Today, the Ikusmira Berriak programme of residencies and audiovisual project development, organised by the San Sebastian Festival, Tabakalera International Centre for Contemporary Culture and the Elías Querejeta Zine Eskola (EQZE), opens the call for submissions for its seventh edition. 

Filmmakers from the Basque Country, Spain and other countries can submit their projects until August 31. The same applies to participants in the Nest section and students at the EQZE. The works selected in each of the five categories will be announced in November.

The eight weeks of residency at San Sebastian's Tabakalera centre will once again be distributed into two periods: six weeks starting in March 15, 2021, which they will use to set their projects in motion, and another two during the actual Festival, where the directors will show their work, by now more developed, to film industry representatives.

From April until September, each filmmaker will work on the project by themselves, receiving online guidance from the committee of experts, namely the filmmaker Sergio Oksman, the producer Eugenia Mumenthaler and the programmer Javier Martín. Furthermore, in May each selected work will receive a grant of 5,000 euros towards its development. 

In regard to projects participating in the present edition of Ikusmira Berriak, Diego Céspedes has been selected for the Torino Film Lab with La misteriosa mirada del flamenco, while Monólogo Colectivo, by Jessica Sarah Rinland, will receive backing from Rotterdam Festival's Hubert Bals Fund (HBF).

Titles from earlier editions have also won awards and been selected for international festivals, such as El agua, by Elena López Riera; Pornomelancolía, by Manuel Abramovich, and Dormen os peixes de olhos abertos (¿Duermen los peces con ojos abiertos?), by Nele Wohlatz. As far as the San Sebastian Festival is concerned, its different sections have included works gestated at the Ikusmira Berriak residencies, such as Las letras de Jordi, by Maider Fernández Iriarte; Muga deitzen da pausoa, by Maider Oleaga, and Trote, by Xacio Baño.

In addition, several projects to have participated in Ikusmira Berriak in recent years are expected to see the light in 2020: Fantasía, by Aitor and Amaia Merino; Stephanie, by Leonardo Van Dijl; Chupacabra, by Grigory Kolomytsev, and Jo ta ke, by Aitziber Olaskoaga.  

Ikusmira Berriak is a programme of support to audiovisual projects organised by Tabakalera, the Festival and the Elías Querejeta Zine Eskola; it enjoys the collaboration of the Filmoteca Vasca and is part of the legacy of San Sebastian, European Capital of Culture 2016. 

To access the Terms & Conditions and submit a project click here.
SUBMISSION DEADLINE: AUGUST 31