The Zinemira Award is an honorary accolade given by the San Sebastián Festival and the EPE-IBAIA producers association in recognition of the career of a personality from the world of Basque cinema. Its recipients to date have been Imanol Uribe (2009), Álex Angulo (2010), Elías Querejeta (2011), Michel Gaztambide (2012), Juanba Berasategi (2013), Pedro Olea (2014), Karmele Soler (2015), Ramón Barea (2016), Julia Juániz (2017), Ramon Agirre (2018), José María Txepe Lara (2019), Sara Bilbatua (2020), Kimuak (2021), Txema Areizaga (2022), Paco Sagarzazu (2023) and Elena Irureta (2024). This year, the Festival and EPE-IBAIA will pay tribute to the filmmakers Telmo Esnal and Asier Altuna at the Great Basque Cinema Gala that will take place at the Victoria Eugenia Theatre on September 23.

Telmo Esnal (Zarautz, 1966) and Asier Altuna (Bergara, 1969) started out on their film career together with the short films Txotx (1997) and 40 ezetz (1999). In 2005 they made their feature film debut, jointly directing Aupa Etxebeste! (New Directors, 2005), whose 20th anniversary coincides this year with presentation of the Zinemira Award. That comedy earned the tandem from Gipuzkoa the Youth Award at the San Sebastián Festival, as well as a nomination for Best New Director at the Goya Awards. The work became a landmark with respect to films made in the Basque language, given that its success lent visibility and legitimacy to productions made in Euskera. Since then, Basque production has gained in strength and enjoys continuity, both in the San Sebastián Festival’s Official Selection and other sections and in the commercial circuit. Esnal and Altuna have subsequently gone on to collaborate in other films, for instance working on the screenplay of Urte berri on, amona! (New Directors, 2011); Iraila, a segment of the omnibus feature film Kalebegiak (Velodrome, 2016), and on the sequel of their debut, Agur, Etxebeste! (Basque Cinema Gala, 2019).

Solo, the two have parked their love of comedy. Esnal has directed, amongst other works, Dantza (Official Selection, Special Screenings, out of competition 2018), a poetical portrait of Basque society seen through traditional dance, and Urtzen (Zinemira, 2020), a reflection on existence. Altuna, for his part, has directed, amongst other works, Bertsolari (Official Selection out of competition, 2011), a journey through improvised verse; Amama (Official selection, 2015), a fictional tale reflecting the conflict between two manners of understanding life and which won the Irizar Award, ARZAK since 1897 (Culinary Zinema, 2020), addressing the evolution of Basque gastronomy, and Hondalea: abismo marino / Hondalea: Marine Abyss (Basque Cinema Gala, 2021), which explores the work of the sculptor Cristina Iglesias. At this edition, Altuna also participates in the Festival with presentation of the feature film Karmele in the Official Selection Special Screenings out of competition.

Esnal and Altuna also directed the EITB series Brinkola (2009) and have, throughout their career and either together or alone, put their names to a good number of short films, many of them included in the Kimuak catalogue: Topeka (2004), Sarean (2005),Taxi? (2007), Setioa (2007), Amona putz! (2009), Artalde (2011), Hamaiketakoa (2012), Zela trovke (Cortando hierba, 2013) and Soroa (2014).