From a movie about him terrorism estimated time of arrival and the Basque conflict, the attacks and atrocities, the police and the hooded men, and we are used to expecting dialogues that openly reveal political and ideological positions. But the last person to address this issue to date, ‘Negü Hurbilak’ is not like the others. “By doing this, as we documented ourselves, we realized how far from reality this cinematographic archetype is and how much the human element tends to be forgotten,” explains its director, Ekain Albite. “For all the people we had the opportunity to talk to, the conflict was more about the pain that occurs when someone flees, abandons family and friends, and falls into loneliness,” adds Adrià Roca. he is also the director.
We say ‘Negü Hurbilak’ is not a movie like the others. It was signed by a group called Colectivo Negu, born in Escola Superior de Cinema i Audiovisuals de Catalunya a few years ago. (ESCAC) and its four members worked together behind the scenes: Basque-born Albite and Mikel Ibarguren; Roca and Nicolau Mallofré Catalan. Now they present it at the Locarno Festival.
They say ‘Negü Hurbilak’, it answers a need. “Michel and I were very young when ETA announced the cessation of armed activity; the conflict ends abruptly and only a few ruins remain”, Albite recalls. “We had to go through them to learn more about what was going on, and in doing so we found ourselves faced with too much silence, too much inaccessibility, and too much taboo, because among those who experienced it more closely, the wound was still open and hurt.” To fill this void, the film observes a young woman hiding in a Navarrese town to flee to France after the October 2011 announcement. and is surrounded by more and more uncertainty as it awaits instructions; No clues are ever given about his past and his relationship to the conflict. The directors note that his figure is a reflection of the thousands of people who fled the Basque Country for fear of retaliation, but that “the feelings he represents were universal and shared with anyone who left their home without a return date.” .
In other words, the main character of ‘Negu Hurbilak’ is an “anti-hero-like thing” as Roca describes it, a woman waiting in wonder. “A necessarily passive and static presence throughout the film, with little physical or emotional interaction and almost no dialogue.” Through the portrait and nature surrounding the town of Zubieta in Navarrese, the directors convey the tension and anguish caused by their situation rather than their words.“with that gloomy mist that envelops everything, with those huge and overwhelming mountains” – and also with the often mysterious and even violent daily rituals of a community that “dwells anchored in the past” is where the filming takes place in its entirety. It is described as “almost primitive” and that the film was recreated through a group of translators selected from among the inhabitants of the town. Jone Laspiur, who won Goya in 2021 for her work on ‘Ane’, is the only member of the cast with previous professional experience..
As radio and television announce the end of the conflict, his character faces a new phase of life in which the conflict will remain very much alive. “Of course, the announcement of the cessation of armed activity did not mean the end of the Basque conflict,” says Roca. “Over the decades, the traumas caused by this have become the backbone of the functioning of Basque society.” For this very reason, the directors of ‘Negü Hurbilak’ are prepared for the controversy that the film can create when it comes into contact with the audience. “It’s actually a work that, to some degree, deliberately tries to excite the audience,” explains Albite. “I think being from the next generation gives us a healthy distance; perhaps allows us to ask questions about what continues to be painful for those who have experienced it more closely. Whether it’s getting praise or hate, it’s fine with us. The important thing is that it leads to reflection and discussion”.