The presentation was attended by UEMA President Iraitz Lazkano, Iñigo Arandia of Tinko Filmeak and representatives of the municipalities participating in the project. Iraitz Lazkano explained that behind the project there is a desire to strengthen the cultural offer in Basque: “It is the responsibility of the administrations to promote audiovisual production in Euskera and to commit to its integration in the programming. That is why we have launched this initiative, to do what we have to do as a local administration, what is in our hands, to show that if there is will it can be done, but also to ask those who have more competence in this matter than we do.”

The president of UEMA has spoken about studies on cultural consumption in the Basque Country: “The latest research has shown that cultural consumption in Basque is well below Spanish. This is happening throughout the Basque Country and also in the municipalities of Euskaldunes. The study published by the UEMA on the audiovisual consumption of young people has also shown that adolescents see on the screens contained in Spanish, above all, what is significantly affecting linguistic habits”. With a view to influencing consumption, the president of UEMA considered it essential to have an offer and talked about the need to boost the possibilities of living free time in Basque: “One of the main objectives of UEMA is to guarantee the possibility of living in Basque in the municipalities of Euskaldunes, and the Zinuema initiative was born to take a step further towards this goal.”

The mayor of Igorre, Illart Gumizio, has reflected on the cultural programming carried out in the municipalities: “We have always wanted to encourage citizens to enjoy the culture in Euskera, and to do so we strive throughout the year to organize activities and actions. In the audiovisual field, the number of works created and duplicated in Basque is not very high, so it is important to make a conscious effort to add and bring to our peoples the works carried out and translated into Basque. I believe that it is also up to us to familiarize citizens with the consumption of content in Euskera, and in this case, if we guarantee the audiovisual offer in Euskera, it will not be so rare for citizens to watch films and documentaries in Euskera”.

Panorama of the supply in Basque

The main objective of Tinko Filmeak is to respond to the lack of commercial film offer in Basque. Iñigo Arandia, from Tinko, explains that nearly 30 years ago he started working and that the current situation is not much better. Arandia recalls the data provided by the popular movement "Euskaraz": “Today, the Basque films created by their producers can be 2-3 in the best year, and the Zineuskadi organization, under the Basque Government, doubles between 10 and 12 films a year, all or almost all directed at children.”

The Tinko Association has also provided data on streaming platforms that have revolutionized consumer habits in film: Filmin, for example, was 65 in Basque in September 2021, and one year later he was 83; Netflix was 3 last year and is 44 this year; Disney+ has no Basque content. In Arandia’s words, “in the last year the offer in Euskera has increased thanks to the new audiovisual law and the pressure of movements such as the Euskaraz Apantallamiento, but the offer on these platforms is not enough for a normalized leisure in Euskera”.

Offer from Zinuema

Iñigo Arandia stresses that the pilot programme will contribute to the design of a more stable offer tomorrow: “We want to test whether in the future it would be feasible to bring the programme to a larger scale, to a local and, above all, weekly offer.” Arandia explains that work has been tried in different formats to prepare the Zinuema program: “In fact, to this day it is not feasible to make an annual schedule exclusively with films in Basque, that is why they are works of different formats so that the number of events that can be enjoyed in Basque in a movie theater is greater”.

Bond system

To see the work, in addition to the entries per session, there will be a bonus system that will allow you to see 10 content with flexibility for 20 euros. 1,500 bonds have been printed and must be exchanged by the entry card before the projections. People who purchase the bonus will have a cheaper ticket than individuals who purchase the daily card.

Audience rating to look forward

The organisation has reported that valuation surveys will be carried out after the actions in order to gather the public’s opinion: “In order to correctly measure this pilot test it will be very necessary to evaluate the viewers; what format they liked, if it seemed like a cheap or expensive ticket, if they would repeat it again… We want to know what each type of audience wants to see, to gather their opinion, if the appraisals have been fulfilled, if always or in what cases not, why…”. To evaluate all this, a survey can be completed after each performance and a 55 inch Wi-Fi TV will be selected among all respondents.

All information: www.zinuema.eus