Zinebi, Bilbao International Documentary and Short Film Festival kicks off its 63^rd edition this Friday 12 November, which will continue unspooling until the 19^th. In the words of the festival director, Vanessa Fernández, over the course of one week, it will introduce the public to “films that are difficult to access through conventional channels. Together with this, it will invite viewers to reflect on the form and content on offer in these works.” In total, 123 titles are on the programme, 45 of which were produced in the Basque Country (comprising 34 shorts and 11 features), more than half of which will be national premieres.

At this edition, two powerhouses of European and Basque cinema, respectively, will receive Mikeldi de Honor honorary awards: Margarethe von Trotta and Imanol Uribe. On Saturday 13th, the German filmmaker will take part in a meeting during which 1981’s The German Sisters (Die bleierne Zeit) will get an airing, a film with which she became the first female director to be awarded the Golden Lion at Venice. On Thursday 18^th, Uribe will also be in attendance for a chat and to present a preview screening of his upcoming film Llegaron de noche (2022).

Standing out among the 11 features set to unspool at the festival are the nine feature debuts (national premieres) that are taking part in the Official Section, the ZIFF Zinebi International Competition for First Films, and which will be duking it out for the €12,000 prize: Freizeit or: the opposite of doing nothing [+lire aussi :
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fiche film] (Germany) by Caroline Pitzen, Our Eternal Summer [+lire aussi :
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interview : Émilie Aussel
fiche film] (France) by Émilie Aussel, Reconciliation [+lire aussi :
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fiche film] (Slovenia/Kosovo/Montenegro) by Marija Zidar, Faya Dayi (Ethiopia/Qatar/USA) by Jessica Beshir, La chica nueva (Argentina) by Micaela Gonzalo, Language Lessons (USA) by Natalie Morales, Los fundadores (Mexico) by Diego Hernández, Rock Bottom Riser (USA) by Fern Silva and The Train Passed By (South Korea) by Kam Jeong-won.

In the non-competitive Beautiful Docs – An Overview of Documentaries From Around the World section, audiences will be able to enjoy movies by established and up-and-coming filmmakers, such as Marx Can Wait [+lire aussi :
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fiche film] (Italy) by Marco Bellocchio, Babi Yar. Context [+lire aussi :
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interview : Sergei Loznitsa
fiche film] (Netherlands/Ukraine) by Sergei Loznitsa, If I Could Wish for Something (Belgium/France/Mexico) by Dora García (an artist recently crowned with the 2021 National Award for Plastic Arts in Spain), A Night of Knowing Nothing [+lire aussi :
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interview : Payal Kapadia
fiche film] (France/India) by Payal Kapadia, Taming the Garden [+lire aussi :
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interview : Salomé Jashi
fiche film] by Salomé Jashi (Switzerland/Germany/Georgia), We [+lire aussi :
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interview : Alice Diop
fiche film] by Alice Diop (France), Landscapes of Resistance [+lire aussi :
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interview : Marta Popivoda
fiche film] by Marta Popivoda (Germany/France/Serbia), Return to Reims (Fragments) [+lire aussi :
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fiche film] by Jean-Gabriel Périot (France) and Concierto para la batalla de El Tala by Mariano Llinás (Argentina).

Of particular note in the Bertoko Begiradak – Views From the Basque Country section, made up of short films and features recently produced in the Basque Country, are movies of the likes of El tesoro de Benito. Semblanza de Benito Ansola by Josi Sierra Orrantia, Matrioskas. Las niñas de la guerra [+lire aussi :
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fiche film] by Helena Bengoetxea Guelbenzu, Norberaren Gela by Ainhoa Urgoitia and Enrique Rey, Fantasía [+lire aussi :
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fiche film] by Aitor Merino, and A School for All of Us by David Fernández Graña.

In keeping with the spirit of the most recent editions, at which Zinebi left room for films directed by female filmmakers from all around the world, this year, in conjunction with the Mexican Film Institute (IMCINE), the festival is programming the “Focus: Mexico, Woman and Originary Cinemas” section. In this strand, films helmed by Mexican women directors will have their Basque premieres, and they include the suggestive Koltavanej by Concepción Suárez Aguilar, Time and the Seashell by Itandehui Jansen, Me parezco tanto a ti and Tío Yim, both of the latter by Luna Marán.

Once again, owing to the pandemic, the festival will continue putting its faith in a hybrid version – in other words, screenings will happen in person as well as via the Filmin platform, the festival’s online HQ.