The Zinebi International Documentary and Short Film Festival of Bilbao has revealed the full line-up for its 66th edition, kicking off in the Arriaga Theatre on 8 November. The gathering will continue unspooling in the Basque city until the 15th. In total, 132 films – roughly half of which are directed by women filmmakers – from 44 countries will get an airing at the festival. Fifty-nine of these have been produced in the Basque Country. The Official Section will host 60 films, broken down into nine features and 51 shorts. Fifty-nine of these will be having their Spanish premieres in Bilbao.

As is customary, Honorary Mikeldi Awards will be handed out at the third-oldest international film festival in Spain, to two prominent names in contemporary international cinema. Following the awarding of one of these honorary prizes to Frederick Wiseman last year, one of this edition’s gongs will go to another US documentary filmmaker, Laura Poitras, “for her firm commitment to social justice and defending citizens’ rights and liberties”. The director has helmed insightful docs such as My Country, My Country, The Oath, Citizenfour [+leggi anche:
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scheda film] and the Golden Lion-winning All the Beauty and the Bloodshed from 2022. What’s more, Zinebi will show Citizenfour and All the Beauty and the Bloodshed as special screenings in the grand surroundings of the Guggenheim Museum, with Poitras in attendance. Another Honorary Mikeldi will be bestowed upon Spanish DoP José Luis Alcaine, who will pick up his prize at the closing ceremony. Alcaine, who has worked with some of the most outstanding directors in the Spanish film industry, the most high-profile of which being Pedro Almodóvar, has been crowned with five Goya Awards and, in 2006, picked up the Award for Best Cinematographer at the European Film Awards for his work on Almodóvar’s Volver [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Agustín Almodóvar
intervista: Carmen Maura
intervista: Pedro Almodóvar
intervista: Pénélope Cruz
scheda film].

The features partaking in the Official Section, the ZIFF Zinebi International Competition for First Films, comprise nine feature debuts produced by companies from 16 countries, none of which have been seen before in Spain. They are After the Snowmelt by Yi-Shan Lo (Taiwan/Japan), Welcome Interplanetary and Sidereal Space Conquerors by Andrés Jurado (Colombia/Portugal), Itoiz Summer Sessions by Larraitz Zuazo, Zuri Goikoetxea and Ainhoa Andraka (Spain, a world premiere shared with the Gijón Film Festival), The Wheel Knows My Name by Claudio Zilleruelo Acra (Mexico), My Stolen Planet [+leggi anche:
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scheda film] by Farahnaz Sharifi (Germany/Iran), Oasis by Tamara Uribe and Felipe Morgado (Chile), Rising up at Night [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Nelson Makengo
scheda film] by Nelson Makengo (DR Congo/Belgium/Germany/Burkina Faso/Qatar), Rivulet of Universe by Possathorn Watcharapanit (Thailand) and An Oscillating Shadow [+leggi anche:
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scheda film] by Celeste Rojas Mugica (Chile/Argentina/France).

Another of Zinebi’s main sections is “Beautiful Docs. Panorama of World Documentaries”, which presents the best documentaries that have been enjoyed by audiences worldwide during 2024. This year, the following nine titles will be on show: (Revolution, Fulfil Your Promise) Red Love [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Dora García
scheda film] by Dora García (Mexico/Spain/Norway/Belgium), A Family [+leggi anche:
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scheda film] by Christine Angot (France), Resistance Reels by Concha Barquero Artés and Alejandro Alvarado Jódar (Spain/Portugal), Replica by Pello Gutiérrez Peñalba (Spain), Homegrown by Michael Premo (USA – see the review), Intercepted [+leggi anche:
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scheda film] by Oksana Karpovych (Canada/France/Ukraine), Southern Brides by Elena López Riera (Spain/Switzerland, medium-length film), The Documentary Journey of Madame Anita Conti by Louise Hémon (France, medium-length film) and, last but not least, Albert Serra’s brand-new doc Afternoons of Solitude [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Albert Serra
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Besides the 27 shorts being shown in the Bertoko Begiradak – Views From the Basque Country strand, which brings audiences the most recent Basque productions, there are three features set to get an airing. They are Enarak by Beñat Iturrioz, That World that Gives You Nothing by Ernesto del Río, and This Is Not Hollywood (The Unfinished Story of the Ibarretxe Brothers) by Jone Ibarretxe and Nere Falagan.