Victor Erice, winner of the Donostia Prize this year, asks the journalists of the Festival: “Do you know what the most permanent image holder is?” The answer is not digital media, not photochemical, but oil. Oil painting prevents the scarring of forgetfulness better than cinema can do.

However, the path of eternity opened by cinema is broad and cautious, and every year the contribution of the Festival is fruitful. Among the classics, this year we have seen the retrospective of Teshigahara, a shipyard in its forms and contents; immortal images of the Festival in the bowels of José Val del Omar or the oldest socialist realism of Raúl Ruiz and Valeria Sarmiento.

Of course, without spectators you cannot be reminded. In this sense, all new projects that pass through the Festival must be recognized as public and critical. Among the views, two are the ones that I have not been able to achieve: The Zone of Interest by Jonathan Glazer and Rotter Himmel (Afire) by Christian Petzold. The pearls have competed in the section and, although they have not earned great honor among viewers, I would like to recommend them. In addition, he points for the sad fall evenings to Fallen Leaves of the great Aki Kaurismäki.

Leaving aside the famous names, I will refer to Mission to Mars, the first feature film by Amat Vallmajor del Pozo, and to Mamántula, the jewel of the Donostiarra Ion de Sosa, which clearly proclaim the flag of the underground and the widest range. Their disinterest and closeness is pleasurable.

Likewise, moving away from the most arrogant and ambitious proposals, El Castillo, by Martín Benchimol, is also worth the attention. In this case, yes, the jury and I have agreed, because the Argentine film has been the winner of Horizontes Latinos. It also stands out in his large Here, by Bas Devos, in the department of Zabaltegi-Tabakalera.

Besides memories and memories, this year’s Film Festival has left us mostly homework. The hours of sleep to be recovered, the new filmographies to be known, the performances that I have not been able to lose in the coming months… There I would be the experimental Anatomie d’une chute (Justine Triet), May December (Todd Haynes) or The Rise of Human 3 (Eduardo Williams), winner of the Zabaltegi-Tabakalera section.

But what happens when screens go off? What red carpet gets up and dust gets up below? What durability does an event have that helps put on sale a city painted with fine oil paint for a week? Perhaps that is, for the future, the image we must remember. Perhaps Eric is right and it is true that we will not always bury in the best and new limits.