Mike Leigh's 'Tender Loving Care' wins the Golden Shell at San Sebastian

Director Mike Leigh's "Tender Loving Care" won the Golden Shell for best film at the 74th San Sebastian Film Festival in Spain. The awards were presented at the festival's closing ceremony on September 26, 2026, according to Screen Daily and The Film Verdict.

Three prizes for Leigh's film

Besides the top award, "Tender Loving Care" won best screenplay for Leigh and the Silver Shell for best leading performance for Kate O'Flynn. Screen Daily reported that O'Flynn shared the performance prize with Norwegian actress Asta Kamma August, who was recognized for "Growth Of The Soil."

Screen Daily reported that Leigh was not at the ceremony and sent a video message of thanks. Two of the film's actors, Paul Jesson and Alice Bailey Johnson, collected the awards on his behalf.

According to Screen Daily, the film tells the linked stories of two friends and an elderly couple living in present-day London. The competition jury, led by filmmaker Ira Sachs, also gave it the Transforma Make & Mark Award, which recognizes films that promote positive social change. The Film Verdict called the film "a worthy winner of the Golden Shell and two more prizes."

Other winners in competition

Swedish director Amanda Kernell won the Silver Shell for best director for "Brace Your Heart," a film about a young Sami reindeer herder, Screen Daily reported.

According to The Film Verdict, the Special Jury Prize went to "Border," directed by Ah Biao. Javier Camara won best supporting performance for "5 More Minutes," and Oskar Dahlsbakken won best cinematography for "Growth of the Soil," an adaptation of Knut Hamsun's novel. Amine Bouhafa won best original score for "Milo."

Audience and section awards

The Spanish film "La Bola Negra," directed by Javier Calvo and Javier Ambrossi, won the audience award for best film. Screen Daily reported that the film draws on the legacy of the poet Federico Garcia Lorca and explores Spain's queer history, and that it has done well at the Spanish box office.

The Film Verdict listed "Naza," directed by Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor, as the winner of the audience award for best European film. The New Directors Award went to Naemi Ada for "Body of Glass." In other sections, the Horizontes Latinos Award went to Alessandra Sanguinetti's "The Illusion of an Everlasting Summer," and the Zabaltegi-Tabakalera Award went to Jane Schoenbrun's "Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma."

Why it matters

The Golden Shell is the top prize at San Sebastian, and Leigh's film left the festival with three competition awards plus the Transforma Make & Mark Award. Other top competition prizes went to Amanda Kernell's 'Brace Your Heart' and to 'Growth of the Soil', which won for both performance and cinematography, while a Spanish film took the audience vote. Festival awards like these can raise a film's profile with distributors and audiences ahead of its wider release.

Sources

This article was drafted with AI assistance and checked against the sources above. Company claims are reported as claims. Cover image is AI-generated.