Z365" or "Festival all year round" is the new strategic point of the Festival in which converge investigation, accompaniment and development of new talents (Ikusmira Berriak, Nest); training and cinematic knowledge transfer (Elías Querejeta Zine Eskola, Zinemaldia + Plus, Filmmakers' dialogue); and investigation, disclosure and cinematic thought (Z70 project, Thought and Discussion and Research and publications).
Ashmita Guha is an Indian filmmaker whose short film CatDog won the Grand Prix at the Cinefondation section at Cannes and the Orona award at the Nest section here in San Sebastián in 2020. She has come to the Festival to form part of the New Directors jury.
She says that she is really excited about having the chance to judge the work of people who like herself are young directors. She especially values the work of filmmakers who constantly go beyond her own comfort zone and tell stories that offer her an alternative viewpoint to the official narratives provided by news outlets. She also stresses that she is interested in the fact that cinema is not a new medium and that it is important to constantly think about how it can be reinvented: something that is easier for new directors who still have no established language of their own.
As for her current projects, she has just finished a medium length film and is in the process of writing her first feature film.