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).
If there is anyone who knows about the ups and downs of launching a film project then it has to be the Argentinian producer Edgar Tennenbaum, who is a regular visitor to the Festival: “it’s my favourite one; I’m addicted to it”. This time around he’s here as a member of the New Directors Jury.
This year there are a lot of films in this section about youngsters and teenagers, which he thinks is due to the economic crisis. “Young people are in a really dramatic situation today, not just in Latin America but all over the world. This is awful and of course it crops up in the films they make.
However the problems they face to press ahead with a project are not just financial, because nowadays there are cheaper ways to produce a film. “What you have to remember is that the most important thing is for the films to be seen, and this is vital, because 3 or 4 years of work have to have an audience”.