A total of 20 titles – 15 features, 3 series and 2 shorts complete the Basque participation at the Festival’s 72nd edition, programmed in almost all its sections: Official Selection, New Directors, Perlak, Zabaltegi-Tabakalera, Nest, Culinary Zinema, Zinemira, Made in Spain, Velodrome, Movies for Kids and the EITB Gala.
Zinemira, the section specifically dedicated to Basque cinema, comes with nine proposals, eight of them world premieres, making them contenders for the Irizar Basque Film Award, coming with 20,000 euros for the producers of the film. Zinemira, organised by the San Sebastian Festival and the Basque Government Department of Culture, is a section sponsored by Irizar, EiTB and Urbil, and enjoys the collaboration of the Filmoteca Vasca, the EPE-IBAIA producers’ association and Zineuskadi.
Raúl de la Fuente (Pamplona, 1974) will open the section with the non-fiction Los Williams / The Williams, about the Athletic Club de Bilbao’s sibling players and their family background. De la Fuente won the Audience Award with Un día más con vida / Another Day of Life (Perlak, 2018), premiered as a special screening in the Cannes Official Selection, also winner of the Goya and European Film Academy Awards for Best Animated Feature Film.
The feature debut from the artist Carmen Chaplin, Chaplin | Spirit of The Tramp, will close the section. Charlie Chaplin’s family embarks on a revealing journey into the Gypsy heritage that inspired the creation of his infamous and beloved character of The Tramp.
Arantxa Aguirre (Madrid, 1965), author of prizewinning documentaries including Dancing Beethoven (2016), directs Ciento volando, a non-fiction narrated by the actress Jone Laspiur on the work of the sculptor from San Sebastian, Eduardo Chillida, who would have celebrated his 100th birthday in 2024.
Erreplika / Replica is the second feature film, and the first solo-directed, from Pello Gutiérrez (San Sebastian, 1979), in which he reflects, based on the disappearance of a sculpture of Our Lady of Zikuñaga in the 13th century and the death of his father, the filmmaker Juanmi Gutiérrez, on absences and how we create images in order, perhaps to fill these spaces.
Ernesto del Río (Bilbao, 1954), until 2017 director of ZINEBI, the Bilbao Documentary and Short Film Festival, has completed his sixth feature film, Ese mundo que no te da nada / That World That Gives You Nothing, in which he portrays the on-off relationship between a couple who meet in Bilbao and separate in Havana.
Jone Ibarretxe de la Cal (Barakaldo, 1990) joins Nere Falagan Martin (Barakaldo, 1991) on her debut movie exploring the light and shadows of the Ibarretxe brothers – her father Josemi and her uncles. Esto no es Hollywood (La historia inacabada de los hermanos Ibarretxe) / This Is Not Hollywood (The Unfinished Story of The Ibarretxe Brothers) interviews actors and moviemakers who accompanied them to portray these three pioneers of the Basque film world.
Miguel Alba Rico (Madrid, 1967), Nino Fontán (Madrid, 1969) and Itziar Bernaola (Bilbao, 1970) make their cinematic debut with the documentary Los poderes de Lolo about the mother of the former, Lolo Rico, creator of La bola de cristal / The Crystal Ball, coinciding with the 40th anniversary of the iconic TV show.
Zortzitik infinitura, the directorial debut from Naia Laka Arrizubieta (Ispaster, 1990), follows the history of Basque cinema set around the career of Benito Ansola, founder of the Lekeitio Euskal Zine Bilera, and in the company of writer Miren Agur Meabe.
Completing the section is a screening out of competition, Indarkeriaren oi(h)artzunak / Let it Know, winner of the Audience Grand Prix at the San Sebastian Human Rights Film Festival and of an Amnesty International special mention. Amaia Merino (San Sebastian, 1970), co-director of Asier eta biok / Asier and Me (2013, winner of the Irizar Basque Film Award included in the 2016 retrospective, The Act of Killing. Cinema and global violence) and Non dago Mikel / Where is Mikel? (Zinemira, 2020, recipient of a special mention), and Ander Iriarte (Oiartzun, 1986), author of Echevarriatik Echeverriara (2014) and Karpeta urdinak / Blue Files (Zinemira, 2022), follow the search for the truth by Tamara Muruetagoiena, whose family was kidnapped by ETA and whose father was tortured to death by the State.
Bollain and Pérez-Sañudo, also to compete for the Irizar Award
Iciar Bollain (Madrid, 1967), who formerly won the Irizar Basque Film Award with Maixabel (2021), will once again compete with Soy Nevenka / I Am Nevenka, the true story of a councillor who pays a high price for reporting the sexual abuse perpetrated by the mayor, played by Urko Olazabal, programmed in the Official Selection. Someone else to have experienced winning the Irizar Award is David Pérez Sañudo (Bilbao, 1987), who bagged it with Ane / Ane is Missing (2020) and once again participates in the New Directors selection with Azken erromantikoak.
The latest works from Alauda Ruiz de Azua, Jon Garaño & Aitor Arregi, Izibene Oñederra, Galder Gaztelu-Urrutia and Andrea Jaurrieta
Other Basque productions will also screen at the Festival. In the Official Selection, the director of Cinco lobitos / Lullaby (Zinemira Closing Gala, 2022), Alauda Ruiz de Azúa (Barakaldo, 1978), will show Querer, narrating the story of a woman (Nagore Aranburu) who, after 30 years of marriage, leaves her husband and reports him for continued rape. Following its participation in the Orizzonti section of the Venice Mostra, Marco, directed by Jon Garaño (San Sebastian, 1974) and Aitor Arregi (Oñati, 1977) will close Perlak out of competition at the Velodrome. Moviemaker Izibene Oñederra (Azkoitia, 1979) will show the animated short film selected for Kimuak and screened at Annecy Etorriko da (Eta zure begiak izango ditu) / When it Comes (It Will Have Your Eyes) in Zabaltegi-Tabakalera. Julen Etxeberria (Getxo, 1974), a former student at the Elías Querejeta Zine Eskola, will compete in Nest with his short film El tercer paisaje / The Third Landscape. El hoyo 2 / The Platform 2, sequel of the hit movie by Galder Gaztelu-Urrutia (Abadiño, 1974), will close the Culinary Zinema section out of competition. In addition, the Velodrome will provide the venue for the premiere of the eleventh season of EITB’s teen musical series Go!azen, directed by Itziar Gómez (Errenteria, 1964). Made in Spain will screen Nina by Andrea Jaurrieta (Pamplona, 1986), whose protagonist (Patricia López Arnaiz) returns to her hometown to take revenge on an author receiving a tribute. Nina received the Critics’ Award at the Malaga Festival. The Movies for Kids section will screen the animated film Robotia, directed by the Argentinians Diego Cagide and Diego Lucero, which has Basque production. The EiTB Gala will include the second season of Itsatsita a musical series for Instagram directed by Jon Rodríguez (Errenteria, 1991).
