"Z365" o "Festival todo el año" es la nueva apuesta estratégica del Festival en la que confluyen la búsqueda, el acompañamiento y el desarrollo de nuevos talentos (Ikusmira Berriak, Nest); la formación y la transmisión de conocimientos de cine (Elías Querejeta Zine Eskola, Zinemaldia + Plus, Diálogos de cineastas); y la investigación, la divulgación y el pensamiento cinematográfico (el proyecto Z70, Pensamiento y debate, Investigación y publicaciones).
“This city is a kind of sanctuary for me”, says Masato Harada.He came here for the first time in 1972 when he met Howard Hawks, his mentor and friend. It was a key moment in his career,“in actual fact, my career begun here”. After 36 years, he’s back.“I’m greatful to the Festival committee members for having given me an excuse to come back; not just as a competitor, but also as a Jury member”.
Harada has also presented his well known film Jubaku/Spellbound (1999) in the thematic retrospective Japanese Film Noir.“Unfortunately, this genre is dead in Japan.We all love film noir, but if you mention this genre when you present your project, no one takes it seriously. It’s really frustrating”.
The Japanese director is currently working on three projects,two of which are cofinanced by an American and a British producer respectively.“This is the new trend”, explains Harada,“foreign investors that are interested in shooting films in Japan or with a Japanese story hire Japanese directors. I think this is something really interesting and enriching”.