The 11th edition of Ikusmira Berriak – the residency programme run by the San Sebastián Film Festival, Tabakalera and the Elías Querejeta Zine Eskola (EQZE) – began last March and has now presented its projects to professionals from around the world attending the 73rd iteration of the festival.

The programme’s award – €10,000 in minimum guarantees for international distribution from Sideral – went to La Koreana, un poema ferromagnético de luz y memoria, the debut feature by Bilbao-born Joana Moya Blanco.

This year, several previous participants premiered on the festival circuit – some to great success. The Mysterious Gaze of the Flamingo [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Diego Céspedes
scheda film] by Chile’s Diego Céspedes – a 2020 participant – screened in Cannes’ Un Certain Regard and won the section’s top prize. Last Night I Conquered the City of Thebes [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Gabriel Azorín
scheda film] by Spain’s Gabriel Azorín (also 2020) bowed in Venice’s Giornate degli Autori. The Ivy [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Ana Cristina Barragán
scheda film] by Ecuador’s Ana Cristina Barragán (2022) got as far as Venice’s Orizzonti and won Best Screenplay. Strange River [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Jaume Claret Muxart
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scheda film] by Basque director Irati Gorostidi (again 2022) premiered in the New Directors section of this very festival.

This year’s line-up features five European projects – detailed below – plus one from Costa Rica (Sirenas by Alexandra Latishev Salazar).

Sideral Award
La Koreana, un poema ferromagnético de luz y memoria – Joana Moya Blanco (Spain)
“La Koreana,” an 18-year-old woman from the Andalusian coast, follows her husband to a fog-shrouded mountain where hundreds of miners work, caked in earth. In this spectral landscape – where time seems to stand still – Manuela must endure, yet she gradually falls ill, her fragility pulling her closer to the mountain itself.

The Basque director’s debut feature is being produced by Estibaliz Urresola Solaguren (the director of 20,000 Species of Bees [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Estíbaliz Urresola
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900 Tons – Daniel Soares (Portugal)
A Lisbon man works nights collecting rubbish and days caring for his newborn twin daughters, while his partner staffs a supermarket yet dreams of becoming a hairdresser. Their flat is small, their bills high – and still he refuses to part with his flashy sports car, the last remnant of the man he thinks he is.

The Portuguese filmmaker’s debut feature – his latest short, Bad for a Moment, earned itself a Special Mention in the Cannes competition – is being produced by Luis Urbano for O Som e a Fúria. The project is in late development, in the process of budgeting, and at the beginning of national and international financing.

Cowboy Billi – Fede Gianni (Italy/Spain)
Rome, the 1960s. A 15-year-old girl defies social expectations by becoming Billi John – a young stunt performer seeking work on Italy’s margins. Through relationships with a rebellious teen and a cascatore who embodies the worst of macho culture, Billi discovers what it means to belong to the world of the spaghetti western.

The Italian director’s debut feature is being produced by Lara Costa Calzado and Giovanni Pompili for Kino Produzioni, and Tono Folguera for Lastor Media. The project aims to secure a third co-production country and begin seeking international partners.

The Dance of the Shadows – Kathy Mitrani (France)
An ambitious environmentalist and an adventurous architect travel with their children in search of land on which to build a new refuge in the Colombian Andes. Mid-search, the man disappears, and the woman embarks on a harrowing trek through the mountains to find him. Physical and spiritual exhaustion pushes the family into an existential journey full of uncertainty and mystery.

The debut feature by the Colombian-born, French-based director is being produced by Manuel Romero for Eddy Cinéma. The project is seeking co-producers, financing partners, and collaborators for sales and distribution.

Return to the Valley – Jaime Puertas Castillo (Spain)
When the young Luz meets the boy Pedro by chance at the olive mill, neither of them yet knows about Omar – another ailing soul resting in the infirmary of the San José convent. In a place governed by study, sensuality and adventure – in the heart of Jaén – these three beings will discover the singular way in which the Divine partakes in their bond.

The Andalusian director’s second feature – following Tale of Shepherds [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Jaime Puertas Castillo
scheda film] – is being produced by Maria Riera Peris for Películas Maria. The film is at an early stage of production development and scriptwriting, and is seeking co-production partners.