Tender Loving Care, the latest and reportedly final film from veteran British filmmaker Mike Leigh, emerged as the biggest winner at the 74th San Sebastián Film Festival, taking home the Golden Shell for Best Film along with the Jury Prize for Best Screenplay and a shared Silver Shell for Best Leading Performance for Kate O’Flynn. The festival’s major awards also recognized Ah Biao’s Border with the Special Jury Prize, Amanda Kernell’s Brace Your Heart with the Silver Shell for Best Director, and Asta Kamma August with a shared Silver Shell for Best Leading Performance for Growth of the Soil. Among the audience awards, Javier Calvo and Javier Ambrossi’s La Bola Negra won Best Film, while Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor’s NAZA took Best European Film.
Mike Leigh did not attend the closing ceremony in person due to an ongoing muscular health condition that has affected his ability to travel. Instead, he sent a short video message to the jury and audience, saying, “I’m so sorry I can’t be with you. What a great honour it is. Thank you, thank you, and love to everybody.” Two of the film’s lead actors, Paul Jesson and Alice Bailey Johnson, accepted the awards on his behalf.
Tender Loving Care centers on the friendship between Amy, played by O’Flynn, and Rosie, played by Bailey Johnson, alongside Amy’s aging parents, played by Jesson and Marion Bailey, weaving together themes of family, friendship and everyday life. The film had its world premiere at the Telluride Film Festival on September 4, before screening in the Special Presentations section of the Toronto International Film Festival and then heading to San Sebastián, marking Leigh’s return to the festival’s main competition following 2024’s BAFTA-nominated Hard Truths.
Kate O’Flynn’s Silver Shell for Best Leading Performance was shared with Asta Kamma August, honored for her role in Hans Petter Moland’s Growth of the Soil, which also picked up the Jury Prize for Best Cinematography for Oskar Dahlsbakken. The award comes on the heels of another big year for O’Flynn, who recently won an Emmy for her role in Widow’s Bay.
The rest of the festival’s main competition awards were spread across several international titles. The Special Jury Prize went to Ah Biao’s Border, a Hong Kong-US-South Korea co-production, while the Silver Shell for Best Director went to Amanda Kernell for the Swedish-Norwegian-Danish film Brace Your Heart. Javier Cámara won the Silver Shell for Best Supporting Performance for his role in the Spanish film 5 More Minutes. This year’s jury was led by American filmmaker Ira Sachs, alongside fellow jurors including director Genki Kawamura, screenwriter Catherine Paillé, actress and producer Alice Braga, actress Patricia López Arnaiz, actor Bill Skarsgård and producer Mike Goodridge.
Outside the main jury awards, the festival’s audience-voted prizes went to two other high-profile titles. The City of Donostia/San Sebastián Audience Award was given to La Bola Negra, the Spanish queer epic from hometown favorites Javier Calvo and Javier Ambrossi, also known as Los Javis, adding to a big month for the film, which had already won the People’s Choice Award at the Toronto International Film Festival just days earlier. A separate audience honor went to NAZA.
Mike Leigh, whose long career includes a Palme d’Or win at Cannes in 1996 for Secrets and Lies and the Golden Lion at Venice in 2004 for Vera Drake, has spoken openly in recent weeks about the likelihood that Tender Loving Care will be his last feature film, citing the physical toll of his ongoing health condition. Notably, the film had reportedly been passed over for a Competition slot at this year’s Venice Film Festival before going on to dominate San Sebastián instead.
With a rare sweep of Best Film, Best Screenplay and Best Leading Performance honors, Tender Loving Care caps what may be the final chapter of one of British cinema’s most celebrated careers on an unmistakable high note, giving festival audiences a fitting send-off for a filmmaker whose work has shaped arthouse cinema for nearly five decades. The festival’s audience awards also highlighted several prominent titles. La Bola Negra, the Spanish queer epic from hometown favorites Javier Calvo and Javier Ambrossi, won the City of Donostia/San Sebastián Audience Award for Best Film, adding to the film’s recent recognition after its People’s Choice Award win at the Toronto International Film Festival. NAZA, directed by Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor, received the Audience Award for Best European Film.
Important Winners at the 74th San Sebastián Film Festival
- Golden Shell for Best Film: Tender Loving Care — Mike Leigh
- Special Jury Prize: Border — Ah Biao
- Silver Shell for Best Director: Brace Your Heart — Amanda Kernell
- Silver Shell for Best Leading Performance: Kate O’Flynn (Tender Loving Care) and Asta Kamma August (Growth of the Soil)
- Silver Shell for Best Supporting Performance: Javier Cámara (5 More Minutes)
- Jury Prize for Best Screenplay: Tender Loving Care — Mike Leigh
- Jury Prize for Best Cinematography: Growth of the Soil — Oskar Dahlsbakken
- New Directors Award: Body of Glass — Naëmi Ada
- Latin Horizons Award: The Illusion of an Everlasting Summer — Alessandra Sanguinetti
- Zabaltegi-Tabakalera Award: Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma — Jane Schoenbrun
- Best Original Music Award: Milo — Amine Bouhafa
- Audience Award for Best Film: La Bola Negra — Javier Calvo and Javier Ambrossi
- Audience Award for Best European Film: NAZA — Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor
- Irizar Basque Film Award: Txakun txakür — Elsa Oliarj-Inès
- RTVE Another Look Award: All of a Sudden — Ryusuke Hamaguchi
- Transforma Award: Tender Loving Care — Mike Leigh