Ian McKellen receives Donostia Award

In this its 57th edition, the San Sebastian Film Festival will on Wednesday present its Donostia Award to British actor Ian McKellen in recognition of an extensive professional career in which he has demonstrated enormous versatility in diverse cinematic roles, but also in theatre and on television.

Originally trained as a classical Shakespearean actor and with an array of awards as well as two Oscar nominations under his belt, Sir Ian McKellen achieved mass popularity chiefly with two of fantasy cinema's most iconic roles: that of Magneto in the X-Men trilogy by Bryan Singer and Gandalf in The Lord of the Rings saga, directed by Peter Jackson.

In other events of the day, Basque director Imanol Uribe will be presented with the Zinemira Award as part of the Basque cinema section at the Victoria Eugenia theatre. Uribe is one of the Basque Country's most celebrated directors. Starting out in the 1970s, he was awarded the Festival's top Golden Shell Award in 1986 and then again in 1991 for his films Adios Pequeña and El Rey Pasmado.