ZINEBI has been the only State festival and one of five worldwide accredited by the FIAPF (International Federation of Film Producers Associations (FIAPF) in the short films and documentary category since 1974. Its international renown may be demonstrated by its acknowledgement as a qualifier festival for the film industry\u2019s biggest awards: the Hollywood Academy Oscars, the European Film Academy\u2019s EFA awards, the British Academy\u2019s BAFTAs, and the Spanish Academy\u2019s Goya Awards.<\/p>\n
Founded in 1959 by the Basque Institute of Hispanic Culture \u2013 then attached to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs \u2013 it first emerged as the Bilbao International Latin American and Philippines Documentary Film Competition. Conceived as the \u201clittle brother\u201d of the San Sebasti\u00e1n Film Festival, which had been established six years previously, ZINEBI went on to become Spain\u2019s third oldest festival after San Sebasti\u00e1n and Valladolid, and the longest standing in its speciality.<\/p>\n
Between 1972 and 1981 ZINEBI became an essential forum for debate on Spanish short films and a leading perspective across a range of cinematography, especially the Latin American variety. A major milestone was reached in 1974, when it was officially recognised by the FIAPF as a top international competition.<\/p>\n
Between 1975 and 1980 the festival acquired a further dimension when it became a meeting point for reflection and development of what was already being called Basque cinema. This phase established its early commitment to local and regional filmmaking, which it continues to maintain.<\/p>\n
In 1981 Bilbao Town Hall took over management of the festival, and became its main organiser. Amid some complex processes, the institutional transition succeeded in giving the project stability and continuity, a process culminated when the festival was put under the organisational control of the Arriaga Theatre.<\/p>\n
In the year 2000 the festival adopted the ZINEBI brand, ushering in a new phase during which it cemented a position as one of the world\u2019s leading festivals of independent signature short films.<\/p>\n
ZINEBI\u2019s mission nowadays homes in on support for emerging filmmakers \u2013 with a particular focus on directors from Euskadi and the rest of the Spanish State \u2013 and striving to showcase quality films worldwide.<\/p>\n
The festival concentrates on projects that give priority to creative freedom, formal innovation and audiovisual experimentation, with a constant perspective of ethical and aesthetic reflection on contemporary realities.<\/p>\n
Down through the years ZINEBI has played host to leading independent cinema personalities around the world. Prizewinners include famous names such as the following:<\/p>\n
International filmmakers:<\/strong> Jacques Demy, Richard Lester, Pierre P\u00e9rrault, Claude Lelouch, Gian Vittorio Baldi, Carroll Ballard, Fernando Birri, Estela Bravo, Santiago \u00c1lvarez, Valeria Sarmiento, Robert L. Drew, Felipe Cazals, Peter Watkins, Peter Mullan, Lourdes Portillo, Avi Mograbi, Sergei Loznitsa, L\u00e1szl\u00f3 Nemes, Nele Wohlatz and Luise Donschen.<\/p>\n Spanish filmmakers:<\/strong> The festival has been a key platform for the discovery and recognition of several generations of Spanish directors, among whom Carlos Saura, Basilio M. Patino, P\u00edo Caro Baroja, Jos\u00e9 Val del Omar, Javier Aguirre, Jaime Ch\u00e1varri, Francesc Betriu, Nadia Werba, Imanol Uribe, Montxo Armend\u00e1riz, Pedro Almod\u00f3var, Julio Medem, Fernando Le\u00f3n de Aranoa, Juanma Bajo Ulloa, Javier Rebollo, Santiago Segura, Bego\u00f1a Vicario, Jon Gara\u00f1o, Jos\u00e9 Mari Goenaga, Virginia Garc\u00eda del Pino, Neus Ball\u00fas, Koldo Almandoz, Isabel Herguera, Asier Altuna, Izibene O\u00f1ederra and Natalia Mar\u00edn.<\/p>\n The Honorary Mikeldi, the festival\u2019s highest distinction, has been awarded to personages of world renown in cinema and the arts. Among the prizewinners, guests and members of jury panels we find illustrious personages such as Peter Greenaway, Ennio Morricone, Jean Rouch, Dino Risi, Luis Garc\u00eda Berlanga, Hanna Schygulla, Anna Karina, Jane Birkin, Arturo Ripstein, El\u00edas Querejeta, Richard Lester, Pawel Pawlikowski, M\u00e1rta M\u00e9sz\u00e1ros, Jeanne Moreau, Anthony Hopkins, Vanessa Redgrave, Emir Kusturica, Liliana Cavani, Carlos Saura, Manuel Guti\u00e9rrez Arag\u00f3n, Jean-Claude Carri\u00e8re, Patrice Ch\u00e9reau, Cecilia Roth, Hirokazu Kore-eda, Juan Ruiz Anch\u00eda, Aki Kaurism\u00e4ki, Marco Bellocchio, Mariano Llin\u00e1s, Apichatpong Weerasethakul, Wang Bing, Claire Simon, the Dardenne brothers, Margarethe von Trotta, Agnieszka Holland, Albert Serra, Rita Azevedo Gomes, Frederick Wiseman, Laura Poitras and Jos\u00e9 Luis Alcaine.<\/p>\n ZINEBI\u2019s artistic directing has been handled by top personalities in the film industry: Pedro de Ybarra, Jos\u00e9 Ignacio Uru\u00f1uela<\/strong>, <\/strong>Felipe Alfonso Araico and Adolfo Lafarga,<\/strong> Roberto Negro<\/strong>, <\/strong>Manu Pagola<\/strong>,<\/strong> Management Committee with Jos\u00e9 Juli\u00e1n Bakedano, Ernesto del R\u00edo, Jos\u00e9 Antonio Mingolarra and Santos Zunzunegui, I\u00f1aki Acarregui, Luis Iturri<\/strong>, <\/strong>Ernesto del R\u00edo, Vanesa Fern\u00e1ndez Guerra<\/strong> and the current director, Joseba Lopezortega, who had already taken charge of two previous events.<\/p>\n ZINEBI\u2019s sponsor and main source of funding is Bilbao Town Hall, through the Arriaga Theatre. The festival also enjoys the institutional backing of the Basque Government\u2019s Department of Culture, the Spanish Ministry of Culture and Sport \u2013 through the ICAA (Spain\u2019s Institute of Cinematography and Audiovisual Arts) and the Bizkaia Provincial Council.<\/p>\n Collaboration extends to a large number of public and private organisations such as ETB, Azkuna Zentroa, Golem-Alh\u00f3ndiga Cinemas, the Bilbao Fine Arts Museum, Museo Guggenheim Bilbao, Sala BBK, the University of the Basque Country (UPV\/EHU), Institut Fran\u00e7ais Bilbao, Goethe-Institut and Cineclub FAS, among other institutions which enrich the festival\u2019s offer of culture.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" A trajectory of cinematographic excellence ZINEBI has been the only State festival and one of five worldwide accredited by the FIAPF (International Federation of Film Producers Associations (FIAPF) in the short films and documentary category since 1974. Its international renown may be demonstrated by its acknowledgement as a qualifier festival for the film industry\u2019s biggest […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"parent":357,"menu_order":2,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"templates\/page-with-container.php","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-365","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/zinebi.eus\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/365","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/zinebi.eus\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/zinebi.eus\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zinebi.eus\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zinebi.eus\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=365"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/zinebi.eus\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/365\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":36832,"href":"https:\/\/zinebi.eus\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/365\/revisions\/36832"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zinebi.eus\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/357"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/zinebi.eus\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=365"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}The Honorary Mikeldi and illustrious personages<\/h3>\n
Directors\u2019 careers<\/h3>\n
Institutional support and collaboration<\/h3>\n