San Sebastian Festival to Honor Japanese Director Hirokazu Kore-eda

The filmmaker, who won the Cannes' Palme d'Or earlier this year for 'Shoplifters,' becomes the first Asian director to get the accolade at the Spanish event.

The San Sebastian Film Festival will honor Japanese director Hirokazu Kore-eda with this year's Donostia Award.

The filmmaker, the first Asian director to receive the accolade, has competed four times in the festival's official selection and won the audience award on two occasions. Earlier this year, his latest film, Shoplifters, won the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival.

The Donostia Award will honor Kore-eda for his contribution to the world of film, with organizers calling him "one of the great chroniclers of life in contemporary Japan." The awards ceremony will include a special screening of Shoplifters.

"Hirokazu Kore-eda has always been one of the filmmakers most loved by spectators at the San Sebastian festival, who appreciate the sensitivity of stories capable of crossing geographical and cultural borders to talk to us about universal values," festival organizers said. "That’s why both Like Father, Like Son and Our Little Sister carried off the audience award in San Sebastian."

The 66th edition of the San Sebastian Film Festival will take place Sept. 21-29.