Automatically translated from Basque, translation may contain errors. More information here. Elhuyarren itzultzaile automatikoaren logoa

Forms of the testimonies

  • The rain has begun to fall and the day is over, even though the sun has risen. Zinemaldia has become a fully Donostian festival, as if it were ready to create a new neighborhood. The movie's patience starts to run out: he prefers to go eat pintxos before he gets to watch a boring movie on August 31. I've seen more than one get out of the room in the middle of the session. But the festival goes on.

25 September 2019 - 01:38

Juan solanas has been in charge of presenting his last film in the section Horizontes latinos. The Green Wave (May Be Law) talks about the abortion bill voted by the Argentine Senate in 2018 and about the context in which that goal was achieved. Argentina remains one of the last countries that does not have legal abortion, and mobilizations to change it have been massive in recent years. Drawing on the events of last year's Senate, the film portrays the views and attitudes of people and groups in conflict, taking into account the keys to each vision. Among them, they interview people who have ever done a clandestine abortion, near the church, to the family of a woman killed by a miscarriage... Advocates of legalizing pregnancy interruption take the screen with experiences and analysis, offering hard stories to the camera. It is a work of searching for emotion, which, although sometimes they fall into images that give morb, provoke a desire to fight. After all, the work of the house was busy.

Following the Argentine films, and with testimonies, this festival, which celebrates its 67 edition, has received the world premiere of Private Fiction in the Zabaltegi-Tabakalera section. The work that defines Andrés Di Tella as a fable of the twentieth century takes as its motive the letters that his parents sent. The title keeps that paradox within itself. Fiction is public in its composition, but the intimacy of this couple is private. And that's what creates the impossible character of the movie. Di Tella puts two young people in the role of their parents, at the age they will have at the time of the cards. The couple is slowly reading letters and understanding characters, and then they will have to recite the cards, each with a micro. This youth process will gradually provide them with an increasingly personal relationship with Di Tella's parents, until they can influence their real life. The film has an interesting perspective at the time when double time makes sense (process within the film, passed from parents to letters). The tribute to the parents exceeds the staff and makes us witnesses to these testimonies.

The day is finished with another world premiere, The Letters of Jordi, by Maider Fernández, which is presented in the New Directors section. The length of the Donostia focuses on the relationship with Jedi, who suffers cerebral palsy. Fernandez accompanies Jordi in some passages of his life and rolls in them. To communicate, Jordi has a template with all the alphabet letters, and that is where he marks what Maider means. These letters become the bridge between them and Maider becomes a translator for the public. The film adopts the rhythm of someone who lives in these conditions and shows with dignity their world and their autonomy. The way Maider talks to Jonas doesn't have a child's tone, nor does the height of the camera intend to look up. The device has been built with caution. The questions come as we realize that the relationship between Jordi and Maider grows beyond the project: How long will they meet? The work can inspire us to reflect on the ethics of the documentary, since the connections that have been created in the room evidence the legitimacy of the film. The whole Basque director’s prime opera leaves us with the feeling of having met someone new, Jordi, the new friend we have found through his eyes. And in his own way, the testimony.


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