Esther García is being feted for her storied career…

The Spanish veteran producer, a longtime collaborator of Pedro Almodóvar, will be handed a Donostia Award for career achievement at this year’s San Sebastian Film Festival. 

The festival has said the award was timed to celebrate the 40th anniversary of El Deseo, the production company Pedro Almodóvar launched with his brother, Agustín, which García joined in 1986.

García has been a secretary, production assistant, and producer at the company.

She has worked on every film directed by Almodóvar since Matador (1986).

Her enormous body of work also includes Pim, pam, pum… ¡Fuego! (Pedro Olea), El año de las luces (Fernando Trueba, 1986), El juego más divertido (Emilio Martínez Lázaro, 1988), and, more recently, Olive Laxe’s 2025 Cannes title Sirat. 

Amongst the myriad awards received by García are the National Cinematography Award, which she received in San Sebastián in 2018, the Silver Fotogramas in 2019, and six