INTERACTIVE ZINEBI

ABOUT THE FESTIVAL

• 1959: In the beginning, it was the International Documentary Film Competition. It was meant to foster love, friendliness, and mutual understanding between Spanish and Latin American peoples by disseminating the knowledge of their customs and traditions. Gente del mar was the first Basque short film .


• 1960: Silver Mikeldi. Audiences could understand films in Spanish, but there were no subtitles in most cases.


• 1961: 80 holiday films were screened.


• 1962: The number of films kept growing. A curious fact: the Festival’s brochure included a leaf from the Tree of Gernika, and below it read, “Give and scatter your fruits across the world.”


• 1963: This year marked the peak of Javier Aguirre’s most fruitful period.


• 1964: This was a quality edition, according to the organisers. It included a series of short films by filmmaker and designer Saul Bass. The awards used to be called “Miqueldi” back then. The organisers were intent on going international.


• 1965: The students at the official film school showed their work. Many renowned filmmakers were here.


• 1966: The most talked about film this year was La ría de Bilbao, a documentary by Pedro Olea.


• 1967: Films from the URSS, Yugoslavia, and Iraq reached the festival. Peter Watkins’s The War Game, which had just won an Oscar, was screened.


• 1968: Nano oriented the competition to address youngsters. Given the low quality of most entries, some prizes went unawarded.




• 1969: Film selection was refined. Many Bilbao dwellers watched an Eisenstein movie for the first time with no need to go to a clandestine theatre.


• 1970: Franquismo was in its death throes and the jury rebelled against the curtailment of freedom. Michael Wadleigh’s Woodstock was the big winner. As too many people could not get a seat for the show, it was screened twice.


• 1971: The Festival’s selection was confined to short films.


• 1972: Alfonso and Lafarga passed the baton to Roberto Negro. The new president introduced some changes, such as encouraging the development of popular film instead of hiring prestigious figures in the film industry as members of the jury, in an attempt to convey new social values. No prizes were awarded this year. Sports documentaries, however, were highly successful.


• 1973: As a result of the new president’s savings campaign, there were not many entries. The most attractive film was Aullidos, directed by Jorge Lladó.
• 1974: As censorship slackened, the awards came back.


• 1975: After Franco’s death, culture was brought to the streets. It was widely believed then that children should be able to watch and make short films and documentaries. From school to university, students should therefore be encouraged to produce and carry out research into short and documentary film. There were no posters for the Festival.


• 1976: The Festival ran out of money, as it depended on funding from public and private institutions. Its staff worked as volunteers.


• 1977: The Festival was still running, but cultural changes happen gradually. The advent of democracy did not bring Bilbao to the forefront of the Spanish cultural scene.


• 1978: Without money, nobody wanted to be in charge of organising the Festival, so it fell into the hands of a group of amateurs. The Festival was less popular at home in Bilbao than anywhere else. Big changes were introduced. People’s excitement with the Festival led to the 1st edition of the alternative competition Bilboko Zinema Topaketak.


• 1979: The Festival turned of age, but it was still unfamiliar with bilingualism.


• 1980: Praise was given to the films made in Euskadi. The Mayor of Bilbao, Jon Castañares, and director Roberto Negro were the official representatives of the city and the Festival, respectively. The Festival screened a growing number of Basque films.


• 1981: The Bilbao Town Hall took charge of the Festival, dismissing Roberto Negro and appointing Manu Pagola as its president –a controversial decision. The Festival’s budget was raised to 18 million pesetas. In sum, this edition was mired with problems and mistakes, which resulted in fewer awards and visitors.


• 1982: If the budget allowed for it, the screenings in this edition would be organised into film cycles. There was a poster competition, too. People began to talk about the future of film. The first Women and Film cycle took place.




• 1983: The Festival’s first three days were dedicated to the 1st National Documentary and Short Film Competition, followed by the international competition. This brought about confusion in film categorisation. This year, the Festival’s budget was larger, as it was sponsored by the Bilbao Town Hall, the Vizcaya Government, the Basque Government, and the Spanish Ministry of Culture.


• 1984: This year marked the peak of the Festival’s crisis. The Basque Minister of Culture attended Zinebi for the first time and the UNESCO-supported International Film Conference was brought into existence. However, there were political issues. Leading filmmakers were invited, but their films were not screened. All in all, this edition was severely criticised.


• 1985: Things could not be worse: the Festival’s debt amounted to 17,601,333 pesetas. Manu Pagola was asked to resign and, in the end, he was dismissed.


• 1986: The high number of entries reflected the Festival’s growing international dimension. Several controversial films were screened, especially in terms of their subjects. Beyond the Official Selection, there were interesting cycles, such as Jirí Trnka and Raymond Depardon retrospectives, and special screenings such as those of L’India vista da Rossellini or Orson Welles’s In the Land of Don Quixot.


• 1987: The new Mayor, José María Gorordo, introduced radical changes. He appointed Iñaki Acarregui to replace the previous commission, and this prevented the Festival from disappearing. He also increased the value of prizes and encouraged the organisation of Festival-related cultural activities. Meanwhile, a new market was emerging, where feature films, documentaries, and short films could combine with TV. This was one of the brightest editions in the history of the Festival, and also the one with the largest number of guests. It certainly was a turning point.




• 1988: The balance sheet showed the Festival’s account was in the red after the 1987 edition. Amidst mutual accusations by political parties, the budget was cut down in 30 million pesetas. The Festival was now organised by the Arriaga Theatre –a guarantee for clean financial management. After Iñaki Acarregui’s resignation, the Festival changed names: Bilbao International Film Festival: Documentaries and Short Films. 410 films entered the competition and 54 of them were part of the Official Selection.


• 1989: This year there were 400 entries, 68 of which were chosen for the Official Selection. Most of the films had been made by women. The budget was 9 million pesetas higher than the previous year. In spite of the low number of Basque productions, Juanma Bajo Ulloa’s opera prima, El reino de Víctor, was the big winner.


• 1990: New bad omens for the Festivals and talks about its disappearance. Fiction prevailed over documentaries, with a very low number of Latin American films screened. The fall of the Berlin Wall found expression in a special cycle, “Un muro para el olvido” (A Wall to Forget). Basque documentaries did not have a big impact, but Álex de la Iglesia’s Mirindas asesinas was much talked about.


• 1991: Tribute was paid to film masters Alfred Hitchcock, Howard Hawks, King Vidor, Raoul Walsh, and Vincente Minnelli with monographic screenings, and to Frank Capra, who has just passed away, with a cycle of war movies. The International Jury was one of the most prestigious in the history of the Festival, as its members included Richard Kaplan, Jirí Barta, Bruno Fischli, and René Fortunato.


• 1992: This was one of the most controversial editions in recent years. The Festival was on the verge of becoming extinct. Despite the high quality of the films screened, it failed to attract many visitors. In early October, Town Hall sources claimed the Festival would not be held this year for financial reasons. In the end, with a budget 40% lower, the Festival did take place, surrounded by uncertainty. The closing ceremony was sober and austere.


• 1993: The Festival and the people came to terms with one another this year. Most entries were lower-quality films. The suggestion to include video films to improve quality was soon abandoned. Curiosities screened: Porn of the 1920s and Andy García’s feature film Cachao… Like His Rhythm There Is No Other. Ten Basque productions entered the competition.


• 1994: This year the Festival’s organisers focused on quality and fun. There were two cycles on Argentine film. The International Jury was headed by Luis García Berlanga. In a cycle dedicated to Ingmar Bergman, the public could see his forays into advertising. The Basque Film Library contributed the material for a Víctor Azkona retrospective.


• 1995: The Mikeldi of Honour went to José María Forqué, who had died before this year. The prize was picked up by his wife and his daughter, Verónica Forqué. A cycle was dedicated to the 50th anniversary of the end of World War II. The Festival also celebrated the 100th anniversary of the birth of film and the first film star, Rodolfo Valentino, who had his own cycle. There were many Basque productions screened. The Gran Prix went to the short film El purificador, by Santiago Segura, who was an unknown filmmaker back then.




• 1996: This year’s programme was most attractive, with a cycle of women’s films called “La epopeya de las mujeres en el Séptimo Arte en Europa” (The Odyssey of Women in European Cinema) and a cycle from France screening short films based on selected scripts from 3,000 that had entered a special competition which was in fact an AIDS awareness raising campaign.


• 1997: The Festival’s budget this year was the lowest in recent years –only 33 million pesetas. This, and the difficult financial situation of the Arriaga Theatre (it had a debt of 70 million pesetas) badly affected the Festival’s programme. Still, over 660 came from 53 different countries –proof of the Festival’s well-established international prestige.


• 1998: This was the Festival’s 40th edition, celebrated as “XL” (the edition in Roman numbers), “Extra Large Film.” The entries amounted to a record-breaking 856, hailing from 56 different countries. After its success in past editions, a new version was launched of the cycle “Los desconocidos de los conocidos” (The Unknown of the Well-Known), featuring less-known works of some of the greatest filmmakers. Also, the retrospective “Diez películas contra cien millones de minas” (Ten Films Against 100 Million Mines) helped raise awareness of the damages caused by anti-personnel mines. The Grand Prix was awarded by Roman Polanski at the Arriaga Theatre.


• 1999: This was the year of Irish film, with Jim Sheridan as the Festival’s big star. The cycle dedicated to the Sundance Film Festival was very successful. The Mikeldi of Honour went to Sara Montiel, who came to Bilbao to pick it up and open Angelo Frontoni’s photo exhibition, Miradas de cine (Film Looks). According to the organisers, this was one of the best editions in the history of Zinebi, placing the it among the leading festivals in Europe, alongside Leipzig and Krakow.


• 2000: New changes at the turn of the century help consolidate the Festival’s position. Many posters were stuck in downtown Bilbao –an unprecedented feature in the Festival’s history. The newly appointed president was Ernesto del Río. For the first since 1959, there were over 1,000 entries. Jazz and music in general were at centre stage in this edition. Also, tribute was paid to Luis Buñuel on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of his birth.




• 2001: The number of movies that entered the competition kept growing: 23 more than the previous year. Nobody would have thought that could happen some time before. Festival-related activities begin to be held throughout the year. A new poster by Oscar Mariné Brandi, featuring Raquel Welch, catches the public’s attention. This edition focused on eroticism, fetishism, and sexuality. The highest point was the historic concert performing the best of Ennio Morricone, who received the Mikeldi of Honour for his music contribution to the world of cinema.


• 2002: Massive arrival of films: 1092. Excellent quality, too. Again Bilbao got covered with a new poster by Mariné, this time featuring Oliver Hardy. Cycles dedicated to Cuba, China, and Mexico. The special screening of Roberto Rossellini’s movies was a huge success among aficionados.


• 2003: Documentaries took centre stage thanks to Zinebidok, a section parallel to the Official Selection. Hanna Schygulla’s show at the Arriaga Theatre combined her performance with the screening of the legendary silent film Diary of a Lost Girl.


• 2004: By now, the name of Bilbao was closely associated with film in the international scene. Cycles were dedicated to Spanish realism in the films of the 1950s and 1960s, scriptwriter Tonino Guerra, title sequences in legendary movies, and the history of Basque video clips. The closing ceremony included an extraordinary concert by actress and singer Jane Birkin, who got the Mikeldi of Honour this year with Javier Fesser.


• 2005: The Bilbao Association of Friends of the Opera (ABAO) helped organise a cycle on the dangerous relationships between film and opera. Elías Querejeta was the big star this year, as he got the Mikeldi of Honour and ten of his most important films were part of a special cycle.


• 2006: The Bilbao Film Commission (BIFIC) was created to deal with shooting permissions in town and publicise Bilbao as a great city for shooting. The Festival this year centred on fashion. In an exhibition called Hábito de estrellas (Star Customs/Costumes), sixty costumes worn in legendary movies, and the cycle “Fashion Mood” went over the work of the best contemporary designers.


• 2007: A new president for Zinebi: Ibone Bengoetxea. The exhibition Intima Marilyn (Intimate Marilyn) showed personal objects that used to belong to blond legend Marilyn Monroe. Kimuak –the programme disseminating the best Zinebi short films around the world– turned 10. A special exhibition, El cine y las artes plásticas (Film and the Plastic Arts) celebrated the 10th anniversary of the Guggenheim Bilbao Museum. Nine Basque productions received awards.


• 2008: Zinebi’s 50th anniversary. Against all odds and forecasts, nothing seemed to stop it now. Its fifty-year history made it real, after having overcome big hurdles and gone through many difficult situations. This was possible thanks to the hard work of its successive presidents, but also of many selfless collaborators, such as María Ángeles Olea, Esperanza Sesmero, Alicia Arriaga, Lucía Goitia, and many others whose names have unfortunately fell into the annals of oblivion.