From a film that examines Basque history, the ETA era, and the violence and silences that followed, audiences anticipate works that openly reveal political positions. Yet the most recent voice to address this topic stands apart. “By looking at what we documented, we realized how far the typical cinematic stereotype is from reality and how the human element often gets lost,” explains Ekain Albite, the film’s director. “For everyone we spoke with, the conflict was less about battles and more about the pain of fleeing, leaving behind family and friends, and sinking into loneliness,” adds Adrià Roca, who also directs the project.
Negü Hurbilak is not just another movie. It comes from a group called Colectivo Negu, born at the Escola Superior de Cinema i Audiovisuals de Catalunya (ESCAC) a few years back. The four members collaborated behind the scenes: Basque-born Albite and Mikel Ibarguren; Adrià Roca and Nicolau Mallofré Catalan. The project now makes its debut at an international festival.
Negü Hurbilak emerged to fill a deep need. “Michel and I were very young when ETA declared a pause in armed activity; the conflict ended abruptly, leaving behind only ruins and memories,” Albite recalls. “We had to walk through those ruins to learn what was really happening, and in doing so we faced a sea of silence, limited access, and a cultural taboo, because those who lived through it carried wounds that remained raw.” To address this gap, the film follows a young woman who hides in a Navarre town, planning to cross into France after the October 2011 announcement. Her path is shrouded in uncertainty as instructions arrive without clear clues about her past or her ties to the older conflict. The directors emphasize that her figure represents the thousands who fled the Basque Country in fear of retaliation, yet the feelings she embodies are universal for anyone who left home without a definite return date.
In essence, the central figure of Negü Hurbilak is an anti-hero in the eyes of Roca, a woman waiting with quiet expectation. “She is a largely passive, almost still presence throughout the film, with minimal interaction and scarce dialogue.” The filmmakers use the landscape around Zubieta in Navarre to convey the tension and anguish of the situation more than the spoken words. “A dense, shadowy mist blankets everything, the mountains loom large, and daily life carries an air of ritual that feels almost primordial, anchored in the past,” they describe. The entire shoot occurs in this setting, with a cast assembled from locals through a translator network. Jone Laspiur, who earned recognition at the Goyas in 2021 for a previous project, is the only member of the cast with prior professional experience.
As the radio and television news announce the end of the armed phase, the character steps into a new chapter in which the conflict continues to shape life. “Even though armed activity ceased, the Basque conflict did not simply vanish,” explains Roca. “Over the years, the traumas tied to it have become a backbone of Basque society’s functioning.” For this reason, the filmmakers anticipate controversy as audiences engage with the film. “The work aims to provoke thought and discussion,” Albite notes. “Being from the next generation offers a certain distance, perhaps allowing us to question what remains painful for those who experienced it more directly. Whether the reception is praise or critique, the intent is to spark reflection and dialogue.”