Since its creation in 2013, the Santurtzi Film Festival has gradually evolved to become a benchmark event in the Basque Country, expanding fields of action and gaining in solidity. Always faithful to its three founding axes –the socio-cultural promotion of the municipality, the connection with the community from the artistic point of view and the promotion and professionalization of new directors– the original motto of "cinema at street level" has consolidated a distinctive personality –close, participatory cinema with a social vocation– that has served as a platform for emerging filmmakers and for cultural revitalization, social and economic of Santurtzi.
The great success of SZ has been to position itself as a platform for emerging Basque cinema: to screen and give space to short films and debut films that have then toured national and international circuits, which has reinforced the festival's reputation and attracted media attention and institutional collaboration. Among its greatest values is also an identity marked by horizontality: bringing authors and the public closer together, eliminating barriers between professionals and spectators and facilitating direct interaction in informal venues such as hospitality or historical spaces (Cofradía, Casa Torre).
What began as a post-crisis cultural antidote of 2008, with the idea of screening short films in bars on weekends, has grown thirteen years later: since then, more than 50,000 euros in prizes have been awarded and the making of more than 200 short films has been promoted in the local section, filmed in the village of Santurtzi. In the last edition, in 2025, there have been numerous sold-outs (such as at the SKA, with a capacity of 600 seats) and an overall record of attendance, participation and institutional collaboration.
