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Tabakalera Top Talent

This year’s crop of young outstanding talent has been nurtured at the Tabakalera’s various areas, including the post-graduate film school Elías Querejeta Zine Eskola (EQZE) and the Ikusmira Berriak Residency Program.

Marina Palacio (San Sebastian)

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The San Sebastian native is a Fine Arts graduate whose short film “Ya no Duermo” was created at the Elías Querejeta Zine Eskola and premiered in the Zabaltegi Tabakalera section of the Zinemaldia. It has competed in more than thirty international festivals, where it has clinched several awards including ‘Best Fiction Short’ at the Malaga Film Festival. She is currently filming her debut feature film: the docu-fiction hybrid drama, “Y así seguirán las cosas.”

Mikel Gurrea (San Sebastian)

Gurrea holds degrees from Barcelona’s Pompeu Fabra University and the London Film School. His latest short, “Heltzear,” world premiered at the Venice Film Festival’s Orizzonti sidebar, and later screens at San Sebastian’s Zabaltegi-Tabakalera section. He’s in post on his debut feature “Cork” (“Sur”), which he developed at San Sebastian’s Ikusmira Berriak 2016 Residency, Sources2 and the Sam Spiegel Film Lab. He is a collaborator of the Cinema en Curs project and of the EQZE film school.

Elena López Riera (Madrid)

A Spanish visual artist and filmmaker, Lopez Riera holds a PhD in Audiovisual Communication and teaches cinema and comparative literature at Geneva University. Her first short, “Pueblo,” premiered at the 2015 Cannes Directors’ Fortnight. Her 2016 film “Las Vísceras,” was selected for the Locarno Film Festival and received the Mikeldi Silver Award at the Zinebi Film Festival. Her recent short, “Los Que Desean” won the Pardino d’Oro at the 2019 Locarno Film Festival while her feature, “Water,” won the top Ikusmira Berriak prize in 2018.

Mikel Gurrea, Samuel M. Delgado and Helena Giron - Credit: Courtesy of Mikel Gurrea/Samuel M. Delgado and Helena Giron
Mikel Gurrea, Samuel M. Delgado and Helena Giron - Credit: Courtesy of Mikel Gurrea/Samuel M. Delgado and Helena Giron

Courtesy of Mikel Gurrea/Samuel M. Delgado and Helena Giron

Samuel M. Delgado (Canary Islands) and Helena Girón (Galicia)

Their feature debut “They Carry Death” (“Eles Transportan a Morte”), developed at Ikusmira Berriak residency in 2017, world premiered at the Venice Festival’s Critics Week sidebar and competes at San Sebastian’s Zabaltegi-Tabakalera section. Delgado co-wrote Theo Court’s “Blanco en Blanco,” which won best director and Fipresci awards at Venice’s Horizons section in 2019. They are both lecturers at the Elías Querejeta Zine Eskola.

Diego Cespedes (Chile)

Chilean-born Cespedes, who studied film and television at the University of Chile, broke out in 2018 with his short “The Summer of the Electric Lion,” winning the top prizes at Cannes’ Cinéfondation residence, Nest at San Sebastian and being selected by other key festivals led by Sundance, Palm Springs and Havana. His debut feature, “The Mysterious Look of Flamenco,” was selected by the Cinéfondation residence, the Ikusmira Berriak residence, the TorinoFilmLab laboratory and the Sundance’s Directors Lab. It has won the TorinoFilmLab, Ibermedia and Cinéma Du Monde production awards.

Elena Lopez Riera and Jessica Sarah Rinland - Credit: Courtesy of Elena Lopez Riera and Jessica Sarah Rinland
Elena Lopez Riera and Jessica Sarah Rinland - Credit: Courtesy of Elena Lopez Riera and Jessica Sarah Rinland

Courtesy of Elena Lopez Riera and Jessica Sarah Rinland

Jessica Sarah Rinland (Argentina-UK)

Rinland’s prize-winning work has been screened and exhibited worldwide, from the film festivals of Locarno, Venice and Toronto to the National Gallery Singapore and the Taipei Biennial. Her film “Collective Monologue” was selected for the Ikusmira Berriak in 2020, later backed by the Hubert Bals Fund. She currently teaches at the Elías Querejeta Zine Eskola. Past residencies include the Film Studies Center at Harvard University, Somerset House Studios, Flaherty Seminar Fellow, MacDowell, and Ikusmira Berriak.

Manuel Abramovich (Argentina)

The Buenos Aires born filmmaker, artist and DoP explores the everyday life of ordinary people in his films which have screened at top tier festivals and venues. His debut short “The Queen” won over 50 international awards, while his most recent, “Blue Boy,” won the Silver Bear at the 2019 Berlinale Shorts Competition. His feature “Soldier” participated in 2017 San Sebastian while his latest feature, “Pornomelancholia” is at WIP Latam. He’s also developing two new projects, “Cowboy Love” and “Pain.”

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