Ikusmira Berriak, the programme of residencies and audiovisual project development, organised by the San Sebastian Festival, Tabakalera-International Centre for Contemporary Culture and the Elías Querejeta Zine Eskola (EQZE), opens today the call for submissions for its tenth edition.

Filmmakers from the Basque Country, Spain and other countries can submit their projects until September 1. The same applies to those who have participated in the Nest section and students and alumni at the EQZE. Registration needs to be done online and applicants will have to submit a dossier consisting of synopsis, treatment, letter of intent and biofilmography. The works selected in each of the five categories will be announced in November.

The eight weeks of residency will be divided into two periods: six weeks between March and April 2024 at San Sebastian’s Tabakalera Centre, which the residents will use to set their projects in motion and another two in September during the actual Festival, where the directors will show their work, by then more developed, to film industry representatives.

From May until September, while each filmmaker will continue working on his or her project, they will receive online personalized tutorials from a preselection committee of industry professionals. The committee will be composed of the consultant Olimpia Pont Cháfer, the consultant and member of the selection committee of the San Sebastian Film Festival Javier Martín and by the producer Flor Clérico, who obtained a postgraduate degree in Film Preservation Studies at the EQZE for the 2019-2020 academic year. From this edition, one of the positions on the committee will be on a rotating basis and will be reserved for an alumnus of the school. In this way, the Festival, Tabakalera and EQZE are committed to giving continuity to the experience of the students who graduated in the center.

Each selected work will receive a grant of 5,000 euros towards its development in June, in order that the participants may continue to work on their projects between the two residency periods. Finally, the postproduction company Elamedia Euskadi will present the Elamedia Euskadi Postproduction Award to one of the selected projects. The Award consists of post-production of sound, colour and graphics until obtaining a master DCP.

Current Edition

Sameh Alaa, María Alché, Maddi Barber, Naomi Pacifique, David Pérez Sañudo and Hikaru Uwagawa participate in Ikusmira Berriak’s ninth edition, currently underway. They started to develop their projects at Tabakalera Artists’ Space during six weeks, between March and April, and they will return in September during the 71st edition of the Festival.

In the last years, the Ikusmira Berriak project has been enriched with several initiatives. Not only it has increased the number of residencies from five to six, but it also offers its residents additional and personalised tutorials by professionals including Laura Citarella, Alexandre Koberidze, Elena López Riera, Damien Manivel, Kleber Mendonça Filho and Catarina Vasconcelos. Ikusmira Berriak continues, in this way, its search for new talent, offering enhanced accompaniment to filmmakers from all over the world.

In parallel to the growth of the programme, it has become increasingly successful. Since its first edition in 2015, Ikusmira Berriak has supported the development of a total of 44 audiovisual projects, 20 of which have been completed. Besides, 19 of them have premiered and enjoyed a successful career on the international festival circuit. In recent editions, for example, the Cannes Filmmakers' Fortnight has presented El agua / The Water by Elena López Riera and Creatura by Elena Martín Gimeno, which won the Europa Cinemas Award. In 2022, the Official Selection of the San Sebastian Festival hosted the premieres of Suro, by Mikel Gurrea, and Pornomelancolía, by Manuel Abramovich. Finally, Raven Jackson's All Dirt Roads Taste of Salt had its world premiere at Sundance in January this year, while Alberto Martín Menacho's Antier noche was in competition at Visions du Réel in April.