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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 short films Prejuicios, directed by Javi Prada, and Headscarf, by Lucía Saavedra, are the respective winners of the first and second prize of the Loterías Award, the competitive section for short films on social topics, organised by the San Sebastián Festival and the Sociedad Estatal Loterías y Apuestas del Estado (SELAE).
The third edition of the competition received the submission of around 120 works, from which the selection committee chose six for appraisal by a jury composed by the actress Lorena López; the Deputy Director of Communication at Loterías, María Núñez, and the director of the San Sebastián Festival, José Luis Rebordinos. All three attended this afternoon’s screening of the films at the Trueba cinema, followed by the awards ceremony, also attended by the President of Loterías, Jesús Huerta.
Prejuicios, winner of the first prize coming with 10,000 euros, is set in 1970s Spain, a time when a Moroccan university student faced discrimination amidst the Franco dictatorship. Meanwhile, the short film Headscarf, which took the second prize of €5,000, portrays a woman's internal struggle to reclaim her femininity and confidence following chemotherapy. The other four finalists were La raíz by Isabel Sáez Pérez, 3 días, 3 noches by Anuska Ariztimuño, Amarraditos by Arturo Mombiedro Lozano, and MA-MA by Isabel María Monge.
The goal of the competition is to use the audiovisual medium to send positive and heartening messages advocating the redistribution of wealth, the elimination of inequalities and social justice. In keeping with this, the main themes of the short films submitted to the contest have been racial discrimination, loneliness and the care of the elderly, the fight against cancer, people in vulnerable situations, and the migration crisis.
Having thanked Loterías y Apuestas del Estado for their “necessary backing”, the Director of the San Sebastián Festival, José Luis Rebordinos, voiced his “satisfaction” at the response to the third call of the Loterías Award. “We have once again received more than a hundred entries of a very high standard, both in terms of form and content. I will never tire of repeating that cinema is a source of entertainment, but also a very powerful driver of social change, as we have seen from the themes addressed in this edition.”
For his part, Loterías President Jesús Huerta highlighted that “the relationship between Loterías and the San Sebastián Festival has now become a tradition between two institutions with a long history and deep roots in society. We believe in the role of culture as a tool that helps us move forward, raise awareness and transform society. Precisely this year, the short films submitted, which were of a very high quality, have offered a critical perspective and a social commitment that are essential for us to move forward together as a modern, democratic and progressive society,” Jesús Huerta stressed.
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