Satellites: Isabel Herguera

Isabel Herguera

Once again we are joined in orbit by a select group of _Satellites, acclaimed Spanish filmmakers whose paths have often crossed with l’Alternativa and who splash down at the festival to give a talk or masterclass and curate a programme of films linked to their creative universe.

The visual artist, producer and animation filmmaker Isabel Herguera (San Sebastián, 1961) is one of this year’s Satellites, giving a masterclass offering insights into the creative process behind her animated feature El sueño de la sultana, which competed in the Spanish Films official section at l’Alternativa 2023. She will also host a screening and discussion of this film for schools and in her director’s pick section she will present the shorts Crossroads, by Raimund Krumme; Free Radicals, by Len Lye; Hezurbeltzak, una fosa común, by Izibene Oñederra; Dimensions of Dialogue, by Jan Švankmajer; and La Voix des sirènes, by Gianluigi Toccafondo, along with two of her own works, La mujer ilustrada and Ámár.

We have screened some of her acclaimed shorts at l’Alternativa. In 2015 she featured in a l’Alternativa Hall showcase that included her shorts La gallina ciega (2006), Ámár (2010)—one of the films being shown again this year—Bajo la almohada (2012), and Amore d’inverno (2015, Grand Prize for Basque Cinema at ZINEBI). In 2016 she codirected Kutxa beltza (2016) with Izibene Oñederra. Herguera has worked as director of Animac, coordinates the Arteleku Moving Image Lab in San Sebastián and worked as an animator in Los Angeles for over a decade.

In addition to raising the profile of Spanish filmmakers crafting alternative visions to mainstream cinema through their own original ways of working, the _Satellites section also provides unique opportunities for direct, creative exchange between filmgoers and filmmakers.