Fede Gianni, Alexandra Latishev, Kathy Mitrani, Joana Moya, Jaime Puertas Castillo and Daniel Soares, residents for the eleventh edition of Ikusmira Berriak, have been working since 24th March in the Film and Audiovisuals Laboratory at Tabakalera, in San Sebastián. This is the venue for the first phase in the eleventh edition of the Ikusmira Berriak programme of residencies and development of audiovisual projects, organised by the San Sebastian Festival, the Tabakalera International Contemporary Arts Centre and Elías Querejeta Zine Eskola (EQZE).

The above-mentioned laboratory today hosted a press conference given by the deputy director of the festival, Maialen Beloki, the director general of Tabakalera, Edurne Ormazabal, and the academic director of EQZE, Carlos Muguiro. As well as presenting the six filmmakers selected for this edition, the names of the tutors were revealed: personalities from the film world who will be providing personalised online tutorials for each filmmaker, in line with their needs and requests.

Thus, Italian Fede Gianni, whose project Il Cascatore / Cowboy Billi sets out from the short of the same title selected for last year's Venice Critics' Week, will be supervised by Argentinian filmmaker Manuel Abramovich, winner of the Jury Prize for Best Photography in San Sebastián for Pornomelancolía (2022), a project developed in Ikusmira Berriak after screening Soldado (2017) and Blue Boy (2019) at Zabaltegi-Tabakalera. In turn, Argentinian director and producer Laura Citarella, who presented Trenque Lauquen (2022) at Zabaltegi-Tabakalera after its première in the Orizzonti section in Venice, will be supervising Sirenas / Mermaids, the third feature film by Costa Rican Alexandra Latishev, an EQZE graduate whose début film, Medea (2017), was shown at Horizontes Latinos. Filmmakers Tizza Covi and Rainer Frimmel, founders of Austrian production company Vento Film, who have given workshops in previous editions of Ikusmira Berriak, will be supervising Jaime Puertas Castillo, another EQZE graduate who premiered Historia de pastores in Rotterdam and is working on his second feature film, Retorno al valle / Return to the Valley. Producer Valérie Delpierre, who has worked on titles including Estiu 1993 / Summer 1993 (2017), 20.000 especies de abejas / 20,000 Species of Bees (2023) and Los destellos / Glimmers (2024), will be advising the filmmaker from Bilbao Joana Moya, resident under the Noka programme whose short Todo lo cubre la sal / Salt Covers All was part of the Kimuak catalogue and is now working on La Koreana, un poema ferromagnético de luz y memoria / La Koreana. Romanian filmmaker Radu Jude, winner of the Golden Bear for best film at the Berlinale with Babardeală cu bucluc sau porno balamuc / Bad Luck Banging or Loony Porn (Zabaltegi-Tabakalera, 2021), will be supervising Portuguese director Daniel Soares, who earned a special jury mention in the short film section in Cannes for Bad for a Moment, and will be making his feature film début with 900 toneladas / 900 Tons. Finally, Claudia Llosa, who also won the Golden Bear in Berlin with La teta asustada / The Milk of Sorrow (2009) and took part in the Official Selection in San Sebastián with Distancia de rescate / Fever Dream (2021), will be advising Kathy Mitrani, who after participating in Nest with her short Sombras nada más / Nothing But Shadows (2023) is now working on her first feature-length film, La danza de las sombras / The Dance of the Shadows.

In the first few days, the residents have been able to find out about the resources at their disposal. They also have free access to all screenings in Tabakalera at the Filmoteca Vasca screening room, and to the Medialab collection.

Writing, creation and editing workshops, and working sessions

Moreover, during their first week they attended a writing workshop given by writer, linguist and stage director Violeta Gil, who also presented a screening of their shorts last Saturday at Tabakalera. In the next few days they will also be taking part in a creative workshop run by filmmaker Víctor Iriarte, author of the feature-length film Sobre todo de noche / Foremost by Night (2023) and, in the last week of their residency, and editing workshop given by Claire Atherton, who worked with Chantal Akerman for over 30 years and currently works with artists and filmmakers like Eric Baudelaire and Wang Bing.

Over this week, the residents have had face-to-face meetings with industry professionals including producer and consultant Flor Clérico, consultant Olimpia Pont Cháfer and consultant and member of the selection committee for the San Sebastián Festival Javier Martín. Up to early May they will have time to work on and discuss their projects, as well as networking with members of the Tabakalera community including students at EQZE, Noka filmmakers and Festival, Tabakalera and EQZE staff.

After these six weeks, the filmmakers selected for this year's Ikusmira Berriak will go on working on their projects and receive the above-mentioned online tutorials. In June, each resident will receive support of 5,000 euros to develop their feature-length films and in September, during the Festival, they will come back to San Sebastián to complete the last two weeks of their residency. During this phase they will be able to present their project to industry professionals and will have a personalised agenda of appointments with professionals interested in taking part in their projects.

Solid international consolidation, retrospective and monographic publication

Over the last five years Ikusmira Berriak has undergone a stage of major international consolidation: its projects have been selected for the Quinzaine des Cinéastas (El agua / The Water by Elena López Riera in 2022, Creatura by Elena Martín in 2023), Sundance (All Dirt Roads Taste of Salt, by Raven Jackson) and San Sebastián (O Corno / The Rye Horn, by Jaione Camborda, winner of the Golden Shell in 2023). Last year, Dormir de olhos abertos / Sleep With Their Eyes Open, by Nele Wohlatz (Ikusmira Berriak 2018), was selected for the Encounters section of the Berlinale and won the Fipresci prize, and the Zabaltegi-Tabakalera jury awarded a special mention to Monólogo colectivo / Collective Monologue (Ikusmira Berriak, 2020), by Jessica Sarah Rinland. Since its first edition in 2015, Ikusmira Berriak has supported the development of 50 film projects, of which 23 have been premiered and screened at international festivals, with 16 of them winning prizes, and the rest currently under development or awaiting premières, like those of Diego Céspedes, Irati Gorostidi, Jaume Claret and Ana Cristina Barragan.

Also, Tabakalera remains committed to emerging talent and the fusion of contemporary art and film. In this respect, the centre has offered the Ikusmira Berriak filmmakers the chance to go beyond the screen and take their work into its exhibition rooms. Examples of this are Jessica Sarah Rinland, who last year presented the exhibition Extramission: Capturando ojos luminosos; Golden Conch winner Jaione Camborda, currently featuring in the exhibition Visiones cuánticas, and the next to exhibit, filmmaker Irati Gorostidi, whose show opens in exhibition room 2 of Tabakalera on 11th September.    

On the other hand, the Zinemaldia + Plus season, part of the Festival all-year-round programme (Z365), has since January hosted Ikusmira Berriak 10 years, a retrospective that explores and celebrates the first ten years of film residencies. Organised by the Festival, Tabakalera and EQZE, the season consists of 21 films made as part of the programme that have premiered at international festivals including San Sebastián, Cannes, Venice, Berlin, Sundance and Locarno, among others. Forthcoming sessions will be screening films including Chupacabra (Grigory Kolomytsev, 2020), Creatura (Elena Martín Gimeno, 2023), Stephanie (Leonardo Van Dijl, 2020), Jo ta ke (Aitziber Olaskoaga, 2020) and El agua / The Water (Elena López Riera, 2022).

Finally, in a few months the tenth anniversary will culminate in the publication of a book bringing together voices, images and reflections about Ikusmira Berriak. It will feature not only interviews with ten filmmakers who have taken part in the programme, but also contributions by some of the professionals who have helped to supervise the participants and representatives of the institutions behind the project. In short, it will be an account of ten years of residencies, featuring the 53 filmmakers who have formed part of the programme's history.