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).
Two years after shaking up the audience in San Sebastian with Maixabel, the same creative team has returned to the Festival with: I am Nevenka.
A name that for an entire generation evokes the struggle for dignity of the councillor from Ponferrada who decided to denounce her mayor and party colleague, Ismael Álvarez, for sexual harassment, and then ended up having to leave Spain due to the lack of understanding that her decision caused. As for what had justified her interest in these events, which took place in 2001, Isa Campo, who already wrote the script for Icíar Bollaín’s previous film, stated: “we spent some time debating whether it was relevant to go back to this story, and we decided that it was.”
Despite the progress in terms of consent and sensitivity to harassment, there was still a tendency to question the victim’s version in these cases. When Icíar Bollaín was asked about what a fictional perspective brought to that story, the director commented that they were interested in showing the consequences of the harassment she was subjected to, and that it seemed appropriate to show these so that the audience could suffer with Nevenka on her journey towards dignity.