TikTok is determined to bring together the worlds of auteur cinema and short-form mobile video.
On Thursday, TikTok unveils that it has become an official sponsor of the San Sebastian Film Festival, Spain’s leading cinema event, which celebrates its 70th anniversary this year, running Sept. 16-24.
The move follows TikTok’s sponsorship of the 2022 Cannes Film Festival, the first time the digital media giant and the world’s most acclaimed arthouse festival joined forces.
San Sebastian festival director José Luis Rebordinos welcomed the TikTok deal, saying the short-video platform would help bring the austere Spanish festival to a new generation. “The festival has the vocation of listening to all audiences and TikTok is a good partner in achieving that mission,” he noted.
The collaboration will see San Sebastian give the TikTok community access to a wide variety of exclusive content through the festival’s official TikTok account, @sansebastianfes. As in Cannes this year, TikTok creators will walk the red carpet in San Sebastian this year, be invited backstage and interview VIP festival guests.
But TikTok’s Cannes premiere was not without controversy. Acclaimed French-Cambodian director Rithy Panh initially quit his position as president of a Cannes jury judging short film TikTok videos, after claiming TikTok executives were attempting to interfere in his jury’s choices. TikTok appeared to capitulate, and Panh rejoined the competition.
