Silver Shell for Best Director
| Silver Shell for Best Director | |
|---|---|
 2026 recipient: Amanda Kernell | |
| Awarded for | Best direction |
| Country | Spain |
| Presented by | San Sebastián International Film Festival |
| First award | 1953 |
| Currently held by | Amanda Kernell for Brace Your Heart |
| Website | sansebastianfestival |
The Silver Shell for Best Director (Spanish: Concha de Plata al Mejor Director; Basque: Zuzendari Onenaren Zilarrezko Maskorra) is one of the main awards presented at the San Sebastián Film Festival to the director of a competing film.[1][2][3]
Swedish filmmaker Amanda Kernell was the most recent winner for Brace Your Heart in 2026.
Winners
[edit]1950s
[edit]| Year | Director(s) | English Title | Original Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1953 | Rafael Gil | I Was a Parish Priest | La guerra de Dios |
| 1954 | Pedro Lazaga | La patrulla | |
| 1956 | Pietro Germi | The Railroad Man | Il ferroviere |
| 1957 | Alfréd Radok | Vintage Car | Dědeček automobil |
| O. W. Fischer | Ich suche Dich | ||
| 1958 | Alfred Hitchcock | Vertigo | |
| 1959 | North by Northwest | ||
| Folco Quilici | Dagli Appennini alle Ande | ||
1960s
[edit]| Year | Director(s) | English Title | Original Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1960 | Sidney Lumet | The Fugitive Kind | |
| 1961 | Alberto Lattuada | The Mishap | L'imprevisto |
| 1962 | Mauro Bolognini | Careless | Senilità |
| 1963 | Robert Enrico | In the Midst of Life | Au coeur de la vie |
| 1964 | Miguel Picazo | Aunt Tula | La Tía Tula |
| 1965 | Mario Monicelli | Casanova 70 | |
| 1966 | Mauro Bolognini | Madamigella di Maupin | |
| 1967 | Janusz Morgenstern | Jowita | |
| 1968 | Peter Collinson | The Long Day's Dying | |
1970s
[edit]| Year | Director(s) | English Title | Original Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1977 | Alf Brustellin and Bernhard Sinkel | Maiden's War | |
| 1978 | Manuel Gutiérrez Aragón | Sleepwalkers | Sonámbulos |
| 1979 | Pál Gábor | Angi Vera | |
1980s
[edit]| Year | Director(s) | English Title | Original Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1984 | Valeria Sarmiento | Notre mariage | |
| 1985 | Francisco José Lombardi | The City and the Dogs | La ciudad y los perros |
| 1986 | Axel Corti | Welcome in Vienna | |
| 1987 | Dominique Deruddere | Crazy Love | |
| 1988 | Gonzalo Suárez | Rowing with the Wind | Remando al viento |
| 1989 | Mirosław Bork | Konsul | |
1990s
[edit]| Year | Director(s) | English Title | Original Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1990 | Joel Coen | Miller's Crossing | |
| 1991 | Bruce McDonald | Highway 61[4] | |
| 1992 | Goran Marković | Tito and Me | Tito i ja |
| 1993 | Philippe Lioret | Lost in Transit | Tombés du ciel |
| 1994 | Danny Boyle | Shallow Grave | |
| 1995 | Mike Figgis | Leaving Las Vegas | |
| 1996 | Francisco José Lombardi | Bajo la piel | |
| 1997 | Claude Chabrol | The Swindle | Rien ne va plus |
| 1998 | Fernando León de Aranoa | Barrio | |
| 1999 | Zhang Yang | Shower | 洗澡 |
| Michel Deville | Sachs' Disease | La Maladie de Sachs | |
2000s
[edit]| Year | Director(s) | English Title | Original Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | Reza Parsa | Before the Storm | Före Stormen |
| 2001 | Jean-Pierre Améris | C'est la vie | |
| 2002 | Chen Kaige | Together | 和你在一起 |
| 2003 | Bong Joon Ho | Memories of Murder | 살인의 추억 |
| 2004 | Xu Jinglei | Letter from an Unknown Woman | 一個陌生女人的來信 |
| 2005 | Zhang Yang | Sunflower | 向日葵 |
| 2006 | Tom DiCillo | Delirious | |
| 2007 | Nick Broomfield | Battle for Haditha | |
| 2008 | Michael Winterbottom | Genova | |
| 2009 | Javier Rebollo | Woman Without Piano | La mujer sin piano |
2010s
[edit]| Year | Director(s) | English Title | Original Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | Raúl Ruiz | Mysteries of Lisbon | Mistérios de Lisboa |
| 2011 | Filippos Tsitos | Unfair World | Adikos Kosmos |
| 2012 | Fernando Trueba | The Artist and the Model | El artista y la modelo |
| 2013 | Fernando Eimbcke | Club Sandwich | Club Sándwich |
| 2014 | Carlos Vermut | Magical Girl | |
| 2015 | Joachim Lafosse | The White Knights | Les Chevaliers Blancs |
| 2016 | Hong Sang-soo | Yourself and Yours | 당신자신과 당신의 것 |
| 2017 | Anahí Berneri | Alanis | |
| 2018 | Benjamín Naishtat | Rojo | |
| 2019 | Jon Garaño, Aitor Arregi and Jose Mari Goenaga | The Endless Trench[5] | La Trinchera Infinita |
2020s
[edit]| Year | Director(s) | English Title | Original Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | Dea Kulumbegashvili | Beginning[6] | დასაწყისი |
| 2021 | Tea Lindeburg | As in Heaven[7] | Du Som Er I Himlen |
| 2022 | Genki Kawamura | A Hundred Flowers[8] | |
| 2025 | Joachim Lafosse | Six Days in Spring[9] | Six jours ce printemps-là |
| 2026 | Amanda Kernell | Brace Your Heart | Garrat du váimmu |
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ↑ "San Sebastian Film Festival". sansebastianfestival. Retrieved 2019-10-01.
- ↑ "Google Translate". translate.google.com. Retrieved 2019-10-01.
- ↑ "'Pacificado' Wins Golden Shell Award for Best Film at San Sebastian Fest". The Hollywood Reporter. 28 September 2019. Retrieved 2019-10-01.
- ↑ "Canadian honoured in Spain: Festival jury picks Highway 61 director". The Globe and Mail, September 30, 1991.
- ↑ "San Sebastian Film Festival ::". 2019-09-03. Archived from the original on 2019-09-03. Retrieved 2019-10-05.
- ↑ "Official Awards - FIAPF". 2020-09-26. Retrieved 2020-09-26.
- ↑ "San Sebastian Film Festival". sansebastianfestival. Archived from the original on 2021-09-28. Retrieved 2021-09-28.
- ↑ "Kawamura wins best director award at San Sebastian fest | The Asahi Shimbun: Breaking News, Japan News and Analysis". The Asahi Shimbun. 2022-09-18. Retrieved 2023-05-23.
- ↑ Rivera, Alfonso (29 September 2025). "Alauda Ruiz de Azúa's Sundays wins the Golden Shell in San Sebastián". Cineuropa. Retrieved 19 October 2025.