Albertina Carri, Laura Citarella, Isaki Lacuesta, Elena López Riera, Jean- Gabriel Périot and Catarina Vasconcelos are the tutors for the projects of the tenth edition of Ikusmira Berriak

The residents at the tenth edition of Ikusmira Berriak, Maria Elorza, Marieke Elzerman, Felipe Gálvez, Lucy Kerr, Mikele Landa and Cande Lázaro, have been working since the March 4^th in the Artists’ Space at the Tabakalera international contemporary arts centre in San Sebastián, as part of their stay in the programme of residencies and creation of audiovisual projects organised by the San Sebastián Festival, Tabakalera and Elías Querejeta Zine Eskola (EQZE).

This week face-to-face sessions were held with the members of the Ikusmira Berriak committee of experts: producer and consultant Flor Clérico, consultant Olimpia Pont Cháfer and consultant and San Sebastián Festival selection committee member Javier Martín. Moreover, one of the distinctive features of Ikusmira Berriak is that the programme expressly chooses professionals to supervise the selected projects, taking into account the filmmakers’ needs and requests.

Thus, Isaki Lacuesta, filmmaker winner of two Golden Shells, will be supporting Chilean director Felipe Gálvez on his second film, Impunidad / Impunity, following his debut with Los colonos / The Settlers, which won the Fipresci prize in Cannes. Argentine filmmaker and programmer Albertina Carri will be assisting Cande Lázaro, visual artist, filmmaker and resident at the Tabakalera Artists’ Space in 2021, in making her non-binary film La Pastora / The Shepherdess. Elena López Riera, whose debut film El agua / The Water (2022), also was developed in Ikusmira Berriak and was selected for the Directors’ Fortnight in Cannes, will be supporting Dutch film-maker Marieke Elzerman in making her first feature film, Wash Over. Portuguese filmmaker and producer Catarina Vasconcelos, director of A Metamorfose dos Pássaros / The Metamorphosis of Birds (2020), winner of the Fipresci prize in Berlin and of the Zabaltegi-Tabakalera prize, will be doing the same with American Lucy Kerr on The Bow, her second film after winning a prize in Locarno for Family Portrait. French director Jean-Gabriel Périot, awarded with the Zabaltegi-Tabakalera prize in 2018 for Song for the Jungle, will be assisting Basque director Maria Elorza who, following the success of A los libros y a las mujeres canto / To Books and Women I Sing, is making her second feature film, Caro Bastiano. Finally, Argentine producer Laura Citarella, highly-praised director of Trenque Lauquen (Venice, Zabaltegi-Tabakalera, Mar del Plata), will be advising Basque director Mikele Landa, who is working on Senda, her first feature.

As well as individual working time and sessions with the committee of experts and with the individual supervisors, the programme for the tenth edition of Ikusmira Berriak is to include a presentation of the case study of Mikel Gurrea, resident at Ikusmira Berriak in 2016 with the project Suro, who on March 18 and 19 will be sharing the process of writing and creating his first feature. Suro competed in the Official Selection at the San Sebastián festival in 2022, where it won the Fipresci prize and the Irizar prize for Basque film, among other accolades. Also, between  April 2 and 5 the residents will be attending the workshop ‘Pensar el proyecto en términos de montaje’ / ’Thinking about the Project in Editing Terms’ with editors Ariadna Ribas (Creatura, Tourment sur les îles / Pacifiction, Suro) and Ana Pfaff (Estiu 1993 / Verano 1993, Alcarràs). Moreover, during their first period of stay the residents will have access to the film sessions at Tabakalera and to all the services and resources of Medialab and the Audiovisual Laboratory.

In June, every resident will receive development assistance of 10,000 euros to carry on working on their projects between the two stays. The individual supervision sessions will take place online in July, and 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 film industry professionals and will have a personalised agenda of meetings with professionals interested in taking part in their projects.

Fipresci prize in Berlin, Golden Shell, prize winner at Directors’ Fortnight and tipped for 2024

Ikusmira Berriak Is currently cementing a firm international consolidation: last year Creatura by Elena Martín Gimeno (Ikusmira Berriak 2020) was selected for Directors’ Fortnight in Cannes and won the Europa Cinemas Label; All Dirt Roads Taste of Salt by Raven Jackson (Ikusmira Berriak 2019) appeared on the bill at Sundance and in San Sebastián, where it won the Signis prize and a special mention at RTVE-Another Look in San Sebastián; and O Corno / The Rye Horn by Jaione Camborda (Ikusmira Berriak 2019) was awarded the Golden Shell by the jury headed by Claire Denis. At this year’s Berlinale, Dormir de olhos abertos? / Sleep with Your Eyes Open? by Nele Wohlatz (Ikusmira Berriak 2018) was selected in Encounters and won the Fipresci prize.

Since its first edition in 2015, Ikusmira Berriak has supported the development of 44 audiovisual projects, of which 21 have been premiered and presented at international festivals, thirteen have won awards, and the rest are in the development phase. 2024 should see filming by Diego Céspedes (La misteriosa mirada del flamenco / The Mysterious Gaze of the Flamingo, Ikusmira Berriak 2020), Eduardo Crespo (La gruta del viento / The Wind’s Cave, Ikusmira Berriak 2021) and Irati Gorostidi (Anekumen, Ikusmira Berriak 2022).

The programme is celebrating its tenth anniversary this year and is preparing several initiatives to mark its journey, one of which is a film diary with the more than twenty filmmakers who have premiered the films they developed in Ikusmira Berriak.