The fourth edition of the X Films Project, through which, every year, the Punto de Vista Festival produces a film in the form of a filmed diary, has selected the three participants for this year: Eloy Domínguez, Aitor Gametxo and Mercedes Mangrané. The three film-makers will present their projects in February, as part of the International Punto de Vista Seminar, along with a selection of their past work. Of the three projects presented, only one will be chosen to be made over the course of 2014.
Eloy Domínguez Serén (Simes, Pontevedra, 1985) gained a degree in Audiovisual Communication from the University of Barcelona, where he also studied a Master's Degree in Creative Documentary. Having founded A Cuarta Parede, the first digital magazine in Galician dedicated to film critiques and reviews, in 2011 he wrote and directed his first documentary short film, Fills de Samsó, which premiered at the DocsBarcelona festival and was awarded the prize for the best non-fiction short film at the Corto y Creo festival in Santander. In 2012, he moved to Stockholm, where he embarked on a lengthy project for a filmed diary and entered into a filmic correspondence with the Galician director Marcos Nine. Out of these two on-going projects emerged his next short film: Pettring (2013). This piece was chosen to participate in the Seville European Film Festival and in Zinebi (Bilbao). He is currently working on the post-production of the project Cartas, in collaboration with Marcos Nine, and on pre-production for a non-fiction short film (Jet Lag) and a digital feature-length film (Midwinter).
Aitor Gametxo gained a degree in Audiovisual Communication from Bilbao and Barcelona, and his interest in non-fiction film led him to study a Master's Degree in Creative Documentary at the Autonomous University of Barcelona, whilst he co-directed together with Igone Arreitunandia his first documentary work, La ciutat tipográfica (2012), shown at various national and international festivals. He then went on to work together with María Elorza and Maider Fernández on the project Irudi mintzatuen hiztegi poetikoa (2013). Beyond these outstanding pieces, he has also created more personal projects such as short films that have the feeling of an essay, always with a strong documentary and poetical vocation. During his studies, he completed an internship as a production assistant at RTVE Catalunya and as an audiovisual and documentation officer at Tabakalera International Centre for Contemporary Culture (San Sebastián).
Mercedes Mangrané (Barcelona, 1988) graduated in Fine Arts from the University of Barcelona, and having specialised in painting and video, she spent time studying at Middlesex University (London). She then studied a Master's Degree in Creative Documentary at the Autonomous University in Barcelona, where she began developing the short film Piedras, which received funding from the Centre for Young Art in Barcelona. Mercedes is a visual artist and cultural producer, and has developed projects focusing on notions of proximity, making use of poetic narratives, creating a hybrid from the fiction and tensions that occur in everyday life. Her artistic work and audiovisual short films have been shown at various cultural centres and international festivals, including Temps d'Images 2013 (Lisbon) and the Fringe Festival 2011 (Edinburgh). She is currently working on the post-production stage of the documentary Exvotos and on directing and producing a documentary about the band Osoleone.