Marché du film: Basque. Audiovisual.

The 76th Cannes Film Festival, a premier international film festival, commences on May 16th, simultaneously launching the festival´s industry section known as the Marché du Film. The renowned fair, which will run until May 24th, will feature an exceptional representation of Basque talent. Five Basque productions have been selected across multiple sections of the Marché du Film, and ´Basque. Audiovisual.´ will be present to showcase and promote Basque cinema.

 ‘The Chapel’, directed by Carlota Pereda and produced by Bixagu Entertainment, has been chosen by the Sitges Festival to be featured in the Fantastic 7 section. Seven prominent festivals from around the world each choose one project to pitch to investors, producers, distributors and international sales agents. It is also worth mentioning that this year the Fantastic 7 ‘godfather’ is Bilbao filmmaker, Álex de la Iglesia.

Basque animation will also be represented at Cannes. The ´2cool4school´ section showcases graduation projects from young talent trained at cinema schools from around the world. ‘Conej Steps Out’ by Pablo Río (DigiPen Institute of Technology Bilbao) and ‘Corpúsculos’ by Laura Ibáñez López (Elías Querejeta Zine Eskola) will be among the short films selected for the 2cool4school shorts selection at Cannes’ Short Film Corner. Moreover, the project ´To Bird Or Not to Bird´ by Martin Romero has been chosen for ‘Revelations. New Spanish Animation Short Films´. This film is one of the latest productions by the Bilbao-based animation production company Uniko.

The International Festival of Documentary and Short Film of Bilbao, ZINEBI, will present four feature-length documentaries at Marché du Film, and ‘Itoiz Udako Sesioak’ (Larraitz Zuazo, 2023) is among the selected works.

With support from ICEX, ICEX, Spain´s export and investment organisation, Basque. Audiovisual. will once again have a stand with information on the Basque films featured at the fair. The Basque. Audiovisual. digital catalogue will be made available during the festival. Basque. Audiovisual. will promote these Basque projects at Marché du Film.

Also at La Semaine de la Critique

The Cannes Semaine de la Critique is an independent event held alongside the festival, providing emerging talents with a platform to showcase their work to both the public and critics. It features a selection of short films as well as first or second feature films. This year, the selection committee has chosen ´Contadores´ (2022) by Navarra-born filmmaker Irati Gorostidi. ´Contadores´ tells the story of a trade union negotiation in the 1970s and features a cast made up of non-professional actors.