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).
The French film historian, theoretician, programmer and lecturer, Nicole Brenez, is chairing the New Directors Jury this year. As a specialist in avant-garde cinema, she acknowledges that new directors ought inevitably to be in the forefront of the avant-garde, but sometimes the most radical films come from veteran directors. “For example, the most avantgarde thing that I’ve seen so far this year has been the latest film by Jean-Luc Godard, who is 84 years old, but despite that he is still experimenting and using film to try out new things”
She also stresses that, “this is a Festival that has always done a great job organizing retrospectives, and has rediscovered the work of many directors. Apart from this new directors also have a specific section for disseminating their work. A festival, to be great, mustn’t just think about the present of cinema but also about its past and future”