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).
Fran Gayo, the film programmer, admits that he could spend his life watching films. “I’ve got the coolest job in the world” he says, although it’s also a huge responsibility. “When you programme films, you choose some things and reject others, but you need to be quite clear why you’re doing this and provide any explanations that may be necessary to the public. It’s not the same working as a programmer in Barcelona where you have all kinds of films on offer, as, for example, in Asturias where they’re closing down cinemas. We have to be really convinced about what we are programing and convey this enthusiasm to people.”
As a member of the Horizontes Latinos jury, he thinks that the selection of films they are watching is really interesting and varied, and what he most likes is the heterodox quality of the various film industries that they represent.: “being able to convey the complexity of an entire continent to the world is already an interesting step.”