Seven short films selected for the Kimuak 2025 catalogue

After considering the 41 entries submitted to the 28th edition of the KIMUAK programme, the jury selected the following seven short films to be included in the Kimuak 2025 catalogue: ‘Dicen que tu padre’ (Aitor Abio), ‘El regalo’ (Lara Izagirre), ‘Erreka zoko hortan’ (Ekaitz Bertiz), ‘Habana industrial’ (Ainhoa Ordóñez), ‘Las manchas del jaguar’ (Ricardo del Conde), ‘Sueños de viernes’ (Harrotu ileak) and ‘Ultramarino’ (Miren Zubeldia and Silvina Gugliemotti).

Aimed at promoting Basque films, KIMUAK is organised by the Etxepare Basque Institute and Zineuskadi. Starting today, this collection of Basque short films will be sent to some of the world’s most prestigious film festivals and audiovisual events.

This year´s evaluation and selection committee comprised three film professionals. Aitor Oñederra is founder and director of Animadeba, the Deba International Animation Festival. He is a lecturer at the Fine Arts Faculty of the University of the Basque Country, and creator of animations for the performing arts, film and music. Alejandra Trelles is artistic director of Cinemateca Uruguaya and director of the Uruguay International Film Festival. She is a translator, teacher, and contributing journalist and film critic to the weekly newspaper Brecha and the daily newspaper La Diaria, both in Uruguay. María Juárez heads the festival Directed by Women Spain, and is cultural manager, programmer and production coordinator for film festivals and artistic events. She is currently responsible for logistics at DocumentaMadrid - International Documentary Film Festival and a member of the board of directors of Matriz, the Madrid Film Festival Network.

The 2025 KIMUAK catalogue includes fiction, and different forms of documentary and experimental films. Two of the films are shot entirely in Basque, another in Basque, Spanish and Dariya, and four have Spanish as their main language. Three of the seven short films are directed by women, and another is created by a team of both men and women. Two of the selected titles are the debut or second works of their respective creators.

These are the seven selected short films:

DICEN QUE TU PADRE

‘Dicen que tu padre’ is the second short film by Vizcaya native Aitor Abio (Durango, 2000). He graduated in Audiovisual Communication from Mondragon University and is currently working towards a degree in film directing at ECPV (Basque Country Film School) in Bilbao. As part of his studies, Abio directed two films, including his debut, ‘Patrimonio,’ which was selected for Kimuak 2024.

This drama pits actors Izaro Nieto and Iñigo Salinero against each other. When their father gets involved in a scandal he doesn´t want to discuss, Izaro tries to protect her little sister by keeping her away from it.

EL REGALO

Lara Izagirre Garizurieta directs Desirée Clavería Duval, Samara Jiménez Vega and Aurora Cortés Clavería in this contemporary drama. Aurora, Dessi and Samara – three Romani women – head to the centre of Bilbao to buy a birthday present for their niece Sarai.

‘El regalo’ is the first short film by the director, screenwriter and producer from Amorebieta-Etxano (1985) to feature in Kimuak, although she was producer in ‘Ya no duermo´ (Marina Palacio, Kimuak 2020) and ‘Cuerdas´ (Estibaliz Urresola Solaguren, Kimuak 2022). Her first feature film, ‘Un otoño sin Berlín’, premiered in 2015 at the San Sebastian Film Festival, and the following year, the film´s lead actress, Irene Escolar, won the Goya Award for Best New Actress. ‘Nora’ (2020), her second feature film, was also screened at San Sebastian and in 2023 her short film ‘Pelikula baten bila’ was shown in the Bertoko Begiradak section at ZINEBI. Her first feature-length documentary, ‘Empoderío’, premiered at the San Sebastián Human Rights Film Festival in 2025. Izagirre is currently writing the screenplay for the feature film Yerma alongside María Goiricelaya.

ERREKA ZOKO HORTAN

Navarran filmmaker Ekaitz Bertiz (Sunbilla, 2003) trained at ESCAC (Escola Superior de Cinema i Audiovisuals de Catalunya). He has directed several short films, including ‘Eklipsi morala’, ‘Baserria hartu du gaitzak’ and ‘Hitza eman nion’, which have been screened at festivals in Spain and abroad. His films blend realism, fantasy, and horror, all while preserving themes of identity, memory, and a strong connection to the rural environment.

Lorena Mariñelarena, Aroa Bertiz and Saioa Mariñelarena star in ‘Erreka zoko hortan´ (‘In that corner of the river’). Joxepi, the eldest daughter from the Iparragirre farmhouse, must take over her convalescent father´s job: smuggling a heavy package across the border to France. In the dark of night, the police are not the only danger lurking in the forest.

HABANA INDUSTRIAL

In the darkness of Havana, Cuba, the few lights lighting up the streets rely on an unstable electricity supply – the same power that fuels the music equipment at raves. A group of young people, witnessing the total lack of energy, wander through the city, engaged in delirious conversations, conspiracies and apathy as the city grows darker and darker.

Ainhoa Ordóñez Yraolagoitia (Vitoria-Gasteiz, 1996) explored the ins and outs of Havana in the creation of this documentary. After studying film directing at the Basque Country Film School (ECPV) in Bilbao, she trained in cinematography at the Instituto del Cine Madrid and later specialised in documentary filmmaking at the International Film and Television School of Cuba (EICTV) in Cuba. She is currently working on several documentary projects and teaches non-fiction filmmaking.

LAS MANCHAS DEL JAGUAR

Filmmaker, producer and programmer Ricardo del Conde recounts his personal experience with his daughter´s illness in ‘Las manchas del jaguar’: ‘Memory is fragile, and mine perhaps even more so. I construct notes or clues that allow me not to forget, but at the same time help me cross the threshold of death.’ Ricardo´s seven-year-old daughter, Iune, survives rhabdomyosarcoma. To find healing from the experience, she creates a four-part ritual in four directions. Her journey back home to Mexico feels abstract and confusing, yet it is filled with symbols and deep meaning. This expanded cinema experience is built from the director´s random, yet sometimes methodical and systematic notes.

Ricardo del Conde was born in Mexico City in 1985. He holds a bachelor´s and a master´s degree in Arts, with a specialisation in filmmaking from UAEM (Mexico) and has been working in documentary film since 2005. With his debut film ‘Espantapájaros’, he received support for documentary filmmaking from IMCINE and won DOCTV Latinoamérica III. In 2022, his film ‘Hacia la Niebla’ premiered at the L´Alternativa festival. He is currently developing his second feature film, ‘Mundu hobeago bat’. Del Conde has collaborated on numerous projects with the international human rights organisation Artículo19, notably the series ´Impunidad mata´. He is co-founder of the audiovisual collective Medios Libres, part of the EmergenciaMX platform. He also co-founded La Carreta Cine Móvil and Eco-Cinema México, both pioneering projects in alternative and travelling film screenings in Mexico. Based in the Basque Country since 2016, he is a cultural promoter for several community projects such as Zineleku and Gaztefilmfest. With his production company Kalakalab, he presented Mel Arranz´s animation ´Azaletik Azalera´, included in the Kimuak 2021 catalogue.

SUEÑOS DE VIERNES

´Sueños de viernes´ is about bodies that move, walk, swim, progress. Bodies that rely on other bodies: that communicate and organise among themselves. Their complex movements mean that obstacles, borders, farewells, walls, family, hopes and arrivals all become imprinted on the body. Change of place and travel appear as power, possibility and future.

‘Sueños de viernes’ (Friday dreams) is a collaborative film made by the Harrotu Ileak group – a project designed as a space for collaboration among young people in vulnerable situations – the Tabakalera centre in Donostia and various artists. Over forty people have been involved in the working group, which has also collaborated with Maite Alonso and Unai Ruiz from Zine–Lab, a laboratory for independent film creation, production, experimentation and screening.

ULTRAMARINO

Zion Arakistain, Mariasun Pagoaga and Iraia Elías make up the family in ‘Ultramarino’, a drama filmed in the streets of Pasai Donibane. Zazu, on the verge of adolescence and in search of his identity, must choose between playing a predetermined role in his village festival or being true to his feelings.

This is the first film by Maren Zubeldia and Silvina Guglielmotti. Produced by DOXA Producciones in Bilbao, ‘Ultramarino’ was part of the 2022 edition of the Aukera mentoring programme run by the (H)emen (H)ere association.

Maren Zubeldia (Donostia, 1995) holds a degree in Audiovisual Communication from the University of the Basque Country. She has done technical work at the Tabakalera Film Department and for the San Sebastian Film Festival, and works as a programmer at Zinegoak, Bilbao´s LGTBIQ+ Film and Performing Arts Festival. She combines programming with assistant directing work and has been involved in audiovisual projects including ‘Ventajas de viajar en tren’, ‘American Carnage’, ‘Hil kanpaiak’, ‘Érase una vez en Euskadi’, ‘La fortuna’, ‘Maixabel’, ‘Irati’, ‘20.000 especies de abejas´, ‘La ermita’, ‘Querer’, ‘Los Domingos’ and “’Así seguirán las cosas’.

Silvina Guglielmotti (Buenos Aires, Argentina, 1972) studied Image and Sound Design at the University of Buenos Aires. During her studies, she created a small production company where she developed institutional pieces for different companies, learning about each of the areas that make up the audiovisual industry. In 2004, she moved to Spain, where she worked for Globomedia in the directing department on various television dramas. Her approach to cinema came when she settled in the Basque Country and became part of various films, always on the directing team: ‘Cuando dejes de quererme’, ‘Akelarre’, ‘Érase una vez en Euskadi’, ‘Maixabel’, ‘Ilargi guztiak’, ‘20.000 especies de abejas’ and ‘Una ballena’, among others.