This edition received the visit of two great world cinema stars awarded with the Mikeldi of Honor: British Vanessa Redgrave and French Jeanne Moreau. The first one hosted the premiere of Wake Up World, a documentary by her son Carlo Nero for UNICEF. Director and programmer Laida Lertxundi presented her cycle Humor in contemporary feminist-queer cinema; expert Virginia Villaplana and the Bilbao-based collective Consonni presented a series called Soft Fiction. Building narratives about the sexual desires and fantasies of women. The cycle American Frames. 65 years of lights and shadows (1944-2009), curated by African art gallery owner Jesús Ahedo, was attended by the great French filmmaker René Vautier, one of the fathers of anticolonialist cinema, and Mozambican plastic artist and producer Nástio Mosquito. At the closing gala at the Arriaga theatre, American musician Kyle Eastwood, son of the famous actor Clint Eastwood, and his band offered the concert Jazz in cinema.
The Basque participation in the contest included the filmmakers Oriana Alcalde and Alejandro Márquez, Jota Aronak, Íñigo Kintana, David G. Rudiez, Josu Venero and Víctor Iriarte.
Peggy Ashwesh (J) · Antje Ehmann (J) · Carlos Serrano (J) · Loreta de Stasio (J) · Darío Urzay (J) · Álex Brendemühl · Kyle Eastwood · Chris Jones · Laida Lertxundi · Antton Merikaetxebarria · Nástio Mosquito · Jeanne Moreau · Sergio Oksman · Gonzalo de Pedro · Vanessa Redgrave · Alberto Rodríguez · José Antonio Sistiaga · René Vautier · Josu Venero
In the year of its fiftieth anniversary, ZINEBI added to its extensive program a very important novelty, PRE-ZINEBI, starting one week prior to the main event and aimed at showcasing initiatives by different associations, professional entities, collectives, producers, university and non-university audiovisual training centres, public and private, that conform the audiovisual sector in Bilbao.
American director James Benning and the French theorist Jean-Pierre Rehm presented film series and there were retrospectives on the cinema of Venezuela and the work of the French director Jean-Claude Rousseau. American Thom Andersen, Italian Gabriele Salvatores and Mexican Enrique Rivero, members of the International Jury, also presented their films, along with the premiere of the last feature film by Basque filmmaker Juanma Bajo Ulloa. New Yorker Diane Pernet continued with the second part of her great review on film and the fashion world, and almost fifty years after his Mikeldi de Plata in the second edition,veteran Richard Lester returned to Bilbao to receive the Mikeldi Special Honor of the fiftieth anniversary in a closing gala where filmmaker and musician Emir Kusturica – and his band – offered a concert in the Arriaga theatre. In this edition Pedro Olea, Antonio Resines, Néstor Basterretxea and Pío Caro Baroja were also recipients of the special Mikeldi de Honor Award.
The Basque representation this year gathered Vuc Jevremovic and Xabier Erkizia, Aritz Moreno, David G. Rudiez, Jon Garaño, Lander Camarero, Jesús Pueyo and Oier Etxeberria, Javier Ortega and Hugo Sanz.
Thom Andersen (J) · Gerardo Chijona (J) · Enrique Rivero (J) · Gabriele Salvatores (J) · Irene Visedo (J) · Manuel Asín · Alizar Dahdah Anton · Juanma Bajo Ulloa · James Benning · Eugeni Bonet · Lander Camarero · Ramón Churruca · Jon Garaño · Emir Kusturica · Richard Lester · Pablo Malo · Pedro Olea · Jean · Pierre Rehm · Kiko de la Rica · Jean · Claude Rousseau
The Guggenheim Museum hosted the cycle The Dance of the Muses, where the bond between cinema and the plastic arts was reviewed by the prestigious Basque Country University (UPV-EHU) professor Santos Zunzunegui, and which included films by Alain Jaubert, Jean-Marie Straub and Danièle Huillet, Víctor Erice, Henri-Georges Clouzot and Michelangelo Antonioni. In this framework, Romanian expert Victor I. Stoichiţă delivered a masterful lesson entitled Rear window. Hitchcock and art. Two emerging filmmakers, Filipino Raya Martin and Spanish Pedro Aguilera, shared their most recent films and offered the cycle The fortress and the pilgrims, focusing on the documentaries made by NO-DO – the old Francoistic film news program – until 1981. There were other cycles, such as the oneby French expert Olivier Barlet about current African cinema, and one by Domènec Font about the last Eastern cinema. Mexican filmmaker Carlos Reygadas talked about his film in an interactive session with the audience. The great Spanish director Pere Portabella received the Mikeldi de Honor of this edition.
Basque filmmakers Laida Lertxundi, Víctor Iriarte, Koldo Almandoz, Luiso Berdejo, Borja Cobeaga and Jorge Dorado, Izibene Oñederra, Telmo Esnal, Haritz Zubillaga, veteran José Julián Bakedano and Jon Garaño participated in the contest.
Pedro Aguilera (J) · Faouzi Bensaïdi (J) · Diana Camargo (J) · François Crozade (J) · Raya Martin (J) · Olivier Barlet · Borja Cobeaga · Telmo Esnal · Domènec Font · Jon Garaño · Víctor Iriarte · Laida Lertxundi · Izibene Oñederra · Pere Portabella · Carlos Reygadas · Victor I. Stoichiță · José Mª Vitier · Haritz Zubillaga
During this edition Bilbao hosted the annual meeting of the Board of Directors of the Ibero-American Federation of Film and Audiovisual Producers (FIPCA), chaired byCuban ICAIC producer Camilo Vives. There was a great exhibition on the costumes of great international actresses, from Romy Schneider to Claudia Cardinale and Emma Thompson, called Hábito de estrellas. There was a cycle dedicated to the great North American documentalist and member of the International Jury James Bennning, fairly unknown in Spain at the time. The cycle produced by theorist and New York costume designer Diane Pernet entitled Fashion Moodrevisited documentaries about the work of great contemporary designers. Other cycles were dedicated to American experimental cinema, and to German LGBT filmmaker Rosa von Praunheim. Last but not least, two emerging filmmakers, Argentinean Pablo Trapero and Spanish Isaki Lacuesta, gave master classes on their vision of cinema. Great Mexican filmmaker Arturo Ripstein travelled to Bilbao accompanied by the great screenwriter and his wife, Paz Alicia Garcíadiego, to receive this edition’s Mikeldi de Honor.
Amongst the Basque participants were Víctor González, Luiso Berdejo, Enrique García and Raquél Ajofrín, Javier Ortega, Iván Cortázar, Susana Talayero, Juan A. Eguiguren, Jon Garaño, Algis Arlauskas and Koldo Almandoz.
James Benning (J) · Gili Dolev (J) · Chus Gutiérrez (J) · Manuel Pérez Paredes (J) · Charlotte Pochhaker (J) · Jon Garaño · Paz Alicia Garciadiego · Isaki Lacuesta · Diane Pernet · Arturo Ripstein · Pablo Trapero · Camilo Vives
The cycle Recondita armonia, about the links between opera and cinema, included films by Paul Czinner, Daniel Schmid, Ingmar Bergman, Roberto Rossellini and G.W. Pabst, and was hosted by film essayist and musicologist José Luis Téllez. The cycle Pasearse a cuerpo focused on Spanish documentaries on the Democratic Transition (1977-1983), and it was attended by filmmakers Fernando Ruiz, Gonzalo García Pelayo, Nonio Parejo, Alejo Lorén and Eduardo Ducay. Spanish filmmakers José Luis Guerín, National Cinematography 2002 Award winner, and Mercedes Álvarez held a open discussion about the situation and the possibilities of documentary films.
In the International Jury were Spanish filmmaker Jaime Rosales and Frenchman Jean-Pierre Rehm, director of the prestigious International Documentary Film Festival of Marseille (FID-Marseille), amongst others.
This year’s Mikeldi de Honor went to the internationally renowned Basque producer Elías Querejeta.
The Basque filmmakers in the International Competition were Igor Legarreta and Emilio Pérez, Isabel Herguera, José Mª Goenaga, Juan Azpitarte, Ixiar García, Javier Aspiazu and Carlos Idirin, Borja Berrosteguieta and Eider Eibar and Carmen González.
Mia Engberg (J) · Pavel Giroud (J) · Jaime Rosales (J) · Alexander J. Seiler (J) · Jean · Pierre Rehm (J) · Mercedes Álvarez · Gonzalo García Pelayo · José Mª Goenaga · José Luis Guerín · Isabel Herguera · Carlos Idirin · Alejo Lorén · Nonio Parejo · Elías Querejeta · Fernando Ruiz Vergara · Carlos Taillefer · José Luis Téllez
This edition included a long cycle dedicated to the Spanish cinema of the 50s and 60s under the title The Uncertainties of Realism, which gathered veteran filmmakers such as Julio Diamante, Angelino Fons, José Luis Egea and Jorge Grau. For the first time in Spain, Bilbao held a retrospective devoted to the great Thai filmmaker Apichatpong Weerasethakul. Another cycle on great urban transformations entitled Megacities was designed and presented by Charlotte Pöchhacker, director of the Architecture Biennial of Graz (Austria), together with the prestigious Spanish architect and urban planner Juli Capella. There was also a series devoted to the great Italian screenwriter Tonino Guerra, and a retrospective of the Russian animation filmmaker Andrei Khrzhanovsky, member of the International Jury. Awarded with the Mikeldi de Honor this year were the successful Spanish director Javier Fesser and the great Anglo-French singer Jane Birkin, who offered a concert at the Arriaga theatre.
Amongst the Basque participants in the International Competition were the filmmakers Alan Griffin, Ane Muñoz, Borja Berrosteguieta, Itziar Barrio, José A. Rebolledo, Haritz Zubillaga, Satinder Singh and Koldo Almandoz.
Zita Carballosa (J) · Satur Idarreta (J) · Andrei Khrzhanovsky (J) · Karl · Heinz Klopf (J) · Emmanuel Tibloux (J) · José Julián Bakedano · Jane Birkin · Juli Capella · Pablo Carbonell · Julio Diamante · José Luis Egea · Javier Fesser · Angelino Fons · Alan Griffin · Javier Krahe · Ana Murugarren · Charlotte Pöchhacker · Joaquín Trincado
The auditorium of the Guggenheim Museum housed an extensive cycle entitled Comrade Godard dedicated to the militant cinema of the great filmmaker of the Nouvelle Vague between 1968 and 1975. His muse at that time, the actress, singer, composer and filmmaker Anna Karina, collected one of the Mikeldi de Honor awarded in this edition. The cycle Brigades of Light. Artistic and political avant-garde in Spanish cinema (1967-1981), managed by historian Julio Pérez Perucha and attended by veteran filmmakers such as Antonio Artero, Llorenç Soler, José Mª Nunes, Andrés Linares, Antoni Padrós and José Mª Zabala . There was a tribute to the French director Nicolas Philibert and also a new contest dedicated to full-length documentary films, ZINEBIDOK, with Portuguese Pedro Costa, Danish Allan Berg Nielsen and Spanish Marc Recha as its first jury.
The great German actress Hanna Schygulla received the second Mikeldi of Honor.
Basque participation included Safy Nebbou, Imanol Ortiz, Tinieblas Gonzalez, Aitor Alvarez, Galder Gaztelu-Urrutia and Felix Guede and Gaizka Urresti.
Allan Berg Nielsen (J) · Pedro Costa (J) · Hassan Dezvareh (J) · Hans Martin Hamdorf (J) · Pierre Jutras (J) · Juan M. Ortuoste (J) · Lourdes Portillo (J) · Marc Recha (J) · Antonio Artero · Francisco Avizanda · Anna Karina · Andrés Linares · Mariano Lisa · José Mª Nunes · Antoni Padrós · Hanna Schygulla · Lorenç Soler · Gaizka Urresti · Paulino Viota · José Mª Zabala
Renzo Rossellini – son of the founder of Italian Neorealism, Roberto Rossellini, and producer of Ingmar Bergman, Francis Ford Coppola and Federico Fellini – received a Mikeldi de Honor Award and presented a great retrospective on some of his father’s lesser-known works in Spain, many of them made for RAI, the Italian public television. The second Mikeldi was dedicated, posthumously, to the great Basque composer Carmelo Bernaola. Polish filmmaker Paweł Pawlikowski, member of the International Jury and future Oscar-winner, showed some of his most important works while Brazilian Wolney Oliveira, also member of the Jury, screened four of his short films within a cycle dedicated to the production of the School of San Antonio de los Baños (Cuba), prepared by its deputy director, Tito Ameijeiras. The cycles China moves, Japanese animation and The memory of Mexico were also highlights of the program.
This year’s extensive Basque participation included Asier Altuna, Aitzol Aramaio, Maru Solores, José Mª Goenaga, Iñaki Arteta, Kepa Sojo, Borja Crespo and Koldo Almandoz, amongst others.
Javier Aguirre (J) · Woolney Oliveira (J) · Paweł Pawlikowski (J) · Olivier Pierre (J) · Milagros Sollano (J) · Koldo Almandoz · Tito Ameijeiras · Aitzol Aramaio · Algis Arlauskas · José Luis Balbín · Carles Bosch · Settimio Presutto · Renzo Rossellini
The great cinematographic composer Ennio Morricone received the Mikeldi de Honor at a gala in which his son Andrea directed the Bilbao Philharmonic Orchestra and the Choral Society of Bilbao in a concert featuring the most unforgettable soundtracks composed by the Italian maestro.
The cycle entitled S & M and fetishism was complemented by a photo exhibition called The rituals of love, and presented by North American director Doris Kostler. French critic and director Jean-Paul Fargier presented his retrospective on French audiovisual creation with works by Jean-Luc Godard, Nam June Paik, Man Ray and Philippe Sollers. The veteran Italian filmmaker Francesco Maselli presented the collective film Another world is possible, made by 33 international filmmakers from three different generations who showed their political and social concerns in the current world. Also, there was a tribute to the work of Joaquín Jordá, founder of the avant-garde Escuela de Barcelona and member of the International Jury.
Amongst the Basque participants were Haritz Zubillaga and José A. Pérez, Luiso Berdejo, Borja Cobeaga, Safy Nebbou, Michel Gaztambide, Diego Agudo, Maria Zamakola, Laura Belloso, David Ilundain, Ione Hernandez, Javier Alonso, Eduardo Bajo Ulloa, Jon Garaño and Gaizka Urresti.
Malcolm Blaylock (J) · Marie Claudette Coulanges (J) · Joaquín Jordá (J) · Settimio Presutto (J) · Roberto Silvestri (J) · Mario Berardi · Luiso Berdejo · Borja Cobeaga · Jean · Paul Fargier · Doris Kloster · Luis Marías · Francesco Masselli · Ennio Morricone · Haritz Zubillaga
Bilbao-born filmmaker Ernesto del Río was appointed new director of the Festival and for the first time the acronym ZINEBI was added to the official name of the Bilbao International Documentary and Short Film Festival. Great graphic designer Óscar Mariné created the first poster announcing a new stage. Prestigious British filmmaker Peter Greenaway received the Mikeldi de Honor and presented some of his films and visual installations at the Guggenheim Museum. There was a cycle dedicated to American documentary filmmaker and twice Oscar winner Barbara Kopple, who also collected a Mikeldi de Honor Award, and another cycle entitled Biographies of the city that showed experimental films about urbanism and city life.
Two more cycles were in the program, Cantantes y Sonantes, an audiovisual anthology on Latin music, and Iran take by take, on the recent film industry with several short films by Abbas Kiarostami.
Basque directors Manu Gómez, Nerea Castro, Iñaki Elizalde, Diego Fandos, Tinieblas González and Oskar Santos also took part in the competition.
Orlando Aguilera (J) · Dominic Angerame (J) · Antton Ezeiza (J) · Mansoor Kadivar (J) · Daniel Mamruth (J) · Iñaki Elizalde · Tinieblas González · Peter Greenaway · Barbara Kopple · Óskar Santosn
