European Cinema has a tough time in Britain because we struggle to embrace movies shot in a foreign language.

Despite the fact that European films are often funnier, sexier and more poignant than a lot of the Hollywood glitz, people seem to have a deep seated fear of subtitles and this sets them at a permanent disadvantage.

But recent box office hits such as Pan’s Labyrinth have helped a new generation of film goers to open their minds to the idea that not all foreign language films are about two people sharing a cigarette in a studio flat in Paris. Some of them are actually pretty good.

This September the San Sebastian International Film Festival gets underway by showcasing 15 of Spain’s most critically acclaimed new films in their ‘Made-in-Spain’ section. It promises to be an excellent week of European cinema and anyone who is a fan of non-Hollywood movies will be tempted head out that way between 18th – 27th September.

Meryl Streep and Antonio Banderas will be picking up the festival’s Donostia Award, while Liam Neelson’s The Other Man, and The Brothers Bloom starring the excellent Adrien Brody, will all get the festival underway on its first day.

The festival is now in its 65th year and is an increasingly important part of Spain’s cultural calendar. Therefore anyone who wants to go should get their skates on as Hotel space can be hard to come by.

Some good advice is to try booking in Bilbao, as this is just a short train ride away from San Sebastian but much less likely to be full of movie-moguls chomping on big cigars and cutting multi-million dollar deals.

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