San Sebastian Film Festival has announced its inaugural film.
Fatih Akin's Ghost Song serves as the opening film.
This marks the German filmmaker's first time competing for the Golden Shell.
Ghost Song, the new feature from Golden Bear-winning German filmmaker Fatih Akin, will open this year’s San Sebastián Film Festival. Ghost Song will screen on September 18 at the Kursaal following the opening ceremony. Akin will compete for the Golden Shell for the first time in his decades-long career.
Featuring Mariam Dawoud and Eren M. Güvercin as Farasha and Faris, who run into each other at a graduation party and fall in love at first sight, Ghost Song sees Farasha suddenly dying that same night. A love story unrolls between two worlds, as she traces a way to meet Faris in his dreams.
The official synopsis states: “Farasha and Faris are 20 when they meet at a graduation party – one glance that changes everything. But Farasha dies that very same night. Refusing to be separated from him, she discovers a way to cross the boundary between worlds: for 40 nights, and 40 nights only, she can meet Faris in his dreams. And so their love continues to grow, until the very last night.”
Ghost Song joins 16 other titles set to screen as part of the festival’s Official Selection. Other competition highlights include new films from Jesse Eisenberg, Pablo Larraín, Mike Leigh. Akin has called Ghost Song “a love story, but not like the Patrick Swayze-Demi Moore film — though maybe it is a mix between the Patrick Swayze-Demi Moore film and Jean-Paul Sartre. It’s a mix of that.”
Akin is known for the likes of Head-On (2004), the winner of the Golden Bear at the Berlinale. He later won the best screenplay award at Cannes for The Edge of Heaven (2007) and the special jury prize at Venice for Soul Kitchen (2009).
The 2026 San Sebastián Film Festival runs from September 18 to 26.
