Adapting to New Times: An Interview with Ernesto del Río, Director of the Zinebi International Documentary and Short Film Festival of Bilbao (2000–2017)

Abstract

In this interview, Ernesto del Rio, former programmer and director of Zinebi—the Bilbao International Festival of Documentary and Short Film (1959)—shares his memories and concerns about the festival organization, archival practices and programming policies. Having collaborated with the festival from the 1970s, del Rio reflects on the difficulties that institutional restrictions involved for adapting to global trends, including the feature-documentary boom of the 2000s, the proliferation of specialized festivals, and the digitization of projection. Considering the festival position within its cultural environment—created in the shadow of the San Sebastian International Film Festival, and coexisting with younger documentary festivals in Spain—he analyses the multi-layered identity of Zinebi, historically focused on the promotion of Basque, Spanish and Latin American filmmakers.