The 2020-2021 academic year begins at Elías Querejeta Zine Eskola

Forty-five students from 13 countries in EQZE's fourth intake year (30 women and 15 men)

The Elías Querejeta Zine Eskola (EQZE) is opening its doors with an induction programme for new students. The 2021-2022 academic year begins today and will conclude in fifteen months' time, in December 2022, with a presentation of assignments by students from the school.

Students for this fourth intake group were selected by the Academic Management Team (made up of representatives from the Basque Film Archive, Tabakalera, the San Sebastián Film Festival and the EQZE) from among 128 applicants. The successful candidates include 30 women and 15 men with an average age of 29; 2 are from the Basque Country, 17 from elsewhere in Spain and the remaining 26 from Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Costa Rica, Croatia, Ecuador, the United States, France, Japan, Mexico, Peru, Portugal and the United Kingdom.

They include filmmakers whose productions (shorts and features) have been screened and won prizes at festivals; makers of installations exhibited in museums and galleries; graduates in audiovisual communication, social communication, film and television, art history, fine arts, social anthropology, heritage preservation, architecture, political science, philology and literature from other film and arts schools and universities (Academy of Drama Arts – Zagreb, Ar.Co, Boston University, ECAM, EFTI (Centro Internacional de Fotografía y Cine), EICTV, ESCAC, Escola Superior de Teatro e Cinema de Lisboa, KASK School of Arts, EICTV, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Pratt Institute, Universidad Carlos III, Universidad del Cine (FUC), Universidad Pompeu Fabra, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, University of Oxford and the University of the Basque Country); specialists in film production and distribution; curators with extensive experience in production, management and programming for film festivals, libraries, series and programmes and for exhibitions and art installations; members of independent film groups, researchers, and professionals with extensive experience in editing, photography, sound and design, etc.

The academic year begins today, four days before the official opening of the 69th San Sebastián International Film Festival, in which students from both the third and fourth intake groups will take part in a specifically-designed agenda, including screenings, master classes, the International Film Students Encounter (Nest) and other activities, as well as gaining an insider's view of how the festival works and is organised. Regular classes will commence on 28 September, after the end of the festival.

Inaugural Master Class

This year's inaugural master class will be given by Romanian filmmaker Andrei Ujică (b. Timisoara, 1951), whose films have been screened at festivals all over the world. After an initial education in literature, in 1990, Ujică decided to turn his hand to film. In 1992 he and Harun Farocki co-directed ‘Videogramme einer Revolution’, a seminal film on the relationship between political power and the media in Europe at the end of the Cold War. His second film, ‘Out of the Present’ (1995), tells the story of Sergei Krikalev, the Soviet astronaut who spent over 300 days on board the Mir Space Station, during which time, back on Earth, the Soviet Union ceased to exist; and ‘The Autobiography of Nicolae CeauÈ™escu’ (2010), which explores the rise and fall of the Romanian dictator through a vast collection of official archive material. Andrei Ujică has also produced two works on commission from the Cartier Foundation: ‘2 Pasolini’ (2000) and ‘Unknown Quantity’ (2005).

From 14 to 16 September, he will offer students at the EQZE a class entitled ‘Plato's Cave, the Colour Grey and Film’, a reflection on the advent of cinema and the tension between ‘popular art’ and ‘high art’.

Prevention plan

For the start of the 2021-22 academic year, the EQZE will be keeping its Covid-19 prevention plan in place. Among other things, the document outlines the prevention and hygiene measures to be taken, school opening and closing times, cleaning, maximum capacity and the use of classrooms, facilities and technical equipment. The rules are subject to change and will be reviewed and updated regularly throughout the duration of the health crisis, based on public health guidelines. The protocols, measures and recommendations contained in this regulation apply to all members of the school community.

Major EQZE presence at festivals

Students and former alumni from the school were well represented at this summer's film festivals. Curtas Vila do Conde, Cannes, Pesaro Film, FIDMarseille and IndieLisboa all hosted films by students from the three graduating classes, with some receiving awards. These included ‘Un bananero no es casualidad’ by Luiza Gonçalves (winner of the Lino Miccichè Award at Pesaro), ‘El baño’ by Maria Inês Gonçalves (winner of the Fundação GDA prize at Indielisboa) and ‘La sangre es blanca’ by Óscar Vincentelli (winner of the Compétition Flash prize at FIDMarseille). Students from the centre also participated in a number of festival laboratories and academies including Locarno, Cannes and FIDMarseille. The San Sebastian International Film Festival, which kicks off on 17 September, will include five films by the school's students in different sections: ‘Misión a Marte’ by Amat Vallmajor, ‘La piel pulpo’ by Ana Cristina Barragán and ‘Podul de Piatrâ’ by Artur-Pol Camprubí, will be presented at WIP Latam, WIP Europe and Nest Film Students, respectively; while ‘Y así seguirán las cosas’ by Marina Palacio and ‘Hasta que el lugar se hace improbable’ by Magdalena Orellana will be screened as part of the Ikusmira Berriak programme.

Created and funded by the Gipuzkoa Provincial Council, the Elías Querejeta Zine Eskola is a unique educational initiative comprising three postgraduate courses (Film Preservation, Film Curating and Filmmaking) linked to the specialist areas of the three institutions involved in the running of the school: the Basque Film Archive, the Tabakalera International Centre for Contemporary Culture and the San Sebastian Film Festival. Since 2019, the EQZE has formally been a part of the University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU).