The school's academic programme is based on three pathways: Film preservation, Curating and Filmmaking, and its syllabus includes theoretical training and professional practical sessions as well as guidance in developing a personal project

Each speciality has places available for a maximum of 15 students, and the registration fee is 3,500 euros

The academic year will be 56 weeks long and will start at the same time as the next San Sebastián Festival.

Elías Querejeta Zine-Eskola has opened today, January 8, the registration period in its three postgraduate courses (Film Preservation, Curating and Filmmaking), a period that will remain open until the 31st of May. The school, created and financed by Gipuzkoa Provincial Council, offers a single unique pedagogical project, consisting of the three specialities that take shape based on the spheres of knowledge of the three film institutions that are taking part in its conceptualisation: the Basque Film Library, Tabakalera International Centre for Contemporary Culture and the San Sebastián Film Festival. The aim of EQZE is not to train technical staff by following traditional training models, but to encourage the emergence of filmmakers with a comprehensive vision of cinema who are able to produce new realities on film and provide fresh reflections on filmmaking theory and practice.

In this respect, the Filmmaking speciality aims to train specialists in the identification, classification, restoration and preservation of our film and audio-visual heritage while the Curating speciality focuses on the conceptualisation, development, management and dissemination of all kinds of programmes, publications, interventions and exhibitions in which cinema and the audio-visual arts play the leading role; finally, the Filmmaking speciality focus on the theoretical and methodological training, as well as practical research, of anyone interested in making films or artistic audio-visual work. The purpose of this approach is for students to acquire a broad, cross-cutting vision that enables them to dialogue with the past, present and future of cinema.

The places available are restricted to a maximum of 15 students per speciality and the registration fee is 3,500 Euros. The academic year will start at the same time as the 66th San Sebastián Film Festival, on September 21.

Three postgraduate courses to define an idea of cinema

Elías Querejeta Zine Eskola does not have a range of training programmes, but a single unique educational project, made up of three postgraduate programmes: Film Preservation, Curating and Filmmaking. As a whole, these three pathways identify and define the idea of cinema that this innovative project proposes.

The Film preservation speciality aims to train specialists in the identification, classification, restoration and preservation of our film and audio-visual heritage. The person in charge of this is Clara Sánchez-Dehesa, a specialist in the conservation and restoration of film and audio-visual material after studying at the L. Jeffrey Selznick School of Film Preservation, New York, where she received the Haghefilm scholarship 2011, and in audio-visual heritage through a Master's degree from the Complutense University in Madrid.

The Curating pathway focuses on the conceptualisation, development, management and dissemination of all kinds of programmes, publications, interventions and exhibitions in which cinema and the audio-visual arts play the leading role. The head of this department is María Palacios Cruz, curator, teacher and writer about cinema and motion pictures; ex-director of the Courtisane Festival in Belgium and currently deputy director of LUX (based in London), an organisation devoted to promoting artistic practices regarding motion pictures.

Finally, the filmmaking speciality will focus on the theoretical and methodological training, as well as practical research, of anyone interested in making films or artistic audio-visual work. The coordinator of this area is the artist and filmmaker Laida Lertxundi, who lectures in Fine Arts and Humanities at the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena (California). A graduate in Fine Arts at the Bard College (New York) with a Master's degree in Fine Arts at the Institute of the Arts of California, she has screened her work at museums, festivals and galleries all over the world.

The teaching team is made up of renowned film professionals in the three specialisation areas with a markedly international profile. Among others, Koldo Almandoz, Cristina Álvarez, Manuel Asín, Harkaitz Cano, Esperanza Collado, Erika Balsom, Luciano Berriatúa, Xabier Erkizia, Vanesa Fernández Guerra, Beatrice Gibson, Dan Kidner, Reto Kromer, Salome Lamas, Anna Manubens, Takashi Makino, Adrian Martin, Ricardo Matos, Maider Oleaga, Garbiñe Ortega, Filipa Ramos, Kara van Malssen and Paulino Viota will form part of the teaching staff. Professionals from the Film Library, Tabakalera and the Festival are also taking part in the teaching project.

The purpose of the school is to train filmmakers in the broad, cross-cutting sense of the term; filmmakers that can actively confront and interact with the cinema of the past (research archiving and preservation), with the cinema of the present (curating and programming) and with the cinema of the future (filmmaking) so that they can develop a comprehensive unitary vision.

Course methodology and structure

The syllabus for each pathway is divided into three areas that combine reflection, experience of filmmaking, direct contact with the professional world and experimental practice:

1. The teaching area includes core subjects in the three specialities, and specific subjects in each of them, as well as common master classes, workshops, lectures, conferences and seminars. The programming at Tabakalera, the San Sebastián Film Festival and the Basque Film Library is also included and is interlinked with the calendar of the three specialities. Most of the teaching is concentrated in the first term of the academic year and altogether amounts to a minimum of 500 teaching hours.
2. The professional area includes the practical training sessions that will take place in the professional structures of the three institutions that are taking part in the project and will be carried out in parallel to teaching. Students will carry out a minimum of 100 hours of professional or practical training.
3. The Project area includes the development of projects that all students must carry out, regardless of their speciality, and that they will have to defend at the end of the year in a public session. All the projects will have a tutor, depending on the speciality.

The course runs for 56 weeks divided into six modules lasting between five and seven weeks. Each module follows a specifically coherent pedagogical approach, so that all the subjects and activities in this period revolve around a basic theme in each speciality.

Admission for the 2018-2019 academic year

The admission process for the 2018-2019 academic year will remain open from today, 8th of January, to the 31st of May 2018. The syllabus at EQZE is designed for students who have pursued university studies, have a university degree (bachelor's degree) or are in the process of obtaining a degree during 2018, and film-school graduates. Exceptionally, the School will study the particular cases of those candidates who, although they do not meet the prior requirements, do have proven experience in cinema. The places available are restricted to a maximum de 15 students per speciality.

Students will only be able to register on the school web page. The procedure to take part in the selection process will be as follows

1. Complete the on-line form: as well as all the personal and academic details, candidates must also choose on the form which speciality or specialities they wish to apply for in order of preference.
2. Add the following documents to the form as attached files:
   • University degree and academic record.
   • Presentation letter or video.
   • Curriculum vitae.
   • In the case of the Filmmaking pathway, a short abstract in which candidates must set out the personal Project that would like to develop during the course. The approach, format and genre of this creative project is of the candidate's own choice. The inclusion of a personal project in the case of the Film Preservation and Curating specialities is optional.
   • Sworn and signed declaration of truth.

   Candidates may complement their application with any materials they consider appropriate.

Applications will be assessed by the admissions committee named for this purpose and the academic management. After the documentation and proposals that accompany the applications have been assessed, candidates will be summoned for an interview in person or online which will lead to the selection process for future students.

The admission period starts today, 8 January, and ends on the 31st of May but the selection and notification process for candidates will take place in two stages: in April (for those who have begun the application process until the 31st of March) and in June (for those who do so until the 31st of May). Candidates will be informed of the result by e-mail. After their admission has been confirmed, candidates will receive all the information they require to formalise and pay for their registration including the payment methods and deadlines. Formalising your registration means that you accept the programme. The registration fee for the 2018-19 academic year is 3,500 euros.

All the information about the Elías Querejeta Zine Eskola and the registration form can be consulted at: www.zine-eskola.eus.