Brad Pitt in San Sebastián: the red carpet with Ines de Ramon and Heart of the Beast

Brad Pitt is back in San Sebastián after 17 years

Brad Pitt last came to the San Sebastián Festival in 2009 — with Quentin Tarantino and Inglourious Basterds. Seventeen years later he returned to the 74th edition with David Ayer’s Heart of the Beast (released in Spain as En el corazón de la bestia). It screened in the Official Selection out of competition, one of only three such titles this year.

Photographer Olga Rum of ORAI Global Media and I covered the festival with press accreditation. That day I made it to everything: the press conference, the red carpet, the screening itself — and even a selfie with Brad. Let me tell it in order. This is the second article in our San Sebastián Film Festival series.

What Heart of the Beast is about

It is a survival film. After a plane crash, Special Forces officer James Belmont and his combat dog, Odin, are stranded deep in the Alaskan wilderness. What follows is cold, wild nature and the bond between a man and his dog, which matters more here than any words.

For Pitt and Ayer it is their first project together since the 2014 war drama Fury. The screenplay is by Cameron Alexander, and the cast also includes J.K. Simmons and Anna Lambe. Pitt not only plays the lead but also produces; Damien Chazelle is one of the executive producers.

• Director: David Ayer (USA)
• Cast: Brad Pitt, J.K. Simmons, Anna Lambe
• Running time: 101 minutes
• Distribution in Spain: Paramount Pictures Spain, in cinemas from 25 September 2026

The red carpet: Brad Pitt and Ines de Ramon

In the evening Brad walked the red carpet not alone but with his girlfriend, jewellery executive Ines de Ramon. I stood by the carpet with the other accredited journalists, just a few metres away. And it was nothing like a routine photo op: Ines whispered something in his ear, they laughed, she playfully “pushed” him away, and he kept his arm round her waist and her hand in his.

All the fashion press talked about Ines’s dress afterwards: green lace over a nude base, thin straps, an open back and loosely pinned-up hair. Brad chose a black three-piece suit — under the flashes a subtle camouflage pattern showed in the fabric — with a white shirt, black tie, gold tinted glasses and heeled boots. Before that he did the photocall with David Ayer and producer Olivia Hamilton and pressed his palms together to thank the photographers and fans.

Behind the barriers stood a solid wall of people with their phones up. Among the signs I spotted one with the name Mari Carmen — that same day, 23 September, the 87-year-old tenant was evicted in Madrid, a story all of Spain was talking about.

The press conference: my hand was up, but the star was a dog

In the afternoon Pitt, David Ayer and Olivia Hamilton held a special press conference at the Kursaal. Brad looked nothing like he would on the carpet that evening: a denim jacket, a white shirt and the same tinted glasses. The questions were in Spanish, and he listened through a simultaneous-translation earpiece — now resting his cheek on his hand, now adjusting the earpiece.

The room was packed. I had my hand up too — Olga even caught it on camera — but sadly I never got to ask my question: there were just too many hands. The conversation lasted almost half an hour and, as our colleagues at La Nación noted, much of it was… about the dog. Odin is played by a dog called Uber, and Pitt joked that in some scenes Uber is better than him — and that everyone knew that would happen.

There were serious topics too. In words later quoted by Spanish and American outlets, Pitt said that in the darkest periods of his life what helped was talking openly about his problems with those closest to him. His advice was simple: don’t think about everything at once, just get to the next small victory. On the film industry, he said independent cinema feels as strong to him now as it did in the ’90s.

The screening: we were in the audience

After the carpet we also made it into the screening of Heart of the Beast itself — two days before the film opened in Spanish cinemas. The hall was full. That is the magic of a festival: watching a new film in the same room as the people who made it. As an out-of-competition title it was not up for awards, but San Sebastián gave it a real premiere ahead of its Spanish release.

Pitt’s visit was one of the biggest moments of the 74th festival. Fans waited for him outside his hotel and along the carpet — and he stopped to sign autographs.

My selfie with Brad Pitt and an autograph

Now for the best part. Once the film’s team had walked the carpet, Brad didn’t head straight inside: he went over to the barriers, where fans were packed in with their phones, and started signing autographs — marker in hand, taking his time. I was right there — and grabbed a selfie with Brad Pitt himself. At a festival where every star is surrounded by security, crowds and hundreds of cameras, that is almost a small miracle.

At the same moment Brad also signed my poster for En el corazón de la bestia — the one with the tagline “Su supervivencia depende de su amistad” (“Their survival depends on their friendship”). The signed poster now lives with us at SPACE in Torrevieja.

Where to watch the film on the Costa Blanca

En el corazón de la bestia has been in Spanish cinemas since 25 September 2026. If it is still showing, you can find it in cinemas in and around Torrevieja; original-language screenings (VOSE) are not everywhere, so check the schedule in advance.

Coming next in this series

This is the second part of our San Sebastián Film Festival 2026 series. The first is an overview of the festival with all the official results. More Tairix reports and photos by Olga Rum (ORAI Global Media) are coming in the Society & culture section.