Proyectos de investigación /

Zinebi Collection

Research on the film collection of the International Festival of Documentary and Short Film of Bilbao

This project aims to critically explore the history of Zinebi, the Bilbao International Documentary and Short Film Festival.  

The basic working material for the project will be the collection of international short films deposited by Zinebi in the Basque Film Archives. The collection contains 263 films in 16mm (101 items) and 35mm (162 items), produced between 1959 (the year in which the festival was founded) and 2000. It is therefore a privileged standpoint from which to explore, from different perspectives, four decades of the festival’s history - decades characterised by major cinematographic, political and social changes.  

142 / Film inspection of <i>Eine Minute Dunkel macht uns nicht blind</i> (Walter Heynowski, Gerhard Scheumann and Peter Hellmich, 1976) / Elías Querejeta Zine Eskola
Film inspection of Eine Minute Dunkel macht uns nicht blind (Walter Heynowski, Gerhard Scheumann and Peter Hellmich, 1976) / Elías Querejeta Zine Eskola

The project pursues three main lines of research: 

  1. Identification and cataloguing of the collection. This work is complemented by the tracing of conservation materials in other international collections and detailed research into the formation of the collection itself and its archive history. 
  2. Critical research. One possible focus is the changing relationship between the festival and Latin American film cultures, from the neo-imperial Hispanism of its early years, under the auspices of the Basque Institute of Hispanic Culture, to the years of the democratic transition, the opening up of exiled cinemas and the effects on the festival programme of the state celebration of the Fifth Centenary in 1992. 
  3. Design of public programmes and dissemination. Curating of programmes designed to present the collection and promote critical thinking about the history of the festival. These programmes may adopt different formats, including the production of new digital copies based on the material contained in the collection.

Technical data sheet

Lead Investigator:

Santiago Aguilar

Students 2023-2024:
Alejandro Martos, Andrea Warszatska, Hector Antonio Márquez Baca, Luis Alberto Juárez, Maria Aizpurua Ayastuy, María Victoria Moreno

Students 2022-2023:
Isaac Tejedor Martín, Kauri Ximon Jauregi Arias, Marta L. Lázaro, Matías Fajn

Associated institutions:

ZINEBI, Basque Film Archive

Timeframe:

2022 - ongoing