5 years have gone by. Zinegoak is 5 years old and now, it´s a good time to make an assessment. Zinegoak 04 showed 25 films in just one screen room during 4 days; Zinegoak 08 will show 95 films in 4 rooms during a whole week in Bilbao and another week in more than 12 Bizkain villages. Zinegoak 04 brought nearly 3000 spectators together; there will probably be 9000 in Zinegoak 08. In Zinegoak 04 there were 7 directors and an actress presenting their films; in 2008 more than 30 representants will turn up in Bilbao, and apart from these directors, actors, actresses and producers, we will have cinema professionals, as well as people from other festivals, critics... who turn Zinegoak into an internationally recognized festival.

It was in Zinegoak 05, 3 years ago, when we discovered, for example, the Swiss Lionel Baier´s first film “Garçon Stupid”, which commercially had its premiere in Spain only two months ago. So, we are greatly pleased for Lionel comes back to Zinegoak with his second and better film “Comme des voleurs”. It´s not only him who repeats in the festival, but also important people such as: the Philippine Aureaus Solito, who, in 2007, participated with “El florecimiento de Máximo Oliveros”, and, in 2008, will take part with the lovely film “Tuli”, another approach to adolescence and homosexuality, but this time, actually, with feminine stars; or the German Angelina Maccarone, in 2007 with “Unveiled” who won the Best Feature Film Award, who will present “Vivere”, a three women from different generatios story.

There will be four Spanish films in Zinegoak 08. We will open with veteran Ventura Pons´s last work “Barcelona (a map)” starred by two greats: José María Pou and Nuria Espert. The other three Spanish feature films are, in contrast, first films: “Spinnin”. Eusebio Pastrana´s  “6000 millones de personas diferentes” with two

Awards of the Public in Madrid and Barcelona; Sergio Candel´s “Dos Miradas” (awards in Valencia, Las Palmas and New York), a minimalist and exciting story between two women trapped between desire and prejudice, which takes place in the Chilean Atacama Desert; and the very recent Antonio Hens´s “Clandestinos”, a daring and original gay approach to the abertzale scene. These four directors and some of the stars will be among us with their films.

Furthermore, there are another 7 excellent films (with a lot of Asian presence), 13 docus of a great range of themes, nearly 40 short films in the competition section, another 12 in OFF Zinegoak section, 8 more in the “Argentina en corto” programme (in collaboration with Buenos Aires Diversa Festival) and lastly, the retrospective programme “25 years without Fassbinder” (collaborating with the Goethe Institute and also with Zinebi) which will show 5 of this German director films and a poster and other stuff related to his films exhibition, which will be on show in Hegoak ( Number 7, 2 de Mayo Street) from 12th to 29th January.

All this was unthinkable 5 years ago. Now, it is a fact thanks to institutions and private sponsors support. And, above all, thanks to our growing audience and their loyalty. This new Zinegoak, together with the previous ones, is for you. Enjoy it.

Roberto Castón

Director