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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).
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The retrospective to celebrate the tenth anniversary of the film-making residency begins tomorrow, on January 25
The film projects by Fede Gianni, Alexandra Latishev, Kathy Mitrani, Joana Moya, Jaime Puertas Castillo and Daniel Soares were chosen out of the 487 entries for the eleventh edition of Ikusmira Berriak, the first phase of which is to take place between March 24 and May 4. The residency programme broke its own record, with 487 film projects entered, 34% up on last year (362). Of the six projects selected, four are debut films.
In the Elías Querejeta Zine Eskola category, open to students at the EQZE, the choice was Sirenas / Mermaids, by Alexandra Latishev, whose first film, Medea, was on the programme at Horizontes Latinos (2017). The project for her third feature-length film weaves social issues, thriller and horror film together to tell the story of a group of women transiting between the anthropomorphic and the animal in a contemporary Central American context.
In the Nest category, open to filmmakers selected in the last five editions of the international film students event at the Festival (2019-2023), US-based Columbian director Kathy Mitrani will be working on her first feature-length film after premiering her short Sombras nada más / The Dance of the Shadows (2023) at San Sebastián and winning prizes at Leeds and Bogoshorts.
The choice in the Basque category is La Koreana, un poema ferromagnético de luz y memoria / La Koreana by Joana Moya, who in 2023 presented her first short film, Todo lo cubre la sal / Salt Covers All, which was in the Kimuak catalogue and was programmed at festivals including Doclisboa, Zinebi and Málaga. In her first feature-length project, the Noka (Tabakalera’s programme promoted by the Basque Government to support feature film projects by emerging female directors based in the Basque Country and Navarre) resident director is inspired by the story of her grandmother's journey from her native Málaga to the mining settlement of La Arboleda, in Bizkaia province.
Selected in the Spanish category was Retorno al Valle / Return to the Valley, the second feature by Jaime Puertas Castillo, an EQZE alumnus who premiered Historia de pastores in Rotterdam. The director again portrays the rural world in his second feature-length film, based on the figure of San Juan de la Cruz and the friendship between two young queer people, Luz and Pedro, and the moribund Omar, in a village in the Andalusian province of Jaén.
Two projects were chosen in the international category. On the one hand, 900 toneladas / 900 Tons, the first feature-length film by Portuguese director Daniel Soares, whose short Bad for a Moment earned a special jury mention in the official competition for short films in Cannes. The 900 toneladas project invites reflection about capitalism and class on the basis of a man whose job is to collect rubbish but drives a sports car. It is produced by O Som e a Fúria who have supported films by Miguel Gomes, Manoel de Oliveira and Zama by Lucrecia Martel.
On the other, Italian filmmaker Fede Gianni uses his first feature-length film to develop the theme of his short Il Cascatore / Cowboy Billi, which was selected for last year's Critics' Week in Venice. Produced by Kino Produzioni (Alcarràs, Puán), Il Cascatore is a coming-of-age about identity set in 1960s Italy and on the sets of westerns.
The residency lasts eight weeks, divided into two stays. the group of six filmmakers will be arriving at Tabakalera on March 24, and will have time in the Cinema and Audiovisuals Lab there to work on their projects until May 4. During this time they will have the advice of professionals specially chosen for each project on the basis of its needs. In June, every resident will receive development assistance to carry on working on their projects between the two stays. In September, coinciding with the festival, they will come back to San Sebastián to complete the last two weeks of their residency. During this phase they will be able to present their project to industry professionals and will have a personalised agenda of appointments with people interested in taking part in their projects.
Fipresci prize in Berlin and special commendation at Zabaltegi-Tabakalera
Over the last five years Ikusmira Berriak has undergone a stage of important international consolidation: its projects have been selected for the Quinzaine des Cinéastas (El agua / The Water by Elena López Riera in 2022, Creatura by Elena Martín in 2023), Sundance (All Dirt Roads Taste of Salt, by Raven Jackson) and San Sebastián (O Corno / The Rye Horne, by Jaione Camborda, winner of the Golden Shell bestowed by the jury headed by Claire Denis in 2023). Last year, at the Berlinale, Dormir de olhos abertos/ Sleep With Their Eyes Open by Nele Wohlatz (Ikusmira Berriak 2018) was selected for Encounters and awarded the Fipresci prize, and the Zabaltegi-Tabakalera jury gave a special mention to Monólogo colectivo / Collective Monologue by Jessica Sarah Rinland, who also presented the exhibition Extramission: capturando ojos luminosos at Tabakalera, coinciding with the festival.
Since its first edition in 2015, Ikusmira Berriak has supported the development of 50 film projects, of which 23 have premiered and screened at international festivals, with sixteen of them winning prizes, and the rest are currently under development. 2025 should see the premieres of the films by Diego Céspedes (La misteriosa mirada del flamenco / The Mysterious Gaze of the Flamingo, Ikusmira Berriak 2020), Irati Gorostidi (Anekumen, Ikusmira Berriak 2022), Gabriel Azorín (Anoche conquisté Tebas / Last Night I Conquered the City of Thebes, Ikusmira Berriak 2020) and Jaume Claret (Estrany Riu / Strange River, Ikusmira Berriak 2022).
‘Ikusmira Berriak 10 years’ retrospective opens
On the occasion of the tenth anniversary of the residencies, in 2025 the San Sebastián festival and Tabakalera present the Ikusmira Berriak 10 Years series as part of Zinemaldia + Plus. This retrospective sets out to explore and celebrate ten years of film residencies, jointly organised by the two institutions together with Elías Querejeta Zine Eskola, with 21 films developed under the programme that have already been completed and premiered at various international festivals including San Sebastián, Cannes, Venice, the Berlinale, Sundance, Locarno, Viennale, Márgenes, Turin and Mar del Plata. Tomorrow, Saturday 25, at 7pm, the first session of the series is to take place, with a screening of the short film El extraño / The Stranger (2016) by Pablo Álvarez and the feature-length film El gran movimiento / The Great Movement (2021) by Kiro Russo. Tickets can be purchased at the Tabakalera box office or on its website for 4 euros.
Projects selected
EQZE Category
Telsi lives with her husband Armando, a fisherman. One day Armando goes out to sea and never returns. Given her financial precariousness, Telsi finds a job cleaning a boat in the marina, run by a group of women. Telsi starts to notice strange behaviour amongst her colleagues: they go out at daybreak, only to come back soaked to the skin and crying. Something inside her starts to change. One night, Telsi decides to follow one of her housemates. She goes to the water and, on entering it, her body is transformed into a half-crocodile creature.
Alexandra Latishev, director
Nest Category
During the summer, Ivonne and Mauricio set out with their children, Fela and Gael, to find a perfect spot for the construction of their new refuge in the Sugamuxi province.The ambitious ecologist and the adventurous architect have always shared the mission of one day uniting their love for the remote Colombian mountains. While their search is under way, Mauricio disappears. Ivonne sets out on an anxious trek through the mountains to find him. But eventually it is the children who unexpectedly come across his body in town. Physical and spiritual exhaustion will lead the family into an existential journey full of uncertainty and mystery.
Kathy Mitrani, director
Basque Category
Somewhere between poetry and realism, the film takes us deep into a mountain shrouded in mist, where hundreds of dust-covered miners constantly chip away at the rocks, as though trapped in eternal toil. Manuela, "La Koreana", a young 18-year-old from the coast of Andalusia arrives in the place, following the footsteps of her husband, Tasio, who works there as a miner and whom she barely recognises beneath the dirt. In this almost ghostly landscape, where time seems to have stopped, Manuela must endure the situation. But gradually her health will fail, and that fragility will connect her with the mountain. Sometimes Manuela even thinks she can hear it.
Joana Moya, director
Spanish Category
When young Luz and Pedro meet by chance at the olive oil mill, neither of them yet knows of the existence of Omar, lying in the infirmary of the monastery of San José. In a climate of study, sensuality and adventure, deep in Jaén province, these three people will gradually discover the part played by the Divine in their relationship.
Jaime Puertas Castillo, director
International Category
This is the story of Sandro and Cléo. Sandro is a garbage collector who cleans the streets of Lisbon during the night and takes care of their newborn twin daughters during the day, while Cléo works at a supermarket but dreams of becoming a professional hair stylist. Their flat is too small, their bills too big, but Sandro still drives around in a flashy sports car he can't afford anymore. As they raise two new lives, they wrestle with who they used to be and who they're trying to become. Sandro clings to the car. Cléo projects herself into a better future. A tragicomedy about survival, pride, and the quiet loss of self.
Daniel Soares, director
International Category
1960s Rome. Fifteen-year-old Bianca escapes social expectations by becoming Billi John, a young stuntman seeking work in Italy's margins. Through relationships with Angelo, a rebellious teen, and Julian Spolt, a 'cascatore' representing the worst of masculine culture, Billi discovers what it means to belong within the world of spaghetti westerns. Producer Mara arrives offering new models of leadership beyond traditional expectations. As Billi learns the cowboy role through dangerous horseback stunts, the line between performance and reality blurs, revealing both freedom and sacrifice in creating oneself within a world that demands conformity.
Fede Gianni, director
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