Ikusmira Berriak opens the 11th call for its residencies on 2 July

The Ikusmira Berriak residency programme for the development of audiovisual projects, organised by the San Sebastian Festival, Tabakalera-International Centre for Contemporary Culture and the Elías Querejeta Zine Eskola (EQZE), opens its 11th call for submissions on July 2. This year the initiative turns 10, and to celebrate the occasion it will publish a book with voices, images and thoughts on the programme, together with a film diary featuring the participation of moviemakers who have already released the films developed at Ikusmira Berriak.

Filmmakers from the Basque Country, Spain and other countries have until 2 September to submit their projects, also open to those who have participated in the Nest section and students at the EQZE. Registration is online and interested parties must submit a dossier containing a synopsis, treatment, letter of intention and bio-filmography. The works selected in each category will be announced in November.

The eight weeks of the residency are split into two periods: six weeks running in March and April 2025 to set their project in motion at the Tabakalera centre in San Sebastian, and a further two weeks in September during the actual Festival, where the directors will show a more developed version of their projects to film industry representatives.

From May to September, while continuing to work on their projects, each moviemaker will receive online tutoring from professionals and a grant issued in the month of June enabling them to proceed with their work in the period between the two residency stays. 

10th anniversary

The year 2024 marks the 10th anniversary of the Ikusmira Berriak programme which, since its first edition in 2015, has enabled the development of a total of 50 audiovisual projects, 21 of which have now been released and screened at international festivals, while 15 have received awards and the remainder are still at the development stage. The directors expected to start shooting their works in summer 2024 are Irati Gorostidi (Anekumen, Ikusmira Berriak 2022), Jaume Claret Muxart (Estrany Riu / Strange River, Ikusmira Berriak 2022) and Gabriel Azorín (Anoche conquisté Tebas / Last Night I Conquered the City of Thebes, Ikusmira Berriak 2020).  

Ikusmira Berriak is already working on a number of proposals to commemorate its 10th anniversary. On the one hand, the Festival, Tabakalera and the EQZE are putting the final touches to a monographic publication with voices, images and reflections on the programme. The book will be structured through the eyes of the filmmakers who started to imagine their films at the residency, with the participation of names emblazoned on the history of Ikusmira Berriak and professionals from different fields. 

On the other hand, a film diary will also be released, commissioned from the moviemaker Magdalena Orellana, former student at the EQZE, who participated in Ikusmira Berriak 2021 with Hasta que el lugar se haga improbable / Until the Place Becomes Improbable, a feature film currently in progress. In the run-up to the coming edition of the Festival, a number of audiovisual snapshots will be published on the experience of moviemakers who have already released their film developed at the residencies. The first instalment of the film diary seeing the light today will focus on San Sebastian’s Jaione Camborda, winner of last year’s Golden Shell at the San Sebastian Festival with O Corno / The Rye Horn.

International consolidation

Recent years have seen the Ikusmira Berriak achieve consolidation in the international playing field, with projects participating widely in festivals all over the world. This year, for example, Dormen os peixes de olhos abertos? / Do Fish Sleep With Their Eyes Open?, from Nele Wohlatz (Ikusmira Berriak 2018), has been selected for the Encounters section of the Berlinale and landed the FIPRESCI Prize. Last year, Jaione Camborda’s O Corno / The Rye Horn (Ikusmira Berriak 2020) bagged the Golden Shell decided by the jury chaired by Claire Denis in San Sebastian which, following its premiere at Sundance, also programmed Raven Jackson’s All Dirt Roads Taste of Salt (Ikusmira Berriak 2019), winner of the Signis Award and a special mention from the RTVE-Otra Mirada Award. In addition, Elena Martín Gimeno’s Creatura (Ikusmira Berriak 2020) was selected for the Cannes Director’s Fortnight and won the Europa Cinemas Label Award prior to its programming in Made in Spain.  

Since the end of 2023, Ikusmira Berriak has a new website that better reflects the programme’s philosophy while providing an archive for the projects selected every edition. One of its sections follows the rounds made of the festivals by films developed in the programme together with a list of awards harvested by those already released.  

Source: San Sebastian Film Festival