- The International Documentary and Short Film Festival of Bilbao, Zinebi, which will celebrate its 58th edition from 18 to 25 November, will receive for the first time an international competition dedicated to the opera prizes of new filmmakers from the five continents. This first edition of the Zinebi First Film section, which will be extended to feature films in fiction, documentary and animation, will feature nine films, six of which will be national premieres. The prize will be 7,000 euros.
Based on its historical identity as one of the most important short film competitions in the world, through this award Zinebi aims to continue supporting young producers and authors who want to take their first steps in the world of feature films after working on short films. On the other hand, the audience will have the opportunity, through these very new works, to approach the diversity of trends, styles and arguments of creation that make up the panorama of contemporary cinema.
Thus, in addition to the sections 'Beautiful Docs' dedicated to documentary film and 'Looks of the Place' dedicated to recent Basque production works, Zinebi will add a new dimension of feature films, often difficult to find in large industry and commercial venues, as an important part of the film proposal presented annually by the festival.
In this first edition of the competition, 9 feature films will compete for the Zinebi First Film Award. The production of these films has involved 13 countries: Argentina, Bulgaria, China, Denmark, France, Israel, Lebanon, Qatar, Romania, Tunisia, the United Arab Emirates and Turkey. In these spaces, which are so diverse from the political, social, economic, religious and cultural spheres, the authors of these first works show views full of subjectivity that, in the staging of their cinema, also has special characteristics of style and critical will.
In this selection, the audience will discover the fundamental themes of the vicissitudes that human beings have to live in the contemporary world, such as life in cities, relationship with nature, immigration and its effects on culture, love relations, personal and collective identity, reality and fantasy or new relationships within the family, among others.
Notable among the films selected are Ralitza Petrova’s Godless, winner of the Golden Leopard at the Locarno International Film Festival (Switzerland); Ala Eddine Slim’s Akher Wahed at the Critics’ Week at the Venice International Film Festival, winner of the Luigi de Laurentiis Award, winner of the Leopard of the Future of the Best Opera Prima at the Critics’ Week of the Locarno International Film Festival (Venice); and her fine work at the Locarno. The latter two can be seen inside Zinebi 58 for the first time in the state.
The films that will compete within the Zinebi First Film and be offered in the Golem - Alhondiga cinemas are:
- Rat Film (Theo Anthony. EE.BB., 2016. It's the Doc. 84 min.) Premiere in Spain.
- Akher Wahed Fina (Ala Eddine Slim. Tunisia, United Arab Emirates, Lebanon and Qatar, 2016. I'm talking about Fikz. 95 min.) Premiere in Spain.
- The perfect future (Nele Wohlatz. Argentina, in 2016. I'm talking about Fikz. 65 min.). Premiere in Spain.
- Anashim Shehem Lo Ani (Hadas Ben Aroya. In Israel, 2016. I'm talking about Fikz. 80 min.). Premiere in Spain.
- Tramontane (Rabih) (Vatche Boulghourjian. Lebanon, France, Qatar and United Arab Emirates, 2016. I'm talking about Fikz. 105 minutes. ).
- by Zhi Fan Ye Mao (Zhang Hanyi. From China, 2016. I'm talking about Fikz. 80 min.). Premiere in Spain.
- Albüm (Mehmet Can Mertoğlu. Turkey, France, Romania, 2016. I'm talking about Fikz. 105 minutes. ).
- Donald Cried (Kris in Avedisia. EE.UU, 2016. I'm talking about Fikz. 85 min.). Premiere in Spain.
- Godless by Ralitza Petrova. Bulgaria, Denmark and France, 2016. I'm talking about Fikz. 99 minutes. ).
This news has been published by Uriola de Bilbao and brought to LUZ thanks to the CC-by-sa license