Bernardo Atxaga Chair: Maria Pilar Rodriguez

Researcher and professor María Pilar Rodríguez has been selected as guess lecturer for the Bernardo Atxaga Chair in New York promoted by the Etxepare Basque Institute. Rodríguez will participate in seminar focused on Basque filmmakers at the City University of New York, with a series of lectures scheduled to take place from October 23rd to October 27th.

The programme offers an exploration of the main themes addressed by Basque female filmmakers in their work.  The aim of the course is to analyse Basque filmmaking based on the work of female directors across different genres and formats – feature films, short films and documentaries – and to conduct an academic and informative examination of these creative endeavors.

23 October, 9:00-11:30 AM. Course presentation and introduction to Basque film production.

Reading materials: Fernández, Joxean (2012). Euskal zinema. Cine vasco. Basque Cinema. San Sebastián. Basque Film Archive.

24 October, 9:00-11.30 AM. Basque women filmmakers. Violence, terrorism and the participation of women: Yoyes (Helena Taberna, 2000). This session of the course focuses on the role of women in ETA and the feminist revindication that Taberna puts forward for Yoyes.

Reading:

• Roldán Larreta, Carlos (2023). “Esa libertad pura y transparente. Temas fundamentales en la ficción cinematográfica de las directoras vascas”, Basque women filmmakers. Donostia: Basque Film Archive.
• Rodríguez, María Pilar (2016). “From dispossession to reparation: Yoyes thirty years after her death” Revista Internacional de Pensamiento Político, 11, 369-382.

25 October, 9:00-11.30 AM. Transnational movements: Amaren idea (Maider Oleaga, 2009).

This session examines the films created by Basque women directors about transnational geographical and symbolic locations. These works depict, both thematically and aesthetically, the tensions arising from the dynamics that characterize the modern world. These productions share a common theme of featuring characters who experience a sense of identity division, fragmentation, or conflict. The characters often engage in introspection about the processes of constructing their identities, particularly in the context of displacement and transition.

Reading material: Ortiz Cristina and Rodríguez, María Pilar (2023). Identidades en tránsito. Cuestiones transnacionales en la ficción y el documental. Basque women filmmakers. Donostia: Basque Film Archive.

26 October, 9:00-11:30 AM. Contemporary representations of female subjectivities: ‘Cinco lobitos’ (Alauda Ruiz de Azúa, 2022) and ‘20000 Species of Bees ‘(Estibaliz Urresola, 2023).

This session looks at recent films by directors who explore the affects and everyday family situations of modern protagonists. Urresola´s film will serve as a basis for the analysis of trans people and sexual identities.

27 October, 5:30 PM. Talk and screening: ‘Arnasa betean: emakume zinemagileak’ (Bertha Gaztelumendi, Rosa Zufía).

The main purpose of this Chair is to promote research and study in the field of Basque language and literature. Bernardo Atxaga himself inaugurated the programme in 2011 at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York. The Bernardo Atxaga Chair offers an academic doctoral programme on Basque culture taught annually by distinguished guest lecturers.