2012 Program

The Bombing of Gernika  Fall Program  Bertsolari  Gazta Zati Bat   Zuretzako

 

 

The Next Link

Building Sustainable Communities

With Special Guests

 

Tim Kahn & Marcia Barinaga

 

Lehen eta Oraingo Artzaintza

Sheepherding Then & Now
The Basque Educational Organization opens the Spring 2012 Basque Film Series with a special screening of the documentary “The Last Link”, which will be introduced by the film’s Executive Producer Tim Kahn, who will also discuss what has transpired since the film’s premiere in 2003. After the screening, Marcia Barinaga will give a presentation on the Barinaga Ranch, located in Marin County, and its system of raising sheep in a sustainable & environmentally friendly way and its use of ancient shepherding and cheese making traditions from her Basque family and ancestors.

The BEO will host a meet and greet reception before the screening. To attend, please RSVP to Nicole Sorhondo at 415-285-0748 or at Info@BasqueEd.org by February 27th.

 
 

 

The Last Link
Tender, tragic, and hopeful, The Last Link is a visual elegant documentary exploring the rapidly shrinking world of family-based agriculture in the United States. Narrated by Willie Nelson, The Last Link offers up a cast of delightful and inspirational characters who join to tell the story of Basque and Bearnais immigration to the United States, the struggles of the past, and what’s at stake for the future.
 
The Last Link shows the shepherds and their descendants as a proud and passionate people, whose spiritual and physical vitality is shaped by their connection to the mountains, regardless of whether they are the French Pyrénées or Wyoming’s Bighorn Mountains. Tempered by extremes of weather and demands of self-reliance, they remain linked to an Old World Culture that offers a glimpse into the past where one can feel time, marked by ever-changing patterns of seasonal cycles. Interviews with immigrants and their descendants in Wyoming and California graphically illustrate the role of community in sustaining a transplanted identity within a larger Western American culture.

Traveling with Pete Camino, The Last Link examines the decline of this agricultural lifestyle as it becomes less profitable in a world of high technology and more mechanized practices. A look at both the Old and New Worlds reveals this as a threat to the maintenance of a collective knowledge of values and life-lessons acquired through an intimate connection with the land.
 
 

 

2003, directed by Ben Kahn, 54 minutes, color,

in English, Euskara, French with English subtitles.

 

With Special Guests

Executive Producer Tim Kahn

Marcia Barinaga - Owner & Cheese Maker of Barinaga Ranch

 

 

Friday, March 2nd, 7:00pm, Basque Cultural Center

Free Admission.

Basque Cultural Center, 599 Railroad Ave, South San Francisco, CA 94080

 

 

The Bombing of Gernika

 

The bombing & destruction of Gernika was an aerial attack on April 26th, l937, during the Spanish Civil War by the German Luftwaffe squadron known as the Condor Legion against the Basque city of Gernika. It was, at the time, the largest aerial bombardment of a town. On the 75th anniversary of this important event in Basque history and heritage, the Basque Educational Organization presents a special screening of the documentary "The Bombing of Gernika", which will be hosted by visiting scholar Joseba Inaki Lopez de Luzuriaga of Stanford University. Mr. Luzuriaga will introduce the film, give background information on the historical context and will moderate a discussion session after the screenings.

The name of “Guernica” holds a significance throughout the world, associated as it is with Picasso’s painting, which has come to symbolize the horrors of war. It has also taken on connotations in the world of ideas and of concepts; it has become an icon and a symbol.


Today, we at last have the necessary resources to tell the definitive version of these events, the truth behind the symbol, using the testimony of the last remaining witnesses; research in photographic and film archives – including color pictures; expert opinions; testimonies from pilots and a CGI reconstruction of the bombing, based on historical data.
 
 

 

2007, directed by Alberto Rojo, 56 minutes, color,

in English.

 

Presented by Joseba Inaki Lopez de Luzuriaga - Stanford University

 
 

 

Daisy Cutter

 

Daisy Cutter tells the story of a ten year old girl, Zaira, who (like many others) experiences the injustice of war, with the perspective that her tender and naive eyes allow her. Zaira gathers daisies every day for a friend that she misses; so as not to forget him, so as not to lose him.
 

2010, directed by Enrique García & Rubén Salazar, 7 minutes, no dialogue

 

Both films!

Friday, April 20th, 7:30pm, Basque Cultural Center

Free Admission.

Basque Cultural Center, 599 Railroad Ave, South San Francisco, CA 94080

 

 

2012 Fall Program

 

 

 

 

 
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"The bertsolari is the improviser of verse sung in the Basque language, Euskara. This oral tradition has managed to evolve and adapt to the times connecting with the younger generation, bringing together ten thousand people at the final of the last championship. An austerely aesthetic art that surprises in this era of spectacle and special effects.
BERTSOLARI is a journey through improvised poetry, silence, and art laid bare.

 

The BEO will host a meet and greet reception before the screening (wine & cheese). To attend, please RSVP to Nicole Sorhondo at 415-285-0748 or at Info@BasqueEd.org by September 11th.

 

Director Asier Altuna will be on hand to present his film, and will be honored by the BEO for his contributions to Basque Culture and Identity through Basque Cinema.


 

 

2011, directed by Asier Altuna, 90 minutes, color,

in Euskara with English Subtitles.

 

Presented by director Asier Altuna Iza

 

 

 

 

 

Asier Altuna Iza

 Mr. Altuna is from Bergara, Gipuzkoa (1969). He embarked upon a career in media production as a lighting technician. Following the success of his first short film Txotx, co-directed by Telmo Esnal, he made the leap into filmmaking and screenwriting. He has made numerous short films, television series, and advertisements and in 2005, he directed his first feature film, Aupa Etxebeste! along with Esnal, which won the Youth Award at the San Sebastian Festival and they were nominated for a Goya for Best New Director.
 

 

Press conference at the Donostia Film Festival - Fall 2011 - dubbed in English:

 

 

Friday, September 14th, 7:30pm, Basque Cultural Center

Free Admission.

Basque Cultural Center, 599 Railroad Ave, South San Francisco, CA 94080

 

 

 

BERTSOLARI will also be screened

At the SF Latino Film Festival

Saturday, September 15th, 5:15pm

 

Opera Plaza Cinemas
601 Van Ness Avenue
San Francisco, CA - (415) 267-4893

 

 

 

 

 

 
. The film tells the story of a small Basque village famous all over the world for its cheese. Villagers forget the differences caused by the last armed conflict in Europe in order to accomplish a mission: to be able to choose what they want to be in the world. Leaving behind a dark and difficult & problematic past, “Gazta Zati Bat” (“A Peace of Cheese”) is a story with a positive look towards the future.

This documentary will be presented by political journalist Imanol Murua Uria, who is currently a Ph.D. candidate at the Center for Basque Studies at the University of Nevada at Reno.
 

 

2012, directed by Jon Maia, 90 minutes, color,

in Euskara, Castilian & English with English Subtitles.

 

Presented by Mr. Imanol Murua

 

 

 

A PIECE OF CHEESE - ENGLISH VERSION from Gazta zati bat on Vimeo.

 

 

Imanol Murua Uria

 Mr. Murua is from Zarautz, Gipuzkoa (1966). He is a graduate in Journalism and holds a Master's degree in Social Communication. He has worked as a journalist in the daily newspapers Berria and Egunkaria, the weekly magazine Argia and the journal Jakin. Now he writes weekly articles for Berria and Radio Euskadi from Reno. He published several books, being the most recent and significant the report about the failed Basque peace process in 2005-2007. It was originally published in Basque (Loiola hegiak) and later translated to Spanish (El triangulo de Loiola). He is now researching about the political process which could bring the end of the violence of ETA.
 

 

 

Flashmob Lazkao from Gazta zati bat on Vimeo.

 

 

 

Friday, October 12th, 7:30pm, Basque Cultural Center

Free Admission.

Basque Cultural Center, 599 Railroad Ave, South San Francisco, CA 94080

 

 

 

 

 

 
. When life repeats itself, we'll do anything to change our destiny. We'll toil and sacrifice for our families, without asking the cost to our children. To support his family in the Basque Country, Joaquin must herd sheep alone in America. Burning suns and blistering winds have made him a quiet, distant man. When his son joins him herding, years of separation and sacrifice come to a head. Together, they must battle the mountains, isolation, and each other.

The first American-made Basque-language film, Zuretzako is based on the life of filmmaker and Princess Grace Award-Winner Javi Zubizarreta's own grandfather. Starring Zubizarreta's father and brother in the title roles, Zuretzako tells the story of the sacrifices that fathers make and the toll they take on their sons.

Director Javi Zubizarreta will be on hand to present his film.

 

 

2011, directed by Javi Zubizarreta, 45 minutes, color,

in Euskara with English Subtitles.

 

The BEO will host a meet and greet reception before the screening (wine & cheese). To attend, please RSVP to Nicole Sorhondo at Info@BasqueEd.org

 

Presented by director Javi Zubizarreta

 

 

 

 

 

Javi Zubizarreta

 Growing up, I was immersed in the tales, the tastes, and the language of Euskadi – splitting time between the vibrant Basque community in Boise and the Basque Country overseas. As a filmmaker, I strive to communicate this Basque heritage into films that are not only unique but uniquely Basque.

In 2010, I received the Princess Grace Undergraduate Film Scholarship and Cary Grant Award to make Zuretzako, my largest project to date. With the film, I hope to give thanks and recognition to the many family and friends who made me the filmmaker I am today. My own father and brother star in the lead roles, helping to tell a story of sacrifice and gratitude, the gifts of family and the work of our forefathers.

In 2009, I co-directed the documentary Artzainak: Shepherds and Sheep, about modern-day shepherds in Idaho. The film has since aired on the Basque television station EiTB in addition to festivals in Spain, France, Ireland, New Zealand, the Czech Republic and other countries.

 

 

 

Friday, November 2nd, 7:30pm, Basque Cultural Center

Free Admission.

Basque Cultural Center, 599 Railroad Ave, South San Francisco, CA 94080