18/11/2024 - Celeste Rojas Mugica’s documentary has won over the feature jury at the festival, with Rising Up at Night snagging a Special Mention; three industry prizes were also handed out

It’s a wrap for the 66th edition of Zinebi, the Bilbao-based festival centring on documentaries and short films. A press conference on Friday morning, which preceded the awards ceremony in the city’s Arriaga Theatre, saw a slew of prizes announced by the various juries and the new head of the festival, Joseba Lopezortega Aguirre.

In addition to the two Honorary Mikeldi Awards that were presented over the course of the gathering to US director Laura Poitras and Spanish DoP José Luis Alcaine (see the interview), an array of features and, chiefly, short films picked up prizes. The Chilean-Argentinian-French feature An Oscillating Shadow [+see also:
trailer
film profile] by Celeste Rojas Mugica, a film that explores how the intimate and political weight of images can open up spaces to reflect upon them as acts of resistance, was crowned with the €12,000 Grand Prize in the ZIFF International Competition – Zinebi First Film. In its statement, the jury called it “an intimate portrait and a personal voyage that creates a masterful composition by carefully piecing together the turbulent history of a country”. It was deemed worthy of the prize “for the inventiveness and delicateness it exhibits in its use of cinematography, the filmed material and the creation of a dreamlike soundscape”. Meanwhile, the Berlinale Panorama-premiered Rising Up at Night [+see also:
film review
interview: Nelson Makengo
film profile] (DR Congo/Belgium/Germany/Burkina Faso/Qatar) by Nelson Makengo was given a Special Mention by the jury, who underlined its “convincing use of pacing, editing and music in tracing the struggles of a resilient community”. Rounding off the list of award-winning features, My Stolen Planet [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] (Germany/Iran) by Farahnaz Sharifi was the recipient of the ZIFF Youth Jury Prize (UPV/EHU), worth €2,000.

Moving onto the shorts, the Zinebi Grand Prize was snagged by The Eggregores’ Theory (Italy) by Andrea Gatopoulos, telling a tale of isolation that features nightmarish, AI-generated images. The same short also ended up being Zinebi’s candidate for the 2025 European Film Awards. The Grand Prize for Basque Cinema went to Ehiza (Hunt) (Spain) by Aitzol Saratxaga, and the equivalent Grand Prize for Spanish Cinema ended up going to Horizontal (Spain) by Alex Reynolds. The Mikeldi for Best Short Fiction was presented to 2006 by Gabriella Choueifaty (France/Lebanon), while it was a Nepalese-Belgian co-production, Songs of Love and Hate by Saurav Ghimire, that scooped the Mikeldi for Best Short Documentary. The Mikeldi for Best Animated Short went to Ashen Sun (France) by Camille Monnier, the EITB Audience Award to Bumblebee (Spain) by Fon Cortizo, the Cineclub FAS Prize to Amaia’s Guests (Spain/Georgia) by George Todria and the UNICEF Prize to Campolivar (Spain) by Alicia Moncholí.

As for the Zinebi Networking industry awards, two prizes worth €15,000 apiece were handed out after 14 projects (four of which were Basque and ten Spanish) took part in pitching sessions and one-to-one meetings earlier in the week. In the Basque strand, the award went to Y así seguirán las cosas by Marina Palacio Burgueño, produced by Gariza Films, focusing on a young boy and his group of friends, who gradually return to the countryside in a process of reverse depopulation. Meanwhile, the Spanish-Dutch co-production The Dutchbat by Guillermo Roqués, Rafael Honrubia and Javier Marín, produced by 15L Films, was gifted with the award in the Spanish section of the networking event. It follows a group of veteran Dutch soldiers from operation UNPROFOR in Croatia, all of whom are suffering from PTSD as a result of their experiences there in the 1990s. Lastly, the Zinebi Networking ECAM Impulse Award went to Sempre Insieme by Alberto Baldini (Spain).

Here is the complete list of award winners:

Official Section – International Short Film Competition

Zinebi Grand Prize
The Eggregores’ Theory – Andrea Gatopoulos (Italy)

Grand Prize for Basque Cinema
Ehiza (The Hunt) – Aitzol Saratxaga (Spain)

Grand Prize for Spanish Cinema
Horizontal – Alex Reynolds (Spain)

Mikeldi for Best Short Fiction
2006 – Gabriella Choueifaty (France/Lebanon)
Special Mention
Morî - Yakup Tekintangaç (Turkey)

Mikeldi for Best Short Documentary
Songs of Love and Hate – Saurav Ghimire (Nepal/Belgium)
Special Mention
The Medallion - Ruth Hunduma (Ethiopia/UK)

Mikeldi for Best Animated Short
Ashen Sun – Camille Monnier (France)

EITB Audience Award
Bumblebee – Fon Cortizo (Spain)

Cineclub FAS Prize
Amaia’s Guests – George Todria (Spain/Georgia)

UNICEF Prize
Campolivar – Alicia Moncholí (Spain)

Short Film Candidate for the 2025 European Film Awards
The Eggregores’ Theory – Andrea Gatopoulos

Zinebi First Film International Competition

ZIFF Grand Prize
An Oscillating Shadow [+see also:
trailer
film profile] - Celeste Rojas Mugica (Chile/Argentina/France)
Special Mention
Rising Up at Night [+see also:
film review
interview: Nelson Makengo
film profile] - Nelson Makengo (DR Congo/Belgium/Germany/Burkina Faso/Qatar)

ZIFF Youth Jury Prize (UPV/EHU)
My Stolen Planet [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] – Farahnaz Sharifi (Germany/Iran)

Zinebi Networking

EITB – Zinebi Networking 2024 Award
Y así seguirán las cosas – Marina Palacio Burgueño (Spain)
Producers: Garazi Elorza Vadillo, Gariza Films

Zinebi Networking 2024 Award
The Dutchbat – Guillermo Roqués, Rafael Honrubia, Javier Marín (Spain/Netherlands)
Producers: Carlota Coloma, 15L Films

Zinebi Networking ECAM Impulse Award
Sempre Insieme – Alberto Baldini (Spain)
Producers: Nakarey Fernández Sornes, Mubox Studio

Aukera awards

Aukera – (H)emen Prize
Emakumeak. San Cristobaleko Espetxea – Beatriz M Larragueta (Spain)

Aukera Prize for Creation
Piztiak – Saioa Miguel Moreno, Mónica Cambra (Spain)

Aukera – Zineuskadi Internationalisation Prize
Gaua da luze – Itziar Lamarka, Ane Alvarez (Spain)

Aukera – Biscay District Council Prize
Itsas-epel – Aroa Fernandez Lazkano (Spain)

Aukera Prize - El Santo & Ko
Creyente - María Corral Laborería (Spain)

Honorary Mikeldis
Laura Poitras
José Luis Alcaine