"EQZE is a place to think about cinema critically, both from a theoretical perspective and, above all, from a practical one."

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?

FRANCISCA ALARÇAO

1. My project was about someone who has a doubt and is unable to face it. Os Casos de Luísa (Luísa's Love Affairs), is a fictional feature film that tells the story of Luísa who, when faced with having to decide whether or not to move in with her partner, embarks on an obsessive investigation of the romantic experiences of the women around her. She gathers together their stories and experiences them in the first person in her imagination. Increasingly overwhelmed by the sheer number of episodes of ‘mental polyamory’ she experiences in a short space of time, it is her grandmother who eventually helps her regain her composure. This fragmentary project, which will be put together and produced almost episodically, took its first steps at EQZE and now, having achieved the necessary maturity, is being put into action outside the school.

2. I applied to EQZE because I wanted a counterpoint to the more classical training I had received at the Escola Superior de Teatro e Cinema de Lisboa. I was interested in the freer and more experimental approach to thinking and filmmaking proposed by the school, as well as by the dialogue between two very different types of learning that I felt I could establish in my future projects. While on the course, I developed two film projects, my hipótesis -Os Casos de Luísa- and a short film, currently in post-production- about my phobia of belly buttons. This second project in particular, which came into being on the "Avant-Garden. The Film and Art of the Garden" course and was constructed in accordance with this methodology, i.e., that of making a film in the same way as a gardener makes a garden (little by little, planting the seed, picking the fruit if there is any, observing growth and planting again), was one of the most surprising revelations I had at the school. I think it demystified the act of filming and filmmaking for me and as a result, I planted this idea in a much more organic way than anything I had done before. At different moments during the year, I shot and collected footage, developing and digitising the images in the school labs, all the while thinking about what each one meant and what film I wanted to make with them. EQZE became a key moment in my personal and professional trajectory, basically because it showed me new ways of working based on pleasure and desire - way of working that I hope to use in all my upcoming projects.

3. I would recommend EQZE to anyone who wants to deconstruct their way of thinking about and/or making films; anyone who is really willing to allow themselves to start from scratch. I would recommend it to anyone who wants to make films with their hands and not just their head; to anyone who wants to explore the materiality of film and its more plastic side. I would recommend it to anyone who wants to discuss and share their projects with filmmakers, teachers and students from different parts of the world and from completely different backgrounds and cinematic orientations, and to get involved in their projects as well. I would recommend it to anyone who wants their filmmaking to embrace other areas, such as botany, performance, archiving, drawing, collage, etc.  And to anyone who wants to rethink their creative methodologies. In short, I would recommend EQZE to anyone who wants to challenge themselves, step out of their comfort zone and discover a little more about themselves.

MÒNICA CAMBRA

1. My project was a feature fiction film in which I wanted to explore the corporeal memory of a dancer. When I arrived at the school, I was eager to write a film from an intuitive, visceral place that would force me to think about it from unfamiliar stances. That terrified me because I did not know if it was a utopia or if I could really work in this way here. However, from the first moment I arrived, I realised that I was going to be able to do it, because the human, pedagogical and material context that EQZE offered us was truly unique and focused on experimentation. And so, little by little, Temblor began to take shape in words, images and sounds. But it also took shape in my own skin. Over the past 15 months, I have allowed myself to play around and break away from the classic methodology of writing a film, in order to search for what I wanted barefoot: dancing, filming, developing, editing, rewriting, re-filming, etc. And, thanks to that, today I not only have a first draft of the script, but also a set of materials and work processes to accompany it.

2. I was only there for a brief moment of my life, but it was a moment characterised by a degree of intensity, shock and growth that I could never have imagined. The school is, without a doubt, a place of transformation. It is a place where I have been able to experience cinema with all five senses, touching the films, smelling them, assimilating them into my body and getting to know the primitive, raw, essential core of this art that I loved so much and thought I knew so well. It is a place of resistance from which to think critically about film, on the basis of theory, but, above all, from the perspective of practice that goes beyond the walls of the classroom to touch the world. For me, it has also been an incredible opportunity to create a community of people from very different backgrounds, realities and trajectories, with whom I have been able to grow essentially through exchange. It has been a time to create, think and question together. A time to inhabit a place full of the machines with which films were first made, and to understand, together with my fellow students, how we want to continue creating in the future.

3. Based on my experience on the Filmmaking Studies course, I would recommend EQZE to any filmmaker who wants to continue making films. I would recommend it and hope they manage to come. Far from looking for results that keep to the pace and deadlines imposed by the industry, the school offers its students the opportunity to listen to themselves and create something in their own time, according to their own tempo, method and perspective, with the security of learning and nourishing oneself intensely.

MICHAEL LABARCA

1.I developed a project for a feature film entitled Iñaki. The story is about Ignacio, a Venezuelan immigrant living in the Basque Country who decides to erase his past, cut off communication with his family and reinvent his life, including his memories. I am interested in playing with the crossovers between reality, fiction and fantasy, but above all, with the possibility that cinema offers to rewrite history. Today, thanks to my time at EQZE, I now have the plot and a first draft of the script, which I hope to continue working on while I think about and define the production model that best suits how I want to develop and shoot this film, which will be shot in the Basque Country.

2. I saw EQZE as an artistic residency and that was just what it proved to be; in addition to Iñaki, I also made a short film during the ‘Avant-Garden. The Film and Art of the Garden’ course entitled Demetrio y Mohammed, which is currently in post-production. During the process of creating this short film, I discovered what motivated me the most at the school: working in analogue formats. I was able to operate analogue film cameras and develop and digitise my own material. My experience with that materiality of film and working with such an artisanal process made me feel more connected to the present when filming, since I was very aware of the resources and needed to train my intuition when making decisions. Thinking about filmmaking while filming is to think about yourself too; you need to correct yourself, to adapt, to know how to listen, to wait patiently for the magic to happen ... because, to paraphrase Robert Bresson, ‘it's not about directing others, it's about directing yourself’. But above all, for me, as a scriptwriter, it allows me to develop the habit of asking myself a question every time I plan a scene: am I really excited about filming this? During my time at EQZE I also learned to think about my own enjoyment, to value the process more than the result. It also helped consolidate some of my political stances on filmmaking, and prompted me to question and think about production models. It was wonderful to experience and see that, even though I was a long way from home, and with the added paradox of being in Europe, I could not resist the urge to talk about issues that affect Venezuelans today, or to think about the kind of films I want to make. So I discovered myself, despite the distance (or maybe even as a result of it), and came to realise who I really am, both as a filmmaker and as a Venezuelan. I returned having overcome (or at least become more aware of) my fears; with new knowledge and references; with friends I treasure; and with the pride of being an alumni of a place that in the current context of cinema and the planet, seems to me a miracle, a refuge, a laboratory of alchemy and other possible worlds.

3. Elías Querejeta Zine Eskola not only generates new films, but also rescues many that have been forgotten. That is why I would recommend the experience not only to filmmakers, but also to people from other disciplines, people who are sensitive and passionate about images and their preservation. I would also recommend it to people who, like me, have not had the opportunity to work in analogue and want to have that experience. And I feel I must take this opportunity to urge cultural organisations and film institutes to support the talented people in their environment and help them gain access to EQZE; either to come and restore and preserve the films from their native land through the Film Preservation Studies Master's; or to think about and define programming criteria on the Film Curating Master’s, so that they can then disseminate films, educate viewers and inspire future filmmakers in unlikely regions; or to complete the Filmmaking Studies Master’s, so that they can develop proposals for new films that help strengthen culture.

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 Filmmaking Studies postgraduate explores all aspects linked to the creative process of coming up with the idea for a film or audiovisual work, and then experimenting, developing and materialising it, while at the same time searching for one's own unique voice

It offers theoretical, non-standardised film training, combined with the opportunity to participate in a rich environment of creative thought and reflection and to develop a personal project using a customised system of tutorials that adapt to each student’s preferences and the requirements of their project.

The specialist area therefore forces students to engage in ideation processes (subjectivity), explore different working methods (systematisation), experiment (specific formal search) and conceptualise and materialise a project.