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ZINEBI 2020

Zinebi turns 62 and makes the leap online

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- The exclusive international rendezvous for short films and documentaries is unspooling between 13 and 20 November, on site in Bilbao and – for the first time – online

Zinebi turns 62 and makes the leap online
Dear Werner (Walking on Cinema) by Pablo Maqueda

This Friday, 13 November, the Zinebi. Bilbao International Documentary and Short Film Festival kicks off its 62nd edition, which will take place until the 20th of this month. Over the course of the next week, audiences can discover a treasure trove of titles in the ever-daring and -stimulating domain of non-fiction cinema, in both short and feature-length formats. In total, 122 titles will be on offer (89 of which are short films), hailing from 36 countries. This year, following in the footsteps of many other recent festivals, the gathering headed up by Vanessa Fernández is plumping for a hybrid version – in other words, it will host on-site screenings as well as unspooling via digital platforms. As Fernández says on the festival’s website, “Culture cannot simply stop, because the creative genius of the human condition cannot stop either; that’s why cinema is also unstoppable.”

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Living, tireless proof of this can be found in Belgian brothers Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne, who will receive a very well-deserved Honorary Mikeldi from the gathering, and who began their careers shooting documentaries (some of which will be showcased at Zinebi). Basque filmmakers Ana Murugarren (La higuera de los bastardos [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
) and María Eugenia Salaverri (Sex Crazy) will also pick up an Honorary Mikeldi.

Standing out among the 28 features (there are also five medium-length films in the festival’s line-up) in the various sections are the nine that will be vying for the €12,000 award in the ZIFF International Competition-Zinebi First Film strand: Our Land, Our Altar [+see also:
film review
film profile
]
(Portugal) by André Guiomar, Listen [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Ana Rocha de Sousa
film profile
]
(Portugal/UK) by Ana Rocha de Sousa, Mama [+see also:
trailer
interview: Li Dongmei
film profile
]
(China/France) by Li Dongmei, Once Upon a Youth [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
(Croatia) by Ivan Ramljak, Petit Samedi [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Paloma Sermon Daï
film profile
]
(Belgium) by Paloma Sermon-Daï, Bad Roads [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Natalya Vorozhbit
film profile
]
(Ukraine) by Natalia Vorozhbit, The Earth Is Blue as an Orange [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Iryna Tsilyk
film profile
]
(Ukraine/Lithuania) by Iryna Tsilyk, Shiva Baby (USA) by Emma Seligman and Beast Beast (USA) by Danny Madden.

Worth highlighting in Beautiful Docs-Panorama of Documentaries From Around the World are the Spanish premieres of recent movies by acclaimed filmmakers such as Ulrike Ottinger (the French-German production Paris Calligrammes [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Ulrike Ottinger
film profile
]
) and US helmer Frederick Wiseman (City Hall), as well as a slew of pleasant surprises such as Bring Down the Walls [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
(Germany/USA) by Phil Collins, There Will Be No More Night [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
(France) by Eléonore Weber, The Metamorphosis of Birds [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Catarina Vasconcelos
film profile
]
(Portugal) by Catarina Vasconcelos, Punta Sacra [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Francesca Mazzoleni
film profile
]
(Italy) by Francesca Mazzoleni and J’ai aimé vivre là [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
(France) by Régis Sauder.

The Bertoko Begiradak-Gazes from the Basque Country section comprises 22 recently produced short films and eight features. Standing tall among them are the premieres of Esther Ferrer. Hilos de tiempo by Josu Rekalde, about the titular Basque artist, and Fabricando mujeres 2.0, directed by Marta Gómez and Paula Iglesias. This strand will also play host to a preview screening of Dear Werner [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Pablo Maqueda
film profile
]
by Pablo Maqueda, a screening of De los ojos adentro by Javier Rebollo and Ernest Lluch, libre y atrevido, helmed by Josep Morell and Jordi Vilar.

Online audiences will be able to enjoy the films taking part in the Official Section – International Short Film Competition via the FestHome platform, while on Filmin, they will get to see the nine features in the competitive ZIFF-ZINEBI First Film section. Filmin will also be showing eight of the nine documentary features included in the non-competitive Beautiful Docs sidebar.

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(Translated from Spanish)

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