Previously the New Directors competition was part of the festival’s Zabaltegui section.

For its 60th edition, the San Sebastian International Film Festival is introducing a separate competition section for first and second time directors.

They will compete for the Kutxa-Nuevos Directors Award of $118.000 dollars which will go to the filmmaker and the distributor in Spain.

Until last year, the New Directors competition was a section of Zabaltegui, along with Pearls, Films From Other Festivals, and Special Screenings. Directors to have screened in the section have included Agustí Villaronga, Isabel Coixet, Danny Boyle, Juan José Campanella and Nicolas Winding Refn.

The move helps to give the festival a more youth orientated fell, while Gijón film Festival, the traditional Spanish place for debutants and avant garde cinema, is on hold.

Meanwhile, the festival has also launched its design competition for the 60th edition’s official poster. The winners will be voted for by the public, for the first time online, via the festival’s website.

It has also been revealed that French Georges Franju, whose works include Eyes Without a Face (1960) and Thomas The Impostor (1965) will be the subject of a retrospective at the 60th edition of San Sebastian.