Fede Gianni, Alexandra Latishev, Kathy Mitrani, Joana Moya, Jaime Puertas Castillo and Daniel Soares will be pursuing their film projects at the eleventh edition of Ikusmira Berriak
The residency organised by the San Sebastián festival, Tabakalera and Elías Querejeta Zine Eskola received 487 applications, 34% up on the previous year.
The retrospective to celebrate the tenth anniversary of the film-making residency begins tomorrow, on January 25.
The film projects by Fede Gianni, Alexandra Latishev, Kathy Mitrani, Joana Moya, Jaime Puertas Castillo and Daniel Soares were chosen out of the 487 entries for the eleventh edition of Ikusmira Berriak, the first phase of which is to take place between March 24 and May 4. The residency programme broke its own record, with 487 film projects entered, 34% up on last year (362). Of the six projects selected, four are debut films.
In the Elías Querejeta Zine Eskola category, open to students at the EQZE, the choice was Sirenas / Mermaids, by Alexandra Latishev, whose first film, Medea, was on the programme at Horizontes Latinos (2017). The project for her third feature-length film weaves social issues, thriller and horror film together to tell the story of a group of women transiting between the anthropomorphic and the animal in a contemporary Central American context.
In the Nest category, open to film-makers selected in the last five editions of the international film students event at the Festival (2019-2023), US-based Columbian director Kathy Mitrani will be working on her first feature-length film after premiering her short Sombras nada más / The Dance of the Shadows (2023) at San Sebastián and winning prizes at Leeds and Bogoshorts.
The choice in the Basque category is La Koreana, un poema ferromagnético de luz y memoria / La Koreana by Joana Moya, who in 2023 presented her first short film, Todo lo cubre la sal / Salt Covers All, which featured in the Kimuak catalogue and was programmed at festivals including Doclisboa, Zinebi and Málaga. In her first feature-length project, the Noka-resident director is inspired by the story of her grandmother's journey from her native Málaga to the mining settlement of La Arboleda, in Bizkaia province.
Selected in the Spanish category was Retorno al Valle / Return to the Valley, the second feature by Jaime Puertas Castillo, an EQZE alumnus who premiered Historia de pastores in Rotterdam. Puertas again portrays the rural world in his second feature-length film, based on the figure of San Juan de la Cruz and the friendship between two young queer people, Luz and Pedro, and the moribund Omar, in a village in the Andalusian province of Jaén.
Two projects were chosen in the international category. On the one hand, 900 toneladas / 900 Tons, the first feature-length film by Portuguese director Daniel Soares, whose short Bad for a Moment earned a special mention by the jury in the official competition for short films in Cannes. The 900 toneladas project invites reflection about capitalism and class on the basis of a man whose job is to collect rubbish but drives a sports car. It is produced by O Som e a Fúria who have supported films by Miguel Gomes, Manoel de Oliveira and Zama by Lucrecia Martel.
On the other, Italian filmmaker Fede Gianni uses his first feature-length film to develop the theme of his short Cowboy Billi, which was selected for last year's Critics' Week in Venice. Produced by Kino Produzioni (Alcarràs, Puán), Il Cascatore / Cowboy Billy is a coming-of-age about identity set in 1960s Italy and on the sets of westerns.
The residency lasts eight weeks, divided into two stays. the group of six filmmakers will be arriving at Tabakalera on March 24, and will have time in the Film and Audiovisuals Laboratory there to work on their projects until May 4. During this time they will have the advice of professionals specially chosen for each project on the basis of its needs. In June, every resident will receive development assistance to carry on working on their projects between the two stays. In September, coinciding with the festival, they will come back to San Sebastián to complete the last two weeks of their residency. During this phase they will be able to present their project to industry professionals and will have a personalised agenda of appointments with people interested in taking part in their projects.
Fipresci prize in Berlin and special commendation at Zabaltegi-Tabakalera
Over the last five years Ikusmira Berriak has undergone a stage of important international consolidation: its projects have been selected for the Quinzaine des Cinéastas (El agua / The Water by Elena López Riera in 2022, Creatura by Elena Martín in 2023), Sundance (All Dirt Roads Taste of Salt, by Raven Jackson) and San Sebastián (O Corno / The Rye Horne, by Jaione Camborda, winner of the Golden Shell by the jury headed by Claire Denis in 2023). Last year, at the Berlinale, Dormir de olhos abertos/ Sleep With Their Eyes Open by Nele Wohlatz (Ikusmira Berriak 2018) was selected for Encounters and awarded the Fipresci prize, and the Zabaltegi-Tabakalera jury gave a special mention to Monólogo colectivo / Collective Monologue by Jessica Sarah Rinland, who also opened the exhibition Extramission: capturando ojos luminosos at Tabakalera, coinciding with the festival.
Since its first edition in 2015, Ikusmira Berriak has supported the development of 50 film projects, of which 23 have been premiered and screened at international festivals, with sixteen of them winning prizes, and the rest are currently under development. 2025 should see the premieres by Diego Céspedes (La misteriosa mirada del flamenco / The Mysterious Gaze of the Flamingo, Ikusmira Berriak 2020), Irati Gorostidi (Anekumen, Ikusmira Berriak 2022), Gabriel Azorín (Anoche conquisté Tebas / Last Night I Conquered the City of Thebes, Ikusmira Berriak 2020) and Jaume Claret (Estrany Riu / Strange River, Ikusmira Berriak 2022).
‘Ikusmira Berriak 10 years’ retrospective opens
On the occasion of the tenth anniversary of the residencies, in 2025 the San Sebastián festival and Tabakalera present the Ikusmira Berriak 10 Years series as part of Zinemaldia + Plus. This retrospective sets out to explore and celebrate ten years of film residencies, jointly organised by the two institutions together with Elías Querejeta Zine Eskola, with 21 films developed under the programme that have already been completed and premiered at various international festivals including San Sebastián, Cannes, Venice, the Berlinale, Sundance, Locarno, Viennale, Márgenes, Turin and Mar del Plata. Tomorrow, Saturday 25, at 7pm, the first session of the series is to take place, with a screening of the short film El extraño / The Stranger (2016) by Pablo Álvarez and the feature-length film El gran movimiento / The Great Movement (2021) by Kiro Russo. Tickets can be purchased at the Tabakalera box office or on its website for 4 euros.
Projects selected
EQZE Category
Sirenas / Mermaids
Alexandra Latishev Salazar
Country(ies) of production:
One day, Telsi's fisherman husband Armando is lost at sea. Amid the uncertainty, Telsi moves to Casa Sirena, a guest house inhabited by women and non-binary people who call themselves “sirenas” [mermaids]. After a while, Telse begins to notice them behaving strangely: they go out in the small hours and come back soaking wet and weeping inconsolably. One night, Telsi decides to follow one of her housemates. She goes to the water and, on entering it, her body is transformed into a half-crocodile creature.
Nest Category
La danza de las sombras / The Dance of the Shadows
Kathy Mitrani
Country(ies) of production:
A storm threatens Ivonne's luxury holidays, but she insists on staying on the island, off the north coast of Colombia, with her family. During the storm, her husband dies in mysterious circumstances and the coincidence convinces Ivonne that she is cursed following a clash with a shaman. Her suspicions deepen when a building constructed by her dead husband collapses, causing doubts about the quality of the foundations. Faced with an unresolved crisis of faith, Ivonne must deal with her grief struggle to protect her family honour.
Basque Category
La Koreana, un poema ferromagnético de luz y memoria / La Koreana (La Koreana)
Joana Moya Blanco
Country(ies) of production:
An ancient noise emerges from the crevices in the mountains. At their peak, always wreathed in cloud, groups of miners dynamite their iron ore. “La Koreana” arrives in this ruined landscape where everything is blurred. There is no up or down. Everything turns around. The miners, mesmerised by magnetism, lose themselves in their time and their memory.
Spanish Category
Retorno al Valle / Return to the Valley
Jaime Puertas Castillo
Country(ies) of production:
When young Luz and Pedro meet by chance at the olive oil mill, neither of them yet knows of the existence of Omar, lying in the infirmary of the monastery of San José. In a climate of study and sensuality, deep in Jaén province, these three people will gradually discover the part played by the Divine in their relationship.
International Category
900 toneladas / 900 Tons
Daniel Soares
Country(ies) of production:
Sandro, a 33-year-old garbage worker, cleans the streets of Lisbon at night, and cares for his twin babies during the day, while his ambitious partner Cléo, juggles a supermarket job with trying to launching her career as a hair stylist. Despite their financial struggles, Sandro drives a luxury sports car. Unable to separate himself from this object that gives him visibility, Sandro begins to sell himself, and little by little becomes invisible.
International Category
Il Cascatore / Cowboy Billi (Billi el cowboy)
Fede Gianni
Country(ies) of production:
In 1960s Rome's outskirts, where dusty fields double as Western movie sets, 12-year-old Bianca runs wild on horseback with local boys, blurring gender lines as she chases her dream of becoming a cascatore - a stunt rider. When a film producer shows up looking for male talent, she creates a new life as Billy – a dangerous performance that could shatter the only world she knows.
