The third edition of Ikusmira Berriak has selected four proposals from five filmmakers between 26 and 33 years of age: Basque filmmaker Maider Fernández Iriarte, the Spanish duo of Samuel M. Delgado and Helena Girón, Argentine director Julia Pesce and Belgian filmmaker Leo Van Dijl.

The selection committee, made up of members of the Tabakalera International Centre for Contemporary Culture and the San Sebastian Film Festival, has chosen the following films from among the 157 proposals received from 19 countries: Las letras de Jordi (Jordi’s writing), by Maider Fernández Iriarte, in the category of filmmakers from the Basque Autonomous Community; Eles transportan a morte (They transport death), by Samuel M. Delgado and Helena Girón, from the proposals by directors from the rest of Spain; Águila de papel (Paper eagle), by Julia Pesce, chosen in the category of international film makers; and Stephanie, by Leonardo Van Dijl, from among the filmmakers who have participated in previous editions of the International Film Students Meeting at the San Sebastian Film Festival.

For the selection of proposals, which showed an increase of 320% over the number registered the previous year, the jury benefited from the advice of the expert committee, formed on this occasion by the director of the Locarno Film Festival, Carlo Chatrian, the Brazilian filmmaker Sergio Oksman and Romanian producer Ada Solomon.

Maider Fernández Iriarte (San Sebastian, 1988), who last year, as part of the group Las Chicas de Pasaik, premiered the short film Gure Hormek (Our walls) in the Zabaltegi-Tabakalera section, presents a film about “the love of God and of the word of a free man”, Jordi, who was born 51 years ago with cerebral palsy.

Samuel M. Delgado (Santa Cruz de Tenerife, 1987) and Helena Girón (Santiago de Compostela, 1988) propose to mix narration and experimentation to explore the flight of three crewmen from an expedition led by Christopher Columbus.

The project by Julia Pesce (Córdoba, Argentina, 1984) is inspired by a family and personal experience of tensegrity, which is the modern and adapted version of certain movements, known as magical passes, developed in Mexico before the Spanish conquest.

Leonardo Van Dijl (Kortrijk, Belgium, 1991), who participated at the International Film Students Meeting last year and was awarded a special mention in the Panavision Award for Umpire, focuses on a 15-year-old gymnast whose life changes after a serious injury.

The five filmmakers will enjoy a residency of six weeks in San Sebastian from 21 August. During the first four weeks, they will carry out their projects in Tabakalera’s Artist’s Space and will attend master classes and will receive guidance from members of the expert committee.

In the fifth week of the residency, the participants will prepare the pitching session, which involves a project presentation to professionals from the industry during the sixth and final week of the residency. The session is part of the Europe-Latin America Co-Production Forum of the San Sebastian Film Festival. The residents will have the opportunity to arrange meetings with professionals who are interested in collaborating in their projects, and will receive an access pass to screenings and the Festival’s other industry activities.

Ikusmira Berriak will also provide financial support amounting to 20,000 euros, which will be distributed among the projects selected. In addition, REC Grabaketa Estudioa is offering as a prize its post-production services for a feature film valued at 35,000 euros.

Ikusmira Berriak is a programme that seeks to involve new talent as well as producers and people from the audiovisual industry who support innovation and new languages. It is organised by Tabakalera and the San Sebastian Festival, in collaboration with REC Grabaketa Estudioa and the Basque Film Library, and is part of the San Sebastian 2016 European Capital of Culture legacy.

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