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).
Atom Egoyan’s latest film Devil’s Knot is based on a true story that reveals the gaps in the police investigation that surrounded the infamous case of the “West Memphis Three”. With Reese Witherspoon and Colin Firth in the leading roles, it shows the two sides of the case: on the one hand a mother who has lost a son; on the other a detective who is convinced that the three youngsters who have been convicted are innocent.
Although there are several documentaries and a huge amount of material about the case on the Internet Egoyan thought it would be interesting as a dramatist to explore dramatically what he described as “the ultimate murder mystery.” He said that of all the cases of murdered children that he had come across, “I chose this one because it was so mysterious: the knots are so carefully tied; it’s so upsetting, so calculated. There’s something almost supernatural about it.” It was exciting for him to show something so extreme with no resolution, because viewers always want a sense of closure, and twenty years on, the case still has no real answer.