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).
One of the best-known - and respected - of sales agents - she’s an IFDA and Film Export U.K. board member - Nicole Mackey, senior v.p., intl. sales at Fortissimo Films, brings six films no less to San Sebastian in various sections: Palestine Rashid Masharawi’s “Laila Birthday,” Mexican Locarno winner “Parque Via,” by Enrique Rivero, “Tokyo Sonata,” directed by Japan’s Kiyoshi Kurosawa, Iranian Majid Majidi, “CSNY Deja Vu,” from one Neil Young, and “Sleep Dealer,” from the Peruvian-American Alex Rivera.
Classy, cosmopolitan, Fortissimo boasts nearly as many offices as films on the Concha - an H.Q in Amsterdam, branches in London, which Mackey heads, Hong Kong, New York and Paris. Employees speak nine languages. And that’s probably a conservative estimate.
One of Mackey’s priorities at San Sebastian is selling festival selections, which yet
clinched a deal, to Spain. She has been highly successful at this.
If memory serves her right, she says, when at Rank, Mackey sold Julio Fernandez his first film, “The Bostonians".
Another is looking for pick-ups for international sales. Fortissimo’s emphases are expanding. “We’ll always have Asian films. But we’re not just Asian film sellers. We’re looking much more for European films,” said Mackey.
“I’m meeting with a lots of distributors and producers, not just from Spain,” says Mackey, who, can often be found on the Londres Hotel terrace, or in its lounge, seeking a deal with a view.
J.H.