San Sebastian Film Festival has announced the filmmakers selected for its 2026 New Directors programme, which showcases first and second feature films and runs from 18 to 26 September. The sidebar will bring together emerging directors from 13 countries, underlining the festival’s role in introducing international new talent.

Jaime Lorente’s Spanish debut The Bad Son will open the programme, following an 11-year-old boy sent to live with his grandmother after his father disappears. Billy Lumby’s Florid, a British debut about a young musician with schizophrenia navigating medication, drug use and mental health challenges, will close it; the festival has also recently added works by Mike Leigh and Pablo Larraín elsewhere in its programme.