FOUR SCHOLARSHIPS TO SUPPORT EMERGING FILMMAKERS, KEEPING ALIVE THE SPIRIT OF OUR BELOVED AMY, FILMMAKER AND EDUCATOR
Amy Halpern’s presence in 2022 marked a turning point in the history of our festival and for all those who participated in that edition, after which, in just two months, she would pass away. Her personal legacy is known to those who remember her inspiring conversations (with practically everyone in the audience and on the team). These conversations gave rise to new creations that were presented in subsequent years at the Mostra. Her masterclass continues to be viewed on our YouTube channel, and of her films presented in A Coruña, we wanted to highlight ‘ELIXIR’, because for her it was “a love letter.” Furthermore, in alchemy and mysticism, the elixir of life was conceived as a panacea, a substance capable of curing all ailments and diseases. Whether to save her gifts and her light from oblivion, or to remedy the shortcomings in cultural policies in support of emerging experimental filmmakers, today we present these scholarships for the development of four film projects under that name.
It was her family and friends who decided to join forces so that we at (S8) could continue providing the support we have been offering in recent years, not without effort, to projects committed to creative cinema in analog format. In addition to the BAICC (International Artistic Film Creation Grants) award, this year there are four ELIXIR scholarships of €700, which will be given to the four INPUT 2025 participants as a boost to help them complete their projects.
At the conclusion of the INPUT process – Space for mentoring and advising film projects in development 2025, after the last online mentoring session between mentors and mentees, the mentors for this edition, Beli Martínez, Byron Davies, Raquel Scheffer, and Catarina de Sousa, were contacted for a final assessment. With all parties satisfied with the high standard of the participating projects and the progress made in the process, it was agreed to extend our support to the following projects: ‘OH MONO, ADIÓS’ BY PAOLA BUONTEMPO; ‘VÊHTIHIO’ BY VIOLETA SARMIENTO; ‘DE LA NOCHE A LA MAÑANA‘ BY ORISEL CASTRO; AND ‘¿QUÉ ES UNA MONTAÑA?’ BY FRAN RODRÍGUEZ CASAL. All of them will receive ELIXIR scholarships in honor of Amy Halpern to continue working on their projects.
Foto: Andrea Morandeira
This grant was created thanks to the generosity of Nancy Halpern Ibrahim, Amy’s sister, who promoted the idea and gathered the support to make it possible.
eSe8_LAB is a project by the non-profit cultural association eSe8, developed within the framework of the (S8) Mostra Internacional de Cine Periférico de A Coruña.
