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).
Eusko Label is a new competitive section at the San Sebastian Festival featuring a selection of works submitted to the Eusko Label micro-shorts competition in the endeavour to raise awareness of and support local products through the cinema. It also seeks to promote and draw attention to all aspects related to sustainability in the worlds of agriculture, livestock and fishing.
The competition is organised by the Festival and HAZI, a public company belonging to the Basque Government Department of Economic Development, Sustainability and the Environment. With a maximum duration of three minutes and made with a mobile phone, the selected shorts will compete for two Eusko Label awards: a first prize coming with 6,000 euros for the best short film, and a second prize of 4,000 euros, both decided by a jury created for the purpose and chosen by the Festival and the Basque Government. The two winning shorts will screen as part of the Festival and the awards will be presented at the closing gala on Saturday 30 September in the Kursaal Auditorium.
The Eusko Label section invites the sending of positive messages related to the contribution made by the land, the sea and the primary sector of the Basque Country to urban society. At the end of the day, the aim is to raise awareness through the cinema on the importance of a living rural and coastal area as the basis of our model of society while acknowledging the role and people of the primary sector and the rural and coastal areas within that model. In other words, the idea would be the following: from the rural to the urban worlds, to highlight the importance and promote the development of a sustainable rural and coastal area that recognizes its contribution to economic and socially balanced development.