In the 16th edition of BBK Mendi Film Bilbao Bizkaia, 57 films will be screened and there will be 3 exhibitions, 4 conferences. Edurne Pasaban will be presented with The WOP Mendi Film award. The IAMF Grand Prize winner, "K2 Touching the sky" by Eliza Kubarska will be screened, a masterclass will be given by the photographer Yhabril and a conference on the mountain film industry will be celebrated.
Bilbao will be the world capital of mountain cinema from the 8th to 17th of December. The 16th edition of Mendi Film will screen 57 films representing 15 countries from Europe, North America, Asia and Oceania. Of these, 51 will take part in the Official Section, competing for the festival's official awards. Another four will be presented in the non-competitive Zabalandi section. Those being: "Corpórea", "El fin de la eterna primavera", "Konfiantza itsua" and "Leizeta".
Eliza Kubarska's "K2 touching the sky" (2015) has also been programmed in recognition of the IAMF Grand Prize it received this year. And "Oinez", the film of the project that received the Mendi Film Bizkaia Ternua grant last year, will be premiered.
The daily programme, as well as the activation of ticket sales, will take place in mid-November.
The International Jury, made up of five members, will evaluate the works in the Official Selection. The jury members are filmmaker and climber Eliza Kubarska (Poland); the journalist, producer and writer Michael Pause (Germany); the filmmaker, producer and scriptwriter Patricia Ayala (Colombia); the composer, orchestrator and arranger Nerea Alberdi (Basque Country, Bilbao); and the composer and arranger Juantxo Zeberio Etxetxipia (Basque Country, Tolosa).
A total of 24,800 euros is going to be shared out among the 12 prize-winners.
- Grand Prize: “Eguzkilore” trophy & €6,000
- Best Director: “Eguzkilore” trophy & €3,000
- Best Script: “Eguzkilore” trophy & €2,000
- Best Cinematography: “Eguzkilore” trophy & €2,000
- Jury Award: “Eguzkilore” trophy & €2,000
- Best Original Soundtrack: “Txalaparta” trophy & €2,000
- EITB Award for Best Film in Basque: “Eguzkilore” trophy & €2,000
- Best Mountaineering Film: “Eguzkilore” trophy & €1,200
- Best Climbing Film: “Eguzkilore” trophy & €1,200
- Best Culture & Nature Film: “Eguzkilore” trophy & €1,200
- Best Sport & Adventure Film: “Eguzkilore” trophy & €1,200
- Best Short Film: “Eguzkilore” trophy & €1,000
The "HARRI, ORRI, ARkatz" exhibition, with contents based on climbing topos, will be held at the Yacimiento de la plaza Corazón de María (from the 24th of November to the 7th of January). The exhibition of the 20-prize winning works from the CVCEPHOTO international mountain activity, photography competition at the Sala BBK (from the 9th to the 14th of December). In addition, the exhibition of the Bilbao photographer Yhabril with 20 of his best works "Yhabril. Light, mountain, action!” will be displayed in Metro Bilbao stations (from the 15th of November to December 30th).
In addition to films and exhibitions, four conferences will be held during the festival. Namely; the award-winning works of the ninth edition of the CVCEPHOTO competition (December 9th); the presentation of the book "El arte en el croquis de escalada" in connection with the exhibition "HARRI, ORRI, ARkatz" (December 9th); the conference "Lo que ví en las montañas" by the geographer, traveller and mountaineer Eduardo Martínez de Pisón; and "Gailurra! Comic and mountain", led by the prestigious expert in comics, Kike Infame.
WOP MENDI FILM and IAMF GRAND PRIZE
The mountaineer and business woman Edurne Pasaban will receive the WOP Mendi Film 2023 Award on December 8th, at the Opening Session of the festival at the Euskalduna Palace. Eliza Kubarska, this year's winner of the IAMF Grand Prize -the highest award of the International Alliance for Mountain Fim-, will preside over the revival of "K2 touching the sky" for which she received the Best Director Award at the Mendi Film 2015, as part of the session scheduled at the Sala BBK on the evening of December 12th.
MENDI PRO
This year Mendi Pro is going to stage a valuable series of conferences concerning the mountain film industry for this year's edition, aimed in one way or another at professionals working in the sector and amateurs who want to get into this industry.
The directors Eliza Kubarska, Dani Salas and Heather Mosher will give conferences. Aid and tax incentives for filmmaking activities offered by the Provincial Council of Bizkaia and the Bizkaia Treasury will be presented. The projects of the Mendi Film Bizkaia Ternua Grant will be premiered and presented: the film "Oinez", which received the grant last year, will be premiered, the project that received the 2024 grant will be presented, and the 2025 call for applications will be opened.
