Last year in Oñati the popular film Lope, a fictional film about the late Lope de Agirre, premiered. The work has been carried out by the LPM group, in collaboration with several countrymen. This is her first feature film, in which they have previously participated in short film rallys from different locations. The work was recorded in summer 2018, for two weekends, and premiered on October 27 in the same locality.

Controversial character

Lope Agirre: Do you want it? Or did I hate it? Is he a hero? Or the traitor? Oñati's son is undoubtedly a controversial and uncomfortable character.

According to Wikipedia, Lope Agirre was an explorer and conqueror of Oñati. He was born in the early sixteenth century in the Araotz district and died at the age of 50, far from there, in Venezuela, after rising against the king of Spain. He had previously made several conquest trips through the lands of South America, and on this occasion, between 1560 and 1561, he was traveling on an expedition in search of El Dorado. At the head of the expedition he killed Pedro Urtsua, who took over the reins of the expedition and wrote a letter to the king of Spain informing him of his rebellion.

El Dorado, sent to the 2019 municipal elections

Anjel Lera, director of the film Lope, read for the first time in 2005 the letter that Agirre sent to the king, and tells us that it caused him “a lot of excitement”: “In general, people know very little about Lope, and what he knows is what the Spanish monarchy has said over the centuries about him: that he was a murderer, a madman, a psychopath and a traitor a traitor a traitor a traitor something.”

The members of the film wanted to turn this story around and show “Lope’s revolutionary side.” “The main purpose of the film has been to publicize the character and the letter.” And for that they have created a crazy fiction.

The homonymy was the one that ignited the wick: “In January 2018 I realized that the name of the kings of Spain in the 16th century and today was the same. Pulling that thread, it occurred to me to include the 1561 expedition and the letter that Lope wrote to the king in the 2019 municipal elections.” Therefore, the fictitious Lope will return to his hometown, some five hundred years after his death, and will be part of the Maranaian team with the aim of achieving independence. Through this argument, the creators of the film have combined political critique with humor.

Auzolan as a base

We said it's a popular film, because Lope has been based on communal work. In total, almost 100 people participated: 70 interpreters (all of them from the village or residents) and 20 people in the technical field. Three Oñati cartoonists have also produced illustrations.

Since their premiere, they have offered their work in different places and are pleased with the reception: “They have asked us a lot of questions and comments and they have confessed that it has served them to know the story of Lope in a pleasant and fun way.” Once the first objective has been achieved, Lope has slipped into the network visibly for all audiences. According to Lera, “the story is located in Oñati, but that doesn’t mean it’s made for oñatiarras. Our goal is to extend the film to the whole of the Basque Country and to open a debate and a reflection on the figure of Lope”.