#basque cinema

20.000 ESPECIES DE ABEJAS (2023) dir. Estibaliz Urresola Solaguren Lucía is an eight-year-old girl, who sometimes struggles as the world tries to catch up with the fact that she is trans. As the summer holidays pass, she explores her femininity alongside the women of her family who at the same time reflect on their own femininity. (link in title)

HANDIA (2017), dir. Jon Garaño, Aitor Arregi

80 EGUNEAN (2010) dir. Jon Garaño & Jose Mari Goenaga Axun and Maite met at secondary school during a repressive era that never allowed their relationship to go beyond friendship. Later on, their paths led them apart: Axun got married and moved out to the country to live on a farm, while Maite traveled the world, clarified her sexual orientation in her own mind, and now, having had a successful career as a piano teacher, she has returned to San Sebastian to take up her retirement. Fifty years on, Axun and Maite, now both seventy, meet up by chance while visiting patients in hospital. At first, they don't recognize one another, but soon long- suppressed feelings begin to emerge once more with the same intensity. (link in title)

ANDER (2009) dir. Roberto Castón The valley of Arratia in August 1999. Ander, a farmer well into his forties, lives with his sister Arantxa and his old mother in a remote part of rural Basque country. His is a monotonous life filled with nothing but farm work and a job at the local bicycle factory. It won't be long before Arantxa gets married and leaves home and then Ander will be left to look after their stubborn mother on his own. Then one day Ander has an accident and breaks his leg. His limb will be in a plaster cast for two months. Against his mother's wishes, the family decides to employ a Peruvian immigrant, José, in order to help out, and the arrival of the new farm hand has an influence on interpersonal relationships within the family. The old woman, who barely speaks any Spanish, refuses to communicate with José, but Arantxa and Ander soon get to know José quite well. The two men in particular become firm friends. (link in title)

Handia (’Giant’, 2017), dir. Jon Garaño, Aitor Arregi

Películas vistas en 2019: Handia (’Giant’, 2017), dir. Jon Garaño, Aitor Arregi

You can't change my mind.

Woo hoo, I'm the first ever guest blogger at The Cinefamily's website! Go read about berets, dictators, cows, cider, competitive woodcutting, and the surprisingly fascinating world of Basque cinema. For a tiny region, the Basques have a LOT of great films that are sadly not often seen in the US.