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).
Sophie Mirouze has been artistic coordinator at the La Rochelle film Festival since 2009 and has come to San Sebastián to form part of the New Directors Jury. Her own festival focuses much more on the past, for example the various retrospectives play a much more important role than here, and they screen films that range from the silent period right up to work from the present day. She thinks that San Sebastián, on the other hand is more interested in the future of film, with sections which even screen work by fledgling directors.
When judging a film she looks for directors who have their own personal universe and a vision that is both intimate yet universal at the same time, and she thinks that what is most interesting about the films she is assessing is the fact that they are from such different places: although the stories or subjects they deal with are similar, what really matter when all’s said and done they way they tell the story is always different depending on where they are from.