Course 2019-2020 will start on 16 September

Foreign students accepted onto the 2019-2020 course come from a range of different countries, including Argentina, Australia, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, South Korea, Cuba, Ecuador, the US, Finland, Italy, Mexico, Peru, Portugal, the Dominican Republic and Uruguay

The Elías Querejeta Film School enrolment period for the 2019-2020 academic year ended on 31 May, after receiving since February a total of 122 applications for its three postgraduate courses: 20 from the Autonomous Community of the Basque Country (2 from the province of Araba, 4 from Bizkaia and 14 from Gipuzkoa), 30 from the rest of Spain and 72 from abroad (from 26 different countries).

After assessing the application documents and holding interviews throughout both parts of the admission period, the Academic Board (made up of representatives from the Basque Film Library, Tabakalera, the San Sebastián Film Festival and the EQZE) has decided to fill all 45 places available, 15 per specialist area.

Successful candidates comprise 35 women and 10 men with a mean age of around 30. Of the total, 6 come from the Autonomous Community of the Basque Country (4 from Gipuzkoa and 2 from Araba), 10 from the rest of Spain and 29 from abroad. Foreign students accepted onto the 2019-2020 course come from a range of different countries, including Argentina, Australia, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, South Korea, Cuba, Ecuador, the US, Finland, Italy, Mexico, Peru, Portugal, the Dominican Republic and Uruguay.

Participants include film-makers who have completed short and feature films that have been screened (and won prizes) at festivals and galleries; students trained at other film and art schools (such as ESCAC, ECAM, Escuela de Cine de Altos de Chavón, CCC, Universidad del Cine, Tisch School of the Arts, Escola Superior de Teatro e Cinema (Lisbon), etc.); graduates in film, fine arts, visual arts, audio-visual communications, cultural anthropology, cultural heritage conservation, literature and the humanities, management of cultural policies and art history; specialists from the world of film production and distribution; curators with extensive experience in production, management and programming at film festivals, film seasons, programmes and exhibitions and art installations; and researchers and professionals from the world of photography and design, etc.

EQZE will open its doors to its second intake of students on 16 September, with a special welcome and orientation event. The 67th San Sebastián International Film Festival will begin just four days later, and students from both the first and second intake groups will follow a specific agenda which will include screenings, master classes, the International Film Students Encounter and other activities, and will have the chance to see how the festival works and is organised from inside. After the end of the Festival, regular classes will begin on 1 October, marking the start of a 56-week journey of learning and discovery which will end once again with next year's International Film Festival.

Created and funded by the Gipuzkoa Provincial Council, with the participation of the Basque Film Library, the Tabakalera International Centre for Contemporary Culture and the San Sebastián International Film Festival, in February this year the EQZE became part of the network of official schools belonging to the University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU).