Following the memorable presentation of Lumière ! L'aventure commence (Lumière! The Adventure Begins) in 2017, a screening narrated live by the director of the Cannes Festival and of the Lumière Institute, Thierry Frémaux, the San Sebastian Festival created a new section: Klasikoak.

In 2018, Ladri di biciclette / Bicycle Thieves (1948) was programmed, and one year later, the section increased from one to three films programmed for screening in their restored versions in the Tabakalera cinema: Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters (1985), by Paul Schrader; Dao ma zei / The Horse Thief (1986), by Tian Zhuangzhuang, and Sátántangó (1994), by Béla Tarr.