Maialen Beloki has been appointed as the next director of the San Sebastián Film Festival to replace longtime head José Luis Rebordinos when he steps down at the end of this year.

Beloki, who has been one of the deputy directors of the festival in Spain’s Basque Country since 2016, will take up the post in January 2027.

Her appointment was agreed at an extraordinary meeting on Monday of the festival’s Executive Board, made up of San Sebastián City Council, the Provincial Council of Gipuzkoa, the Basque Government and the Spanish Ministry of Culture.

The decision followed an open competition launched on 4 March to appoint a successor to Rebordinos who has held the post of festival director since 2011.

Taking place in the second half of September, the festival has grown in stature over the past decade amid a buzzy time for the country’s film and TV sector.

Last year’s jury headed by J.A. Bayona handed the top prize to Sundays by Spanish writer-director Alauda Ruiz de Azúa, while international titles in the lineup included Edward Berger’s Ballad of a Small Player, Claire Denis’ The Fence and James Vanderbilt’s Nuremberg.

Beloki holds a degree in Audiovisual Communication from the University of Navarra and a PhD (Cum Laude) in Film Theory, Analysis and Documentation from the University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU).

Her career combines cultural management, teaching and research. She is part of the Academic Board of Elías Querejeta Zine Eskola, where she also lectures, and has collaborated as a professor at Mondragon Unibertsitatea.

Throughout her career, she has participated in strategic projects such as Donostia/San Sebastián European Capital of Culture 2016 and has developed an active role as a speaker and author in the field of cinema.

She has also contributed to several programmes and initiatives supporting the audiovisual sector, collaborating with institutions such as the Institute of Cinematography and Audiovisual Arts (ICAA).

The festival said the appointment process had been managed by Batea, a human resources consultancy specializing in recruitment and headhunting.