Important presence of EQZE films at FIDMarseille

Four films developed within the framework of the courses run by Elías Querejeta Zine Eskola have been selected for this year’s FIDMarseille, which will be held from 25 to 30 June. The films La Chambre d’ombres (The Room of Shadows) by Camilo Restrepo, Una sombra oscilante by Celeste Rojas Mugica, Ulysses by Hikaru Uwagawa and 102 Narra by Tatjana Fanny Honegger and Rafael Manuel will compete in different sections of the festival.

La Chambre d’ombres is a project consisting of a publication and a film of the same name, both created by Camilo Restrepo (Medellín, 1975) in response to an invitation extended by the school. The idea stems from a seminar given by the Colombian filmmaker to EQZE students during the 2019-2020 academic year. After the end of the seminar, the filmmaker was invited by the school to produce a piece linked to the theme of the workshop, which was to question the context in which images and representations of the world arise and the impact that they have on reality.

To this end, the project traces a pathway through numerous works of art, films, books and photographs that illustrate how art and its diverse manifestations have been used to establish economic interests, promote ideologies, implement strategies of colonisation and exercise all kinds of social and cultural discrimination. As Camilo Restrepo says, the works highlight the mechanics of domination, but also indicate possible tools and pathways for emancipation. Francis Alÿs, Fernando Botero, Bertolt Brecht, Guy Debord, Paul Klee, Alexander Kluge, Milan Kundera, Chris Marker, Susan Meiselas, Charlotte Perkins Gilman, Sophie Ristelhueber, Martha Rosler, Deborah Stratman, Kidlat Tahimik, René Vautier and Robert Walser are just some of the artists cited and referenced in La Chambre d’ombres. Both the publication and the film (a mise en scène of the 26 works that make up the book) explore narrative forms such as essay and fiction and make use of visual elements such as drawings, photographs, film and the moving image.

The world première of the cinematographic version of La Chambre d’ombres will take place in the French Compétition section of the festival, in which another nine films will also be competing. For its part, the publication will be presented during a round table debate focusing on the role of critics and editorial policy.

The Premiere Film section will feature the world premières of two films produced at EQZE: Una sombra oscilante and Ulysses. Una sombra oscilante is a debut feature by Celeste Rojas Mugica, a student from the school’s fifth intake year. This project, which is based on the filmmaker’s father’s photographic archives, took on a number of different forms (a book, an installation, etc.) before materialising first as a short film of the same name that participated in the NEST section of the 2019 San Sebastián International Film Festival (SSIFF) and now as a feature film. Flor de Múgica, Mayra Morán and Nicolás Turjanski, all students from different intake years at EQZE, were involved in the production, editing and writing of the film. Una sombra oscilante was supported by (among others) grants from the Hubert Bals Fund (IFFR), the Chilean Audiovisual Fund and the INCAA.

Ulysses is as a debut feature by Hikaru Uwagawa, a student from the fourth intake year at the school. Inspired by the work of James Joyce, the film tells three stories set in Madrid, San Sebastián and Maniwa (Japan). Ulysses was selected for the ninth edition of the Ikusmira Berriak development programme (year 2023) run by the SSIFF, the Tabakalera International Centre for Contemporary Culture and EQZE; and was presented at the Europe-Latin America Coproduction Forum during the 71st SSIFF. Uwagawa’s classmates at the school, Avery Duncan, Nicolás Auger and Joan Pàmies, collaborated in the film’s photography and sound.

The Premier Film programme also features the international première of Mitología de barrio, a film directed by Alejandro Pérez Castellanos, an EQZE alumnus, in collaboration with Antonio Llamas and Jorge Rojas. The film won the Public’s Prize during last year’s DocumentaMadrid.

Finally, another film developed within the framework of the courses run at the school is 102 Narra, which will participate in the Compétition Flash section of the Marseilles festival. Directed by Tatjana Fanny Honegger, a student from the school's fifth intake year, and Rafael Manuel, the film examines family and social structures in the Philippines. 102 Narra premièred at the IFFR Rotterdam in January.