, will also be screened, a film tasked with opening the Official Competition Section.
The complete gala also had presale, but the programming offers alternatives for those who want to see the films without attending the ceremony. Geister / Ghost Song, for example, has a pass at 21:55 in Kursaal 1 that gives access exclusively to the film, in addition to another session at 22:00 in the Príncipe. For its part, Bucking Fastard, the new feature film presented by Herzog, will have passes throughout the day, including one at 19:15 in the Victoria Eugenia with the team present.
This last detail is important when choosing a ticket: passes with presentation, discussion, or presence of the cast and director tend to be more attractive than a later screening of the same film.
‘Minotaur’ and the great films of Perlak
The section Perlak once again concentrates some of the titles with the greatest international reach. This year it brings together 16 films, eleven of them from Cannes, in addition to works from Venice, Berlin, or Sundance.
Friday begins with ‘Minotaur’, by Andrey Zvyagintsev, which inaugurates Perlak and will have its opening screening at 22:15 in the Victoria Eugenia with the team present and voting for the Audience Award. The combination of an emblematic venue, official presentation, and an internationally prestigious director makes this session another of the screenings with the potential to fill up quickly.
Also appearing in Perlak are authors such as Lukas Dhont, Ryusuke Hamaguchi, Cristian Mungiu, Martin McDonagh, Nanni Moretti, Pawel Pawlikowski, and Oliver Hermanus, in addition to Calvo and Ambrossi. Many of those titles will go on sale in the batches on Monday and Tuesday, so those who want to build a multi-day agenda will need to reconnect at 09:00 for the next openings.
Watch out for unique passes
It is not always the most well-known stars that cause the first sellouts. An even more important factor can be that a film has only one session available for the public.
An example this Friday is One Battle After Another (Una batalla tras otra), scheduled as Grand Prix FIPRESCI at 16:30 in the Príncipe cinemas. The official programming identifies it as its only screening at the Festival. That type of session leaves much less margin than a film scheduled four or five times during the week.
For this reason, before buying it is advisable to check how many screenings each movie has. If there are five opportunities to see it, it may be reasonable to prioritize another ticket. If it appears marked as “last screening” or 1/1, waiting may mean being definitely left out.
Jesse Eisenberg, Marion Cotillard, and Penélope Cruz, among the names that raise the demand
The 2026 edition also brings together a significant number of international performers. Jesse Eisenberg will compete for the Golden Shell with The Debut, starring Julianne Moore, Paul Giamatti, Halle Bailey, and Eisenberg himself. The actress Marion Cotillard will attend alongside Nicole Garcia to present 7h40 ce matin-là / Milo, while the team of Les Misérables includes names like Vincent Lindon, Tahar Rahim, Noémie Merlant, and Camille Cottin.
Penélope Cruz's presence is also expected, linked to both La bola negra and The Invite. These films do not necessarily have to sell out in minutes, but they are precisely the ones to identify before their corresponding sales round opens if the goal is to attend the screening with the artistic team.
If it says “sold out,” there may still be a last opportunity
That a session initially appears full does not always mean that it is impossible to get a ticket. The Festival reserves a limited number of seats that can be put on sale each day, both online and at the box office. For same-day sessions, online sales start at 08:00 hours, while the box offices apply their respective schedules.
This system also affects the galas and can become the last opportunity to access a highly demanded session. However, these are limited quantities, and there is no guarantee that all movies will recover seats.
The calendar to remember
To avoid confusion, sales this year operate in three rounds: Sunday 13, sessions from September 18 to 20; Monday 14, sessions from September 21 to 23; Tuesday 15, sessions from September 24 to 26. In all cases, the opening begins at 09:00 hours and the seats that have been freed from previous days remain available. Starting Wednesday 16, any session with remaining capacity can be purchased.
The most useful strategy is to prepare a first and a second option in advance, check the number of screenings for each title and prioritize premieres with the presence of the team, unique screenings, and films with big names. For this first segment, The Black Ball, the events related to Naomi Watts and Werner Herzog, the premiere of Minotaur and some unique sessions have a good chance of being among the most sought after.
And if a ticket disappears this Sunday, there is still a resource: to check the sales again at 08:00 on the day of the screening, when Zinemaldia may release its last tickets.