First part of the fifth edition of Ikusmira Berriak

Valeska Grisebach, Sergio Oksman and Savina Neirotti comprise the Expert Committee

The fifth edition of Ikusmira Berriak kicked off on February 11th and its first phase comes to an end this Sunday. Over the course of these four weeks, Raven Jackson, Martina Juncadella, Alberto Martín Menacho, Aitziber Olaskoaga and Michael Wahrmann—the five film makers selected from among 174 entrants—have developed their projects in Tabakalera’s Artist’s Space.

This fifth edition is the first one under the new Ikusmira Berriak structure. By dividing the residency into two phases in February and September, the film makers can get the most out of the experience and have time to fully develop their project before unveiling it to possible producers, investors and distributors during the San Sebastian Film Festival.

Supporting them throughout this process is the German film maker Valeska Grisebach, who has travelled to San Sebastian to take part in the programme for the first time, as well as the Brazilian director Sergio Oksman. Together with Savina Neirotti, the manager of TorinoFilmLab and Scuola Holden in Turin, they comprise the Expert Committee.

New for this year is the crossing over of the programmes run by Elías Querejeta Film School and Ikusmira Berriak during the first week of the residency. The residents attended individual project tutorials with EQFS tutors Oliver Laxe and Salomé Lamas and have had access to the school’s programme, with the option of taking part in activities together EQFS students.

Once again, the filmmakers Tizza Covi and Rainer Frimmel—founders of Vento Films—have shared their cinematic knowledge and experience with the residents.

The film makers will continue working on their projects from March through to September and will receive online tutoring from the experts. They will return to San Sebastian in September to complete the final two weeks of their residency with their project more fully developed and ready to be shared with the film industry. During this last phase, residents will have the chance to attend a workshop on market conditions and will be prepped for their pitching session with a view to securing meetings with the industry professionals attending the Festival.

Three projects selected from previous editions of Ikusmira Berriak have been completed and screened at the Festival: the short films El extraño by Pablo Álvarez, Calipatria by Leo Calice and Gerhard Treml, and Gwendolyn Green by Tamyka Smith were presented at Zabaltegi-Tabakalera in 2016 and 2017. Two feature films by residents from the first edition of Ikusmira Berriak were premiered last year: Trote, by Xacio Baño, was unveiled at Locarno and subsequently at Zabaltegi-Tabakalera, and Muga deitzen da pausoa, by Maider Oleaga, had its premiere in Gijón. In addition, last year's resident Manuel Abramovich has just won the Silver Bear Jury Prize in the international short film category at Berlinale for Blue Boy.

The Ikusmira Berriak programme seeks to involve new talent as well as producers and representatives from the audiovisual industry who support innovation and new languages. It is organised by Tabakalera, the San Sebastian Film Festival and Elías Querejeta Film School in collaboration with REC Recording Studio and the Basque Film Archive, and is part of the legacy of San Sebastian 2016 European Capital of Culture.