"EQZE has helped me to imagine new ways of working in film and with film"

1. Can you describe your Master’s graduation project?

2. How would you describe your experience at the school?

3. Who would you recommend Elías Querejeta Zine Eskola to?

ANDREA DE LA TORRE

1. My Master's graduation project reflects on the circulation of Peruvian debut works of fiction around international film festivals. It began as a project that sought to systematise quantitative and qualitative information on the premières of the last ten years to further the democratisation of film distribution in my country. Still, later on, it became a journey that, in addition to doing that, also allowed me to learn about various internal processes of festival programming and the film business.

2. the school has helped me break away from classic ideas of how a country's film industry should be. It was a time for me to analyse my training as a filmmaker and as a manager, and to understand the reason for certain processes within the industry. It was also full of constant questioning, pushing me to rethink my approaches to the projects I am keen to participate in. It gave me space to dream about what I would like the Latin American film industry to be like in the future, which in turn led me to meet many people who are also searching for the same thing. It seems to me that, on a professional level, one of the most valuable aspects of the school is the diversity of the groups of people it brings together. It is a unique opportunity because you have 9 months of constant meetings in which to share ideas about film with people from different contexts (students and teachers). It can be a real challenge to keep up with the very fast pace. Still, after 15 months, it is gratifying to see how much your projects have developed, to remember how they started out and then to see them come to fruition during the final presentation of the Hipótesis (final works). It is also very encouraging to see that they have a lot of potential to continue their trajectory outside the school, with the support of the institution and your classmates. 

On a personal level, I think that the opportunity to study in San Sebastian has allowed me to find and reconnect with nature and with people who are very different from me; it has enabled me to be part of a community and also to discover myself outside of it. I think that what I will take away with me are the many experiences that have helped me question my priorities, my place in the world, and how I want to contribute to filmmaking.

3. I think EQZE is an ideal place for anyone who wants some time to think about and with cinema; anyone who wants to fall in love with it, to rediscover it or to disown it and rethink new ways of making it. And, given that it is becoming increasingly apparent that there is a high degree of precariousness within the film industry, coming to live in San Sebastián (one of the most expensive cities in Spain) is an opportunity to confront this particular contradiction and many more. I think that EQZE is currently full of people who are concerned about bringing audiences closer to less hegemonic types of film (both inside and outside the cinema theatre). People who are questioning how to make their work sustainable as filmmakers, who are interested in recovering the cinematographic memory of their places of origin and who are looking to try out new ways of making films. So I would recommend this school to anyone who wants to experiment with the three tenses of cinema, regardless of their chosen specialty.

MATTEO GIAMPETRUZZI

1. ‘Cuerpos en la lucha’ is a research and curatorial project that proposes new approaches to queer films and audiovisual materials from the past. During my time at EQZE, I developed a cinematographic program focusing on the HIV pandemic of the 80s and 90s and the homophobia and discrimination that surrounded it. The project explores the historic relationship between homosexuality and disease, referring to pathologisation and stigma and focusing on the intrinsically experimental work of activists and filmmakers who challenged dominant narratives and heteronormativity from the radical perspective embodied in the term queer, coming up with new policies rooted in emotion. Due to the breadth of the project, the programme is designed as a catalyst, a starting point for future ramifications and in-depth explorations.

2. It is difficult to describe in just a few words how lucky and privileged I feel about having had the opportunity to have this experience, which has not been without its moments of crisis, but which has opened my eyes to many things and had a profound impact on me.  The classes themselves, along with the intensity of the syllabus (which may seem overwhelming at times) and the opportunity to form part of a community and to think about film in a shared way, brought with them new stimuli and awakened new interests for me. I think my time at the school has had a decisive impact on how I approach film, on my critical thinking and on my practice as a programmer and filmmaker, because it has prompted me to pose questions that go beyond any specific professional area. The course keeps a healthy distance from academic rigidity and the logic of the dominant industry or the market that so many film school absorb in the education system, naturalising a hegemonic way of making films as if it were the only way possible. In contrast, EQZE is a place where the theory and practice of cinema (academia, the industry) are interlinked in a process of collective re-imagining of the possibilities of the cinematographic poiesis; it is a cross between different, complementary aspects of film, a place where training is not a mirror held up to a business, but rather an experimental undertaking. It is also a place for letting yourself be constantly inspired and contaminated by your classmates, who are a key part of the training process, due to their ideas, experience and projects. And finally, it is a space for life, in which I have formed beautiful friendships and solid bonds. 

3. Based on my experience, I would say that EQZE is the ideal place for anyone seeking a non-banal, non-linear education, one that does not resemble the established model, a space for critical reflection and creation, in which to open up to others and commit to a project. It is the ideal place for someone who believes that cinema is not just about making films. I recommend the course to anyone looking to explore this pathway of possibilities. But EQZE is also a malleable space: perhaps it would also be fair to ask candidates what they would recommend to the school, what they would like to propose and contribute. 

In one of her talks, Alice Rohrwacher once said that a film is spongy support that absorbs the passage of time and the gazes of those who view it. Watching a film from the past means being contaminated, through one’s eyes, by all those who came before you. It means joining them. I would go so far as to say that Elías Querejeta Zine Eskola is also like a sponge; it absorbs both the traces of those generations that have passed through it and the changes and moods that (co)respond to the concerns and questions of those inhabiting it now. Those who come after will find the legacy of previous generations and the need to inhabit the school differently. It is only fair that they take possession of its open spaces and are susceptible to contamination and insist on claiming them as their own.

ANDONI IMAZ

1. My project was a research project. I had two focuses, both linked to Basque cinema between 1970 and 1980. The first area explores the life and work of the filmmaker Mirentxu Loyarte, with special attention paid to her non-films' creative potential. The second part was a proposal to research the Zestoa Film Encounters by analysing the material and immaterial heritage left by that pioneering Basque-language film festival.

2. A school is usually required to do just one thing: to teach you how to do something. And, yes, EQZE has given me many tools to help me think and write about and research film; but above all, it enabled me to spend some time in one place; in a concentrated manner and in the company of amazing people from all over the world. The knowledge you gain from that is hard to measure. It is an intuition, an impulse, a commitment, a way of doing things, and it has a kind of transformative power. EQZE has helped me to imagine new ways of working in film and with film.

3. To anyone who wants to make films, research them and take care of them, I would say, from the outset, that there is no other place in the Basque Country that works with film in such an open and rigorous way, or that arouses the interest and enthusiasm of so many people from all over the world. This is basically because of all the students and teachers who have passed through EQZE: contemporary cinema's most interesting practices and thoughts come together. I would especially recommend EQZE to someone who wants to research cinema, even if they do not know what they want to study. If you are passionate about learning by watching, writing, and sharing, I can think of no better place.

Application period

The enrollment period for the 2025-2026 course at Elías Querejeta Zine Eskola began on February 1st and ends on the 28th. Enrollment can only be processed through the form available on this website.

The postgraduate in Film Curating Studies focuses on the large body of theoretical knowledge (partly inherited from the plastic arts) and explores different programming traditions and schools. In addition to the study and critical review of these movements, the course also encourages students to rethink the film distribution and access conditions and formulas in a new (and uncertain) turning point for the traditional exhibition model, which has been called into question by the rise of streaming platforms and the gradual disappearance of movie theatres.

In addition to cultivating each participant's unique criterion and outlook, the course also provides the tools necessary for the complete development of film projects, from initial conception to final execution. The specialist course also strives to encourage budding curators to engage in research work, to explore the worlds of film criticism and essay writing and to engage in various academic activities. 

One of the fundamental traits of this course is that it maintains constant professional and teaching contact with the institutions that support and generate it. Students can work on various curatorial projects, including those proposed by Tabakalera and the San Sebastián Festival.