Acciones de investigación /
Gure herria
The Elías Querejeta Zine Eskola's research project Artisans of Cinema: research into Basque amateur cinema has been recovering, since October 2018, the history, names and material remains of this space which existed outside the commercial film industry. Thanks to archival research, the recovery of films and documentary material, and oral interviews, 32 film clubs have been identified to date, along with a similar number of festivals and 120 filmmakers who produced films in the Basque Country between 1965 and 1982.
The aim of the project is therefore to locate and articulate these fragments into a strong memory, one capable of conveying the same passion and creative energy with which amateurs, with hardly any resources at all, filmed their movies and organised meetings. Such love for film is still palpable in the interviews held by the research team with Fombellida, Quintana, Lizárraga, Julien Julia from Hendaye and members of the Guipuzkoa Photographic Society Javier Robles and José Manuel Goicoechea. The aim is, in short, to give Basque amateur cinema back its history, a history made up of a multitude of different voices.
One of the most important milestones of the project is the recovery of the documentary series Gure Herria (Our Country), filmed by Fombellida between 1975 and 1985 with the aim of preserving the memory of a series of crafts and artisanal activities that were slowly fading from the collective Basque mindset. While for André Bazin, film embalms the moment of change from one image to another, for Tatus, the medium was also a means of capturing forever the human processes, gestures and rhythms involved in the manufacture of a bowl for making junket or the manual forging of an axe. Free from the obligations and compromises imposed by commercial cinema and its profit-based criteria, the Gure Herria films were screened first in the artisan's own workshop to an audience made up of neighbours from the local area. Due to its unique approach and thematic coherence, the decision was made to establish a specific dissemination programme for the series.
Nine of the twelve sections that together make up Gure Herria (some of which are unfinished or with no sound) have been restored and digitalised. The other three seem to have been lost or perhaps were never filmed, although we hope to recover them one day in order to add them to this digital collection.
Gure Herria I - Kaiku
Year: 1977
Director: María Jesús "Tatus" Fombellida
Running time: 11 min.
Format: Super 8
The craftsman Patxi Larrechea demonstrates the way in which kaikus (traditional Basque wooden recipients for milk) have been made since ancient times.
Gure Herria II - Mamia (Curd)
Year: 1977
Director: María Jesús "Tatus" Fombellida
Running time: 8 min.
Format: Super 8
Here we focus on the process of making mamia (curd) by boiling milk in a kaiku and adding animal rennet to achieve the right consistency.
Gure Herria III - Artilezko galtzerdiak (Woollen socks)
Year: 1978
Director: María Jesús "Tatus" Fombellida
Running time: 7 min.
Format: Super 8
On a mountainside surrounded by beech trees, a shepherd knits a pair of woollen socks. The wool is made by extracting fibres from sheep fleece.
Gure Herria IV - Herriko Gazta (Local cheese)
Year: 1978-1979
Director: María Jesús "Tatus" Fombellida
Running time: 7 min.
Format: Super 8
Images of typical Basque cheese being made in the traditional manner.
Gure Herria VI - Cesta punta (Jai Alai basket)
Year: 1980
Director: María Jesús "Tatus" Fombellida
Running time: 8 min.
Format: Super 8
We show how the wicker racket-like 'basket' devices used in jai alai are made in the traditional manner.
Gure Herria VII - Aizkora (Axe)
Year: 1982
Director: María Jesús "Tatus" Fombellida
Running time: 7 min.
Format: Super 8
We show the process of making an axe. The craftsmen Bernardo Apezetxea and José Antonio Jauregui use iron sheets, which they melt and mould to achieve the desired shape.
Gure Herria VIII - Errota (Mill)
Year: 1981
Director: María Jesús "Tatus" Fombellida
Running time: 7 min.
Format: Super 8
The craftsman Manuel Elizaga shows how the machinery works. The paddles on the waterwheel are moved by the force of the river flowing underneath.
Gure Herria IX - Otarra (Basket)
Year: 1982
Director: María Jesús "Tatus" Fombellida
Running time: 9 min.
Format: Super 8
At the age of 92, Dionisio Gurruchaga continues to make wicker baskets in the traditional manner. To make a basket, you need wood from a 6 or 7-year-old chestnut tree, although you can also use hazel wood. The wood is baked in an oven to enable it to be first cut and then woven.
Gure Herria XI - Sagardoa (Cider)
Year: 1982-1983
Director: María Jesús "Tatus" Fombellida
Running time: 6 min. (incomplete)
Format: Super 8
We show how apples are harvested to make cider. Once they have been piled up, they are crushed using wooden sticks. The crushing continues with different tools in order to extract the juice, which is then placed in barrels and left to ferment.
Technical data sheet
Research team:
Students 2018-2019:
Nerea Ganzarain
Related institutions:
Filmoteca Vasca
Timeframe:
September 2018 - November 2020