About Basque Cinema

Meanwhile, the distinctive delights of Basque hospitality led to the establishment of the San Sebastian Film Festival in 1953, and various short film and documentary festivals followed. Basque documentarists sought to express the contrast and discord that defined their relationship with the centralized Francoist film industry and, though deprived of Euskera, their juxtaposition of sounds and images created an equivalent language of conflict that culminated in the introspective Ama Lur (1968). Made in the same year that saw an escalation in the violence that has overshadowed the development of the modern Basque Country, Ama Lur inspired many, both politically and artistically, to the extent that, following the end of the dictatorship, the first autonomous Basque government promptly dedicated 5% of its entire budget to the task of nation-building through revival of the indigenous film industry.

Many period epics followed, made by film-makers who took advantage of generous subsidies, and new production companies emerged. The Ikuska documentary series made by Bertan Filmeak provided apprenticeships for such as Imanol Uribe, whose progression through documentary, re-enactment and fiction dominated, influenced – and arguably skewed too much towards terrorism – the cinematic representation of the Basque Country. Other takes on Basque social themes and concerns, such as drug abuse and urban alienation, suggest the universal nature of these problems; but optimism, though rare, is not withheld.[/vc_column_text]

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