Golden Shell
Official logo
LocationSan Sebastián, Basque Country
CountrySpain
Presented bySan Sebastián International Film Festival
Currently held byMike Leigh for
Tender Loving Care (2026)
Websitesansebastianfestival.com

The Golden Shell[n. 1] (Spanish: Concha de Oro; Basque: Urrezko Maskorra) is the highest prize given to a competing film at the San Sebastián International Film Festival.[3] It was introduced in 1957.[4]

History

In 1953 and 1954, the highest prize had been called the Gran Premio. In 1955 and 1956 it was replaced by the Silver Shell. Since 1957, it has been called Golden Shell.

French filmmaker Diane Kurys was the first woman to win the award, for Entre Nous (1983). As of 2026, only eight female filmmakers have won the prize alongside Kurys, including: Yeşim Ustaoğlu, Mariana Rondón, Dea Kulumbegashvili, Alina Grigore, Laura Mora, Jaione Camborda, and Alauda Ruiz de Azúa.

Spanish filmmaker Rafael Gil was the first winner for I Was a Parish Priest (1953). While six filmmakers have won the it twice: American filmmaker Francis Ford Coppola (in 1969 and 1984); Iranian filmmaker Bahman Ghobadi (in 2004 and 2006); Mexican filmmaker Arturo Ripstein (in 1993 and 2000); and Spanish filmmakers Imanol Uribe (in 1994 and 1996), Isaki Lacuesta (in 2011 and 2018), and Manuel Gutiérrez Aragón (in 1982 and 1986).

Winners

Pietro Germi won in 1956.
Dino Risi won in 1957.
Fred Zinnemann won in 1959.
Marlon Brando won in 1961.
Elia Kazan won in 1964.
Francis Ford Coppola won twice, in 1969 and 1984.
Éric Rohmer won in 1971.
Víctor Erice won in 1973.
Terrence Malick won in 1974.
Nikita Mikhalkov won in 1977.
Andrzej Wajda won in 1980.
Andrei Konchalovsky won in 1989.
Arturo Ripstein won twice, in 1993 and 2001.
François Ozon won in 2012.

1950s

Year English Title Original Title Director(s) Production Country
1953 I Was a Parish Priest La Guerra de Dios Rafael Gil Spain
1954 Cursed Mountain Sierra maldita Antonio del Amo
1955 Days of Love Giorni d'amore Giuseppe De Santis Italy
1956 The Railroad Man Il ferroviere Pietro Germi
1957 Oh! Sabella La nonna Sabella Dino Risi
1958 Eve Wants to Sleep Ewa chce spać Tadeusz Chmielewski Poland
1959 The Nun's Story Fred Zinnemann United States

1960s

Year English Title Original Title Director(s) Production Country
1960 Romeo, Juliet and Darkness Romeo, Julie a tma Jiří Weiss Czechoslovakia
1961 One-Eyed Jacks Marlon Brando United States
1962 Arturo's Island L'isola di Arturo Damiano Damiani Italy
1963 Mafioso Alberto Lattuada
1964 America America Elia Kazan United States
1965 Golden Queen Zlatá reneta Otakar Vávra Czechoslovakia
Mirage Edward Dmytryk United States
1966 I Was Happy Here Desmond Davis United Kingdom
1967 Two for the Road Stanley Donen United States
1968 The Long Day's Dying Peter Collinson United Kingdom
1969 The Rain People Francis Ford Coppola United States

1970s

Year English Title Original Title Director(s) Production Country
1970 Dead of Summer Ondata di calore Nelo Risi Italy
1971 Claire's Knee Le Genou de Claire Éric Rohmer France
1972 The Glass House Tom Gries United States
1973 The Spirit of the Beehive El espíritu de la colmena Víctor Erice Spain
1974 Badlands Terrence Malick United States
1975 Poachers Furtivos José Luis Borau Spain
1976 Gypsies Are Found Near Heaven Табор уходит в небо Emil Loteanu Soviet Union
1977 An Unfinished Piece for Mechanical Piano Неоконченная пьеса для механического пианино Nikita Mikhalkov
1978 Alambrista! Robert M. Young United States
1979 Autumn Marathon Осенний марафон Georgiy Daneliya Soviet Union

1980s

Year English Title Original Title Director(s) Production Country
1980 The Orchestra Conductor Dyrygent Andrzej Wajda Poland
1981 Tales of Ordinary Madness Storie di ordinaria follia Marco Ferreri Italy
1982 Demons in the Garden Demonios en el jardín Manuel Gutiérrez Aragón Spain
1983 Entre Nous Diane Kurys France
1984 Rumble Fish Francis Ford Coppola United States
1985 Yesterday Radosław Piwowarski Poland
1986 Half of Heaven La mitad del cielo Manuel Gutiérrez Aragón Spain
1987 Wedding in Galilee عرس الجليل Michel Khleifi Belgium, France
1988 On the Black Hill Andrew Grieve United Kingdom
1989 Homer and Eddie Andrei Konchalovsky United States
La nación clandestina Jorge Sanjinés Bolivia

1990s

Year English Title Original Title Director(s) Production Country
1990 Letters from Alou Las cartas de Alou Montxo Armendáriz Spain
1991 Butterfly Wings Alas de mariposa Juanma Bajo Ulloa
1992 A Place in the World Un lugar en el mundo Adolfo Aristarain Argentina
1993 The Beginning and the End Principio y fin Arturo Ripstein Mexico
Sara سارا Dariush Mehrjui Iran
1994 Días contados Imanol Uribe Spain
1995 Margaret's Museum Mort Ransen Canada, United Kingdom
1996 Bwana Imanol Uribe Spain
Trojan Eddie Gillies MacKinnon Ireland
1997 The Swindle Rien ne va plus Claude Chabrol France
1998 Wind with the Gone El viento se llevó lo qué Alejandro Agresti Argentina, France, Netherlands, Spain
1999 C'est quoi la vie? François Dupeyron France

2000s

Year English Title Original Title Director(s) Production Country
2000 The Ruination of Men La perdición de los hombres Arturo Ripstein Mexico, Spain
2001 A Cab for Three Taxi para tres Orlando Lübbert Chile
2002 Mondays in the Sun Los lunes al sol Fernando León de Aranoa Spain, France, Italy
2003 Gun-shy Schussangst Dito Tsintsadze Germany
2004 Turtles Can Fly کیسەڵەکانیش دەفڕن Bahman Ghobadi Iran, France, Iraq
2005 Something Like Happiness Štěstí Bohdan Sláma Czech Republic
2006 Half Moon نیوەمانگ Bahman Ghobadi Iran
Mon fils à moi Martial Fougeron France
2007 A Thousand Years of Good Prayers Wayne Wang United States
2008 Pandora's Box Pandora'nın Kutusu Yeşim Ustaoğlu Turkey
2009 City of Life and Death 南京！南京！ Lu Chuan China

2010s

Year English Title Original Title Director(s) Production Country
2010 Neds Peter Mullan United Kingdom, France, Italy
2011 Los pasos dobles Isaki Lacuesta Spain, Switzerland
2012 In the House Dans la maison François Ozon France
2013 Bad Hair Pelo malo Mariana Rondón Venezuela, Peru, Germany
2014 Magical Girl Carlos Vermut Spain
2015 Sparrows Þrestir Rúnar Rúnarsson Denmark, Iceland
2016 I Am Not Madame Bovary 我不是潘金莲 Feng Xiaogang China
2017 The Disaster Artist James Franco United States
2018 Between Two Waters Entre dos aguas Isaki Lacuesta Spain
2019 Pacified[5] Pacificado Paxton Winters Brazil

2020s

Year English Title Original Title Director(s) Production Country
2020 Beginning[6] დასაწყისი Dea Kulumbegashvili Georgia, France
2021 Blue Moon Crai Nou Alina Grigore Romania
2022 The Kings of the World Los reyes del mundo Laura Mora Colombia
2023 The Rye Horn O corno Jaione Camborda Spain, Portugal, Belgium
2024 Afternoons of Solitude Tardes de soledad Albert Serra Spain, Portugal, France
2025 Sundays Los domingos Alauda Ruiz de Azúa Spain
2026 Tender Loving Care Mike Leigh United Kingdom

See also

Notes

  1. ^ Also referred to in English-language sources as the Golden Conch.[1][2]

References

  1. ^ Gibbons, Fiachra (1 October 2001). "Distribution 'key to film maker's success'". The Guardian.
  2. ^ Wong, Cindy Hing-Yuk (2011). Film Festivals: Culture, People, and Power on the Global Screen. New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press. p. 3. ISBN 978-0-8135-5065-7.
  3. ^ "San Sebastian Film Festival". sansebastianfestival. Retrieved 2019-10-02.
  4. ^ "San Sebastian Film Festival". sansebastianfestival. Retrieved 2019-10-02.
  5. ^ "San Sebastian Film Festival ::". 2019-09-03. Archived from the original on 2019-09-03. Retrieved 2019-10-05.
  6. ^ "Official Awards - FIAPF". 2020-09-26. Retrieved 2020-09-26.