A journey into the filmography of one of Spain’s most original filmmakers. Arthouse cinema at its core, Asier Altuna joins us for a special evening showing some of his most celebrated shortfilms and the screening of award-winning film AMAMA (When a Tree Falls), followed by a Q&A with the director.
Where and when is this happening?
Summerhall Edinburgh,
Thursday 24 May
Doors open 6.45pm. Films starts 7pm
This event is part of Cinemaattic’s retrospective KIMUAK: 20 YEARS OF BASQUE FILMS, celebrating twenty years since the Basque Government decided to include the production and distribution of short films as a core area of support and national interest. Since 1998, the public funded agency Kimuak selects and distributes internationally the best sprouts from Basque short-filmmakers.
Asier Altuna was part of the first Kimuak selection back in 1998 with ‘Txotx’. Strong advocate of the short-film format, a genre which he has returned despite the success of his feature films.
DO NOT MISS. Earlier on Thursday Asier Altuna will give a Masterclass in Film Production and Direction at Edinburgh College of Art
AMAMA (WHEN A TREE FALLS) – Asier Altuna
synopsis
The story of a family; the story of a conflict. The rural and the urban, the past and the present, parents and their offspring: opposing ways of life struggle against one another whilst, in eloquent silence, the grandmother — Amama — watches her family’s destiny unfold.
“Intriguing, beautiful, powerful and highly symbolic (…) Amama rejects a standard narrative and long-winded verbal explanations, instead relying on people’s looks, silence and symbols. What actually does the job of the narration are the gorgeous images and the nimbleness with which they are edited, and they mean as much as, if not more than, the dialogue. Through this technique, we get to know a family living in a country house, slap bang in the middle of the mighty northern natural landscape” (Cineuropa)
“Deep and strong like the roots of a beech, Amama is a beautiful journey from the heart of the baserri, the ancestral cradle of the Basque culture, where home and work share the same space linked to tradition. Rooted in reality but delving into the fable just enough. Amama shows Altuna’s great cinematic maturity” (Cinemaerrante)
Where and when is this happening?
Summerhall Edinburgh,
Thursday 24 May
Doors open 6.45pm. Films starts 7pm
This event is part of Cinemaattic’s retrospective KIMUAK: 20 YEARS OF BASQUE FILMS, celebrating twenty years since the Basque Government decided to include the production and distribution of short films as a core area of support and interest. As a result, the public agency Kimuak (‘Sprout’ in Basque) became the major driving force behind a whole new wave of Basque filmmakers.
Cinemaattic’s Retrospective KIMUAK: 20 YEARS OF BASQUE FILMS is a project supported by Etxepare Basque Institute, Film Hub Scotland and Acción Cultural Española (AC/E) through the PICE’s grants programme.
