New York: a journey through the history of Basque cinema

From the earliest films made before the Spanish Civil War, to more current productions, the Bernardo Atxaga Chair of the City University of New York will take a journey through 90 years of Basque cinema as part of this year’s academic programme.

From the earliest films made before the Spanish Civil War, to more current productions, the Bernardo Atxaga Chair of the City University of New York will take a journey through 90 years of Basque cinema as part of this year’s academic programme.

Asier Altuna, Borja Cobeaga, Jon Garaño, J. M. Goenaga, Isabel Herguera, Nacho Vigalondo, Victor Erice, Montxo Armendariz, Imanol Uribe, Álex de la Iglesia, Enrique Urbizu, Julio Medem, Juanma Bajo Ulloa and Helena Taberna are some of the names that will be heard from 4 to 7 December at “El cine vasco: inventio, dispositio y elocutio de una cinematografía emergente”, a seminar taught at the CUNY Graduate Center by the director of the Basque Film Archive, Joxean Fernandez.

Open to PhD students, the aim of the seminar is to learn about the most widely recognized Basque filmmakers from the earliest days to the present, with particular attention to the three generations of Basque filmmakers active today. Fernandez will first offer some historical background on the birth and development of Basque cinema and will then provide students with a chronological and thematic review of Basque cinema.

In 2011 the Etxepare Basque Institute launched the Bernardo Atxaga Chair, designed primarily to promote research into and the study of the Basque language and literature. Bernardo Atxaga himself inaugurated the chair to offer students a PhD level programme taught by expert guest lecturers.