[9] Organised by the Arriaga Theatre, the festival has currently institutional financing and sponsorship from Bilbao City Council.
[10][11][9] The third oldest festival in Spain (after San Sebastian and Valladolid),[12] it was initially dedicated solely to documentary films.
[15][16][17] In 2017, after 18 years in this post, del Río stepped down as the head of the festival, Vanesa Fernández Guerra was appointed in his place.
[21] Honorary Mikeldi Awards was established to recognize lifetime career achievements of distinguished international directors.
[19][21] Bertoko Begiradak – Views From the Basque Country – is a section for feature films from a recent production.
[20] Frederick Wiseman, Rita Azevedo Gomes, and Félix Linares were awarded with Honorary Mikeldi prizes.
[21] The main award, Zinebi First Film, went to a Chilean-Argentinian-French feature An Oscillating Shadow by Celeste Rojas Mugica; My Stolen Planet by Farahnaz Sharifi won the ZIFF Youth Jury Prize; Special Jury Mention – Rising Up at Night by Nelson Makengo.