The 74th San Sebastián International Film Festival has completed the 2026 lineup of Zabaltegi-Tabakalera, with Indian filmmakers Tanmay Chowdhary and Tanvi Chowdhary’s Abhinetri / Actress among seven shorts competing in the section.
The completed programme features 22 titles spanning 13 features, seven shorts, one medium-length film and one audiovisual performance. The section is known for bringing together films that resist conventional festival categorisation, and this year’s short-film competition includes winners from two of Europe’s major festivals.
Federico Luis’s For the Opponents, winner of the 2026 Palme d’Or for Best Short Film at Cannes, and Marie-Rose Osta’s Someday a Child, winner of the 2026 Golden Bear for Best Short Film at the Berlinale, will compete alongside Abhinetri / Actress. The other shorts are Mo Harawe’s Whispers of a Burning Scent, Adrian Cioflâncă and Radu Jude’s Shot Reverse Shot, Dorothea Sing Zhang’s As a Cure and Salka Tiziana’s Gluey Feathers.
Abhinetri / Actress
Running 13 minutes, Abhinetri / Actress is set in Mumbai and follows a young aspiring actor moving from audition to audition, performing different versions of herself for casting directors.
The film's protagonist has left school behind, does not know how to cook and carries what the festival describes as a "half-borrowed memory" of a grandmother she never met. She is repeatedly told that she resembles this grandmother, who, according to family lore, may herself have been an actress.
As the protagonist continues auditioning, the distinction between performing and living begins to disappear. She increasingly feels as though she is inside a film, observing her own life from outside it. Pranjal Asha stars in the film.
The film will have its world premiere at San Sebastián, making the Zabaltegi-Tabakalera selection its first festival presentation.
Tanmay and Tanvi Chowdhary
Abhinetri / Actress is the latest collaboration between siblings Tanmay Chowdhary and Tanvi Chowdhary, both from Kolkata. Tanmay was born in 1990 and Tanvi in 1995. The pair previously co-directed Madhu / Honey (2022), which went on to play at numerous international festivals.
Tanmay is a filmmaker whose work spans cinematography, editing, photography, narrative films, documentaries, music videos and commercials. He holds a Master's degree in Film from the University of Southern California and has worked with artists including Young the Giant and Raveena. His photography has appeared in publications including Rolling Stone and Vogue.
His narrative work has travelled extensively on the international festival circuit. Madhu received a Special Mention at Palm Springs International ShortFest and was subsequently screened at more than 40 international festivals, including New Directors/New Films at the Museum of Modern Art in New York. His 2024 short Leela had its world premiere at the International Film Festival Rotterdam.
Tanmay also founded Peru Films in 2020, a production company focused on supporting underrepresented voices.
Tanvi has collaborated with Tanmay on several projects, including Madhu / Honey, and Abhinetri / Actress continues their exploration of contemporary Indian lives through a distinctly independent filmmaking practice.
A Cannes and Berlinale-winning field
The presence of the two major short-film winners gives this year's Zabaltegi-Tabakalera short-film competition particular weight.
Federico Luis's For the Opponents arrives after winning the Short Film Palme d'Or at Cannes 2026, while Marie-Rose Osta's Someday a Child won the Golden Bear for Best Short Film at the Berlinale 2026. The remaining films also have strong festival pedigrees, with selections at Rotterdam, Berlinale, Cinéma du Réel, Locarno and other international festivals.
Importantly, the seven shorts are not competing for a separate short-film award. They enter the same Zabaltegi-Tabakalera competition as the section's features and other formats, with the winner receiving the €20,000 Zabaltegi-Tabakalera Award.
San Sebastián also no longer accepts general open submissions for short films to this section. Since 2025, the festival has reserved the right to invite short films it considers appropriate for Zabaltegi-Tabakalera, making inclusion itself a curatorial selection rather than the result of an open short-film call.
For Indian independent cinema, Abhinetri / Actress therefore arrives at San Sebastián with both a significant international premiere and a particularly competitive field, placing the Chowdharys' latest film alongside two of the most prominent short-film winners of the 2026 festival season.
