1 September

Film director Lara Izagirre has written to me to propose an interview about the premiere of her second film Nora. “I wanted to talk to you [Pikara Magazine] about the film and what it means to make a film in Euskera a woman,” she says. Yes, of course. The first step is to watch the movie.

3 September

I have proposed to the members of Berbalagun feminist that they go to the movies together. So far, the only activity of this bilbaíno group has been to meet on Mondays in the Bira culture hall. Therefore, they find it a good plan to start the new course. In addition, most of us have not stepped into a movie theater since the beginning of the pandemic. We have seen that in Bilbao they offer Nora in two cinemas: Golem Alhondiga and Multicines. We have agreed to go to the second. This is a small room, historic and relatively alternative, the main opportunity to find movies in original version.

9 September

The day has come and we have a lot to celebrate: “I think I’ve passed the C1 exam,” writes our colleague Veronica. As I search for parking, Marga has sent us a photo of the movie poster: on top, in severe words, we have been invaded to see the Spanish word. I have suddenly remembered that Lara Izagirre told me about the production of a version folded into Spanish for dissemination in Spain. It has not occurred to me that the small, historic and alternative cinema room in Bilbao chose this version. Marga relaxes us because the office clerk has made it clear that the film is multilingual, that there will be parts in Basque, also in Spanish, English and French. Ainhoa hypothesizes that the subtitles will be in Spanish.

The movie has started. Ane Pikaza (Nora) and Héctor Alterio (his grandfather) speak in Spanish because, as is normal, his grandfather is Argentinean. Nora then goes to a bar and continues to speak in Spanish with the bar represented by Kepa Errasti. That's weird. Lips and sounds don't match. What a stumbling block! The duplicate version is being visualized.

Among my virtues is not the ability to resist frustration. I have told Ainhoa that I am not prepared to watch a film produced in Euskera in Euskal Herria folded to Castilian, except in a movie theater in Bilbao. We have left four people out of the room and we have gone to take a boat; two others have stayed inside, including Marga. When he leaves, he tells us that he liked the film so much, that he wants to see it again: in Basque, of course. On the contrary, our partner who always bears the kiss of Euskaraldia complained to the office clerk.

When we got home, Marga sends a photo to the whatsapp group to show that in the show section of Berria, in the list of the Multicines room, Nora appears in bold, without further notes. Then I have seen the same trend in several newspapers: in the theaters where the original film is shown it has become “Nora (VOSE / JBA)”, but when it is a folded version there is no parenthesis. “They have turned normal language into a foreign language,” Encarni said. Ainhoa stresses that the treatment of Spanish films is very different: “To every train. Destination Asturias [another film from the list] will it also be VOSE? The predominance of the language in the Basque Country is clear”.

10 September

Marga sent us the link of change.org: “We want to watch Nora in Basque at the Getxo Cinemas.” Our colleague added: “Good morning! As you can see, the 'lawsuit' has not been just ours. I’ve started moving the account and we’re going to join forces to do something with each other.” The situation is not new, the journalist of Urtzi Urkizu Berria has criticised on Twitter that Handia and Errementari have doubled to Spanish.

Naia has been “in favor of direct action”: “A general transplant at the beginning of the film or…”. In Galdakao he has also been offered in Spanish and a friend of Euskaltzaleak has expressed his intention to speak with the Basque department.

Marga sent us another link at dusk: “A group of Euskaltzales in Bilbao has denounced the need to watch the Basque film Nora in Spanish.” “That team is us,” he explained with pride. The news of Uriola.eus has also been broadcast by ARGIA. It has taken further steps in the coming days: Elebide has written a complaint to the Basque Government’s Language Rights Guarantee Service and is in contact with the Deusto Association to send it also to the Observatory. María Luisa shared with us more arguments: that cinemas should support Basque cinema and that they should respect its format in order to promote linguistic diversity, more so in the case of cinemas that they have long been betting on.

12 September

Encarni sent us the column that Eider Goenaga Lizaso published in Berria. He underlined one sentence: “[To move forward, in addition to subsidies and industry involvement] Spectators are needed.” The author proposes to offer films in all kinds of media: cinema, television, Youtube, pay platforms…

13 September

More voices have strengthened the debate. In Deia, in the Original Version column, Ane Araluze celebrated that all the journalists who attended the presentation of Nora in Bilbao were Euskaldunes, and that it was made only in Basque. It then reports on the collection of signatures and makes two readings of the commercial decision of the cinemas: “On the one hand, it is useless to support the production of films in Euskera with public money if private companies give up this support by denying the possibility of seeing the works in the original language. And, on the other hand, the reluctance to see the audio-visual in its original version does not favor the necessary promotion of bilingualism.”

My friend erdaldun Bea has come to mind. In the Whatsapp group of parents of their children's school, it is almost always done in Spanish. Two women have spoken briefly in Basque and another mother has asked them to do so in Spanish “for empathy and respect for those who do not know Basque”. Despite being erdaldun, Bea has clearly identified the violence of this tour. Answer: “Although I do not do it in Euskera, my criticism is the opposite: it is impossible to learn Euskera if people do not do it in Euskera. Let them do it in Basque, and I will fix myself.” That day my almost 38 year old friend decided to sign up for Euskaltegi and, with the help of the neural translator, to speak in Euskera in the whatsapp groups.

Marga sends us a message: “On Friday 10 they screened the film in Basque at the Getxo film and before starting the film Izaro offered a concert!” What a joy!

14 September

We go back to the movies, thanking Golem Alhondigara, Lara Izagirre, who has won invitations. We have enjoyed the charm of the film: history, landscapes, music and Basque actors in Basque. In any case, we have had many questions, relating to the subject of dubbing. What conflicts, pressures or desires determine the decision to perform double tasks? Why have some Basque films been duplicated and others not? Does the fact that the author and the team leaders are women somehow condition these negotiations? What can or can you ask public institutions to support Basque cinema to change this trend? My luck, because being a journalist is going to let the director ask these questions.

The critique has defined Nora as the sentimental Feel-road movie. We, however, to see ourselves in Basque, have had to immerse ourselves in the activist road movie, which has made us more aware of linguistic oppression. That is the good thing about this story: on our journey for the normalization of the Basque Country we have taken new steps together.