ZinemaldiaCat 2021: five documentaries and two fiction films
Euskara. Kultura. Mundura.

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28May 202106Jun 2021
Barcelona
ZinemaldiaCat 2021, organised by the Euskal Etxea Basque Center of Barcelona in collaboration with the Etxepare Basque Institute, runs from March 28th to June 6th in Barcelona. This year’s festival features five documentaries and two fiction films. Now in its 16th edition, ZinemaldiaCat brings a selection of the year’s best Basque film productions to the Catalonian capital. Many of these films are easy to find otherwise in Barcelona cinemas. This year´s spectacular poster, featuring Itziar Ituño, is the work of Igotz Ziarreta.
The documentaries screened this year are: ‘2 urte, 4 hilabete eta egun 1’ (Lander Garro, 2020) which recalls and celebrates the civil disobedience movement against the country’s military service; ‘Enero’ (Ione Atenea, 2019), an intimate portrait of the elderly through the stories of two octogenarian women, testimonies recounting the ups and downs of history and the amonas (grandmothers) of the Navarrese filmmaker herself; ‘Hijos de Dios’ (Ekain Irigoien, 2020), premiered at the San Sebastián Film Festival, Zinemaldia, in 2020, a story of one of society´s most persistent problems: homelessness; ‘El Drogas’ (Natxo Leuza, 2020), a biographical documentary that explores all the dimensions of the musician from Txantrea, Enrique Villarreal; and ‘Bury Us! A Punk Rock Uprising’ (2021), made by American director Andrew Nethery and produced by Pello Salaberria), is 100% Basque in both theme and protagonists. It is set around the personal stories of Usua and Koldo, the fiery rock n’ roll duo, from Donostia, Basque Country, known as Niña Coyote eta Chico Tornado. We chart the band’s rise from local venues to massive festivals.
ZinemaldiaCat will also screen two feature films: ‘Nora’ (Lara Izagirre, 2020), a ‘female’ comedy filmed in Basque, Spanish, English and French with a certain documentary air which also delves into the relationship between the characters and their environment. The other film is ‘Hil kanpaiak’ (Imanol Rayo, 2020), a rural thriller that takes us from the past to the present, portraying the anguish of the characters, and in which silence often outweighs words.
Talks and live music
The ZinemaldiaCat team have also organised discussions at three of the screenings with the protagonists. A musical performance will also accompany one of the films. In collaboration with Ateneu L´Harmonía, ‘2 urte, 4 hilabete eta egun 1’ will be followed by a discussion with director Lander Garro, and an open mike with a few treats, to share the experiences of struggle against the compulsory military service.
The screening of ‘Hijos de Dios’ will be offered in collaboration with the community organization Casal del Pou de la Figuera as part of their dynamic programming. The film will be screened in a square in the open air preceded by a round table discussion on the issue of homelessness.
The director, producer and stars of ‘Bury Us! A Punk Rock Uprising’, Niña Coyote and Chico Tornado, will offer a post-screening discussion at Cinemes Girona, followed by a performance by singer Sara Zozaya.