Rifkin’s Festival is a homage to San Sebastián and the great directors of classical cinema. We invite you to take a journey to discover the city in all its splendour through the lens of Vittorio Storaro (Apocalypse Now, The Last Emperor). The legendary cinematographer, in keeping with his past collaborations with Woody Allen, depicts Donostia through two opposing worlds: the external reality of the festival and city brimming with light and colour, and main character Mort Rifkin’s internal life and dreams in black and white.

This is a film that intertwines surrealistic scenes with stories of love and loss, paying a moving tribute to the great masters of cinema and their power to transform. In addition to the numerous tasteful and ironic references and nods to films and stars, Mort Rifkin’s dream sequences create a pastiche of canonical classics from the likes of Ingmar Bergman, François Truffaut, Jean-Luc Godard, Orson Welles, Luis Buñuel and Federico Fellini. Thus, Itzurun Beach in Zumaia becomes the beach in The Seventh Seal (Bergman), La Concha Beach the one in Jules and Jim (Truffaut), the halls of the Provincial Council of Gipuzkoa the setting for The Exterminating Angel (Buñuel), and Miramar Palace and one of the Miraconcha villas the home of a young Charles Foster Kane (Citizen Kane, Orson Welles).

Woody Allen first imagined Mort Rifkin as a young man, but his lifelong friend Juliet Taylor suggested that he choose Wallace Shawn for the role and Allen thought “My God, that’s perfect! Why shouldn’t I pick a real intellectual?” He didn’t hesitate to choose him as the main character because of his mischievously fun face, his skill at expressing emotions, and, most of all, because he believes he is genuinely smart.

Woody Allen won’t travel more than 20 minutes by car when shooting, so an airport terminal was meticulously recreated in the Orona building in Galarreta, and the inside of an airplane was built in the basement of the Atotxa building for a scene in which actress Bárbara Goenaga appeared; sadly, the entire scene was left on the cutting room floor.

In an interview, actress Elena Anaya talked about the degree of perfection Allen demands. At first she found it devastating to hear things like “That’s awful. I don’t believe anything you’re doing. You’re the worst actress in the history of cinema” and “If someone had to write a book about the worst performance in the world, they should call you”. Her producer, Helen, told her not to worry, as it was something he always said to the world’s greatest actors.

Where did Woody Allen eat? Find out in which restaurants Woody Allen sat down to eat during his stay in San Sebastián.