Spanish director Alex de la Iglesia's fifth film, La Comunidad, will open this year's San Sebastian International Film Festival (September 21-30), outgoing festival director Diego Galan has confirmed.

The choice is unusual as San Sebastian does not traditionally open with a Spanish title, particularly a genre title such as La Comunidad.

The film, which is produced by Andres Vicente Gomez's Lolafilms and stars Carmen Maura, Emilio Gutierrez Caba and Sancho Gracia, is a comedy horror in the same vein as De La Iglesia's biggest film to date El Dia De La Bestia.

Galan, who has helmed San Sebastian since 1995, recently announced that he is stepping down after this year's event to be replaced by it is current sub-director Mikel Olaciregui. This year's festival is also set to host a tribute to Bernardo Bertolucci.