Important presence of projects by Elías Querejeta Zine Eskola students at the 68th San Sebastián Film Festival

Silvia Cruz to present two works which will compete in the Official Section and Horizontes Latinos, through the distributor Vitrine Filmes, which has offices in Gipuzkoa

Elías Querejeta Zine Eskola (EQZE) will be well represented at the 68th San Sebastián International Film Festival (SSIFF), which will commence this Friday, 18 September. A large number of projects developed at the EQZE by students from the first two intake years will be featured in the multiple activities scheduled for this year, and the SSIFF programme will include some of the first works completed at the school.

Marina Palacio (San Sebastián, 1996), a student from the first intake year, will be premièring her opera prima 'Ya no duermo' in the Zabaltegi-Tabakalera section. The short film, developed as part of her postgraduate degree in Creation and produced by the EQZE and Gariza Films, has been selected also by the Basque Government programme Kimuak for inclusion in its 2020 short film catalogue. Furthermore, for the second year running, the film school students section, Nest Film Students, will include a film presented by the EQZE. This year, the chosen project is 'Ella i jo', directed by Jaume Claret Muxart (Sant Cugat del Vallès, 1998), who was also a student in the school's first intake year. This short film was selected, along with another 12, from among the 348 candidates proposed by 165 schools from 49 countries. 'Autoficción', the latest work by Laida Lertxundi, coordinator of the Creation Department at the EQZE up until the end of the 2019-2020 academic year, and 'Los conductos' by Camilo Restrepo, a member of the school's teaching staff, will be featured also in the Zabaltegi-Tabakalera section.

Elías Querejeta Zine Eskola will also be present at the SSIFF through Vitrine Filmes, a film distribution and production company set up in Brazil in 2010 by Silvia Cruz (Brazil, 1982), a student in the school's second intake year, which has recently opened up an office in Gipuzkoa. This regional office of the distribution firm, which took its first steps within the EQZE's Curating Department and at which a student from the first intake year, Julieta Juncadella (Argentina, 1996), currently works, will be participating in the SSIFF with two films: 'In the Dusk' by Lithuanian filmmaker Sharunas Bartas, which will compete within the Official Section, and 'Visión nocturna' by the Chilean filmmaker Carolina Moscoso, which will compete within the Horizontes Latinos section.

Vitrine Filmes has recently announced the forthcoming première of a new film by Amaia and Aitor Merino, entitled 'Fantasía', as well as the production of two more: 'Sin Dolor', the second feature film by Michael Wahrmann, and 'Un personaje volador' by Martina Juncadella. All these projects have participated in the Ikusmira Berriak project, an artistic residency organised by the EQZE in conjunction with the Festival and Tabakalera.

Other projects stemming from the Ikusmira Berriak project that will be included in the SSIFF include: 'Chupacabra' by Grigory Kolomitsev , '918 gau' by Arantza Santesteban and 'Jo ta ke' by Aitziber Olaskoaga, which will be participating (respectively) in the New Directors, WIP Europa and Zinemira sections. The film under development 'Ayer conquisté Tebas' by Gabriel Azorín, a student from the first intake year at the EQZE, will also be featured at the festival. After being selected within the second annual residency programme run by the Film Academy, project representatives will have the opportunity to tell the industry professionals present at the festival all about it through the 'Online Industry' area of the Festival website. On 20 and 21 September, Industry delegates will be given access to pre-recorded pitches and will be able to arrange online meetings with each project's representatives. Everything will be carried out remotely, even though the filmmakers from the residency programme will be physically present in San Sebastián. 

The presence of members of the school community does not end here, however, since, as in previous years, a student from the Curation Department will sit on the jury responsible for awarding the Irizar Prize for Basque Cinema to the best Basque film premièred at the SSIFF. This year, the chosen candidate is Irati Crespo (Rentería, 1996), a student from the school's second intake year. Students from the school will also be represented in the daily magazine published by the Festival. This year, Marc Barceló (Tarragona, 1992), a student from the second intake year, will form part of the editorial team working on the magazine.

The 68th San Sebastián International Film Festival will commence four days after the start of the 2020-2021 academic year at Elías Querejeta Film School. Students from the second and third intake years will follow a specific agenda, attending screenings, master-classes and the Nest International Film Students Meeting and engaging in other activities, as well as gaining a first-hand glimpse into the festival's inner workings and organisation. Teaching at the EQZE will commence on 28 September, after the end of the Festival.

Created and funded by the Gipuzkoa Provincial Council, Elías Querejeta Zine Eskola is a unique educational initiative comprising three postgraduate courses (Archives, Curation and Creation) which stem from the specialist knowledge areas of the three institutions involved in its running: 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).