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Title: Basque Women Filmmakers

Basque Women Filmmakers

by María Pilar Rodríguez (Volume editor)
©2026 Edited Collection XX, 270 Pages
The Arts

Summary

Basque Women Filmmakers offers the first comprehensive overview in English of cinema created by women in the Basque Country. Bringing together leading scholars, this volume examines fiction, documentary, short films, and experimental works from pioneering directors to a new generation whose films have gained major international recognition. Through thematic, aesthetic, industrial, and reception-based analyses, the book explores how Basque women filmmakers have transformed representations of gender, identity, memory, and transnational experience while challenging long-standing inequalities within the film industry. Combining academic rigor with an accessible approach, this collection illuminates a dynamic cinematic landscape and establishes Basque women directors as central figures in contemporary European cinema.

Table Of Contents

  • Cover
  • Title Page
  • Copyright Page
  • Contents
  • List of Figures
  • This Edition (María Pilar Rodríguez and David Coury)
  • Foreword (Joxean Fernández)
  • Basque Cinema: Women Directors (María Pilar Rodríguez)
  • 1. Introduction
  • 2. This volume
  • 2.1. Global perspectives
  • 2.2. Genres, formats, and adaptations
  • 2.3. Production, distribution, and reception
  • 2.4. Three filmmakers
  • Bibliography
  • Part I Global Perspectives
  • Seeking Total and Transparent Freedom: Key Themes in the Fiction Films by Basque Women Directors (Carlos Roldán Larreta)
  • 1. Introduction
  • 2. History and politics: The Middle Ages, the Civil War and post-war period, and the Basque political conflict
  • 3. Female universes
  • 4. Conclusion
  • Bibliography
  • Representations of Gender in Basque Cinematography (Casilda de Miguel)
  • 1. On the road
  • 2. Something is changing
  • 3. From action
  • 4. To reaction
  • Bibliography
  • Breaks and Deviations from the Imaginary: Other Stories, Other Ways of Telling in Basque Cinema (Iratxe Fresneda Delgado)
  • 1. Seeing beyond the visible
  • 2. From audiovisual absolutism to feminist ruptures
  • 3. Creative diversity and new imaginaries
  • 4. Conflicts and stereotypes, diversity of narratives and forms
  • 4.1. Irrintzi: Between intertextuality and male vulnerability
  • 4.2. Yoyes. Beyond the control of masculinity
  • 4.3. 918 gau. In the first person
  • 5. Women as social and political subjects, agency
  • 5.1. Euskal emakumeak. Basque matriarchy does not exist
  • 5.2. Beti bezperako koplak. Animation to denounce structural violence
  • 5.3. Muga deitzen da pausoa. New canons from the first person
  • 6. Conclusion
  • Bibliography
  • Part II Genres, Formats, and Adaptation
  • The Perspective of Basque Documentary Filmmakers (María Marcos Ramos)
  • 1. Introduction
  • 2. Pioneers
  • 3. Followers
  • 3.1. Love for cinema: Leire Apellaniz and Iratxe Fresneda
  • 3.2. Illness in the foreground: Ione Hernández and Maider Fernández
  • 3.3. Social criticism: Bertha Gaztelumendi
  • 3.4. Basque identity: Maider Oleaga and Estibaliz Urresola
  • 4. Conclusion
  • Bibliography
  • Kimuak Short Filmmakers: A Commitment to Unconventional Cinema (Nekane E. Zubiaur, Ainhoa Fernández de Arroyabe and Iñaki Lazkano)
  • 1. Overview of the female presence in Kimuak
  • 2. Inner worlds, fictional worlds
  • 3. Experimental animated film: The island of women
  • 4. The unconventional documentary: Narrative diversity, thematic affinity
  • 5. Conclusion
  • Bibliography
  • Identities in Transition: Transnational Issues in Fiction and Documentary (Cristina Ortiz Ceberio and María Pilar Rodríguez)
  • 1. Introduction
  • 2. Fiction films
  • 2.1. Paisito (Ana Díez, 2008)
  • 2.2. An Autumn Without Berlin (Lara Izagirre, 2015)
  • 2.3. Paradise Hills (Alice Waddington, 2019)
  • 3. Documentaries: Transcultural experiences, exile, and displacement
  • 3.1. Helena Taberna: The cross-cultural experience
  • 3.1.1. Transculturality
  • 3.1.2. Laws and families: Lost humanity
  • 3.2. Maider Oleaga: Exile, displacement, and identities
  • 3.2.1. Exile and displacement
  • 3.2.2. Identities
  • 3.3. Iratxe Fresneda: The aesthetic experience
  • 4. Conclusion
  • Bibliography
  • An Approach to Film Adaptations of Basque Literature: Zeru horiek (Aizpea Goenaga, 2006) and Amaren eskuak (Mireia Gabilondo, 2013) (María José Olaziregi Alustiza)
  • 1. In Basque and signed by women: Minority and periphery
  • 2. Zeru horiek (Aizpea Goenaga, 2006)
  • 2.1. The director
  • 2.2. Zeru horiek
  • 3. Amaren eskuak (Mireia Gabilondo, 2013)
  • 3.1. The director
  • 3.2. Amaren eskuak
  • 4. By way of a brief conclusion
  • Bibliography
  • Part III Production, Distribution, and Reception
  • Visibility and Recognition: The Critical Reception of Basque Cinema Directed by Women (Javier Sánchez Zapatero)
  • 1. Introduction
  • 2. Women directors in Basque cinema
  • 3. The cases of Ana Díez and Helena Taberna
  • 4. The problem with documentaries
  • 5. Conclusion and future prospects
  • Bibliography
  • Creating the Network of Basque Filmmakers (Izaskun Arandia Galarraga)
  • 1. Introduction
  • 2. Studies by the Basque Culture Observatory, CIMA, and EWA
  • 3. Role models and pioneers of (H)emen
  • 3.1. European Women’s Audiovisual Network (EWA)
  • 3.2. Association of Women Filmmakers and Audiovisual Media (CIMA)
  • 3.3. Dones Visuals
  • 4. Presentation and operation of the association
  • 5. Hemen gaude! (We are here!)
  • 6. Activities, collaborations, and job opportunities
  • 7. Leading Basque female filmmakers
  • 8. Where are Basque female filmmakers today?
  • 8.1. Helena Taberna
  • 8.2. Maider Oleaga
  • 8.3. Leire Apellaniz
  • 8.4. Maider Fernández
  • 8.5. Lara Izagirre
  • 8.6. Iratxe Fresneda
  • 8.7. Maru Solores
  • 9. The future of Basque cinema has a woman’s name
  • 10. (H)emen, present and future
  • 11. Conclusion
  • Bibliography
  • Cinefeminism: Pamplona International Women’s Film Festival and Zinemakumeak Gara! (Elena San Julián, Ana Gutiérrez and María Pilar Rodríguez)
  • 1. Introduction: Women’s film festivals and exhibitions
  • 2. Two film festivals by women in the Basque Country: Brief notes
  • 2.1. Feminist commitment
  • 2.2. Research and dissemination
  • 2.3. Local and global scope
  • 3. Interviews
  • 3.1. Ana Gutiérrez (Zinemakumeak gara!)
  • 3.2. Elena San Julián (Pamplona International Film and Women’s Festival)
  • Bibliography
  • The Cinema of Ana Díez: Anchoring History Today (Pilar Martínez-Vasseur)
  • 1. Behind the camera: A filmmaker
  • 2. Ander eta Yul
  • 3. Todo está oscuro
  • 4. La mafia en La Habana
  • 5. Algunas chicas doblan las piernas cuando hablan
  • 6. Galíndez
  • 7. Paisito
  • Bibliography
  • Refusing to Look the Other Way: Helena Taberna, a Filmmaker Searching for Our Shared Humanity (Annabel Martín)
  • 1. Introduction
  • 2. Honest with reality
  • 3. Duty to remember
  • 4. The necropolitics of the privileged
  • 5. In conclusion: An idea of the common
  • Bibliography
  • The Cinema of Yannick Bellon: Revelation and Reply (Luisa Etxenike)
  • 1. Seeing what no one else sees; saying it before anyone else
  • 2. Freedom: Action and form
  • 3. Choral cinema
  • 4. Abolished borders
  • 5. Dialogues with/against time
  • 6. The final word
  • Bibliography

Figures

Seeking Total and Transparent Freedom: Key Themes in the Fiction Films by Basque Women Directors

Carlos Roldán Larreta

Figure 1: Photograph from the filming of La buena nueva (Helena Taberna, 2008)

Figure 2: Camera obscura (Maru, Solores, 2011)

Figure 3: Carmen y Lola (Arantxa Echevarría, 2008)

Representations of Gender in Basque Cinematography

Casilda de Miguel

Figure 1: Los años oscuros/Urte ilunak (Arantxa Lazcano, 1992)

Figure 2: Paradise Hills (Alice Waddington, 2019)

Figure 3: Kutsidazu bidea, Ixabel (Fernando Bernués and Mireia Gabilondo, 2006)

Breaks and Deviations from the Imaginary: Other Stories, Other Ways of Telling in Basque Cinema

Iratxe Fresneda Delgado

Figure 1: Irrintzi (Mirentxu Loyarte, 1978)

Figure 2: 918 gau (Arantza Santesteban, 2021)

Figure 3: Beti bezperako koplak (Ageda Kopla Taldea)

The Perspective of Basque Documentary Filmmakers

María Marcos Ramos

Figure 1: 1% esquizofrenia (Ione Hernández, 2006)

Figure 2: Voces de papel (Paper Voices, Estibaliz Urresola, 2016)

Kimuak Short Filmmakers: A Commitment to Unconventional Cinema

Nekane E. Zubiaur, Ainhoa Fernández de Arroyabe and Iñaki Lazkano

Figure 1: Ya no duermo (Marina Palacio, 2020)

Figure 2: Quebrantos (Maria Elorza and Koldo Almandoz, 2020)

Figure 3: 592 metroz goiti (Maddi Barber, 2018)

Identities in Transition: Transnational Issues in Fiction and Documentary

Cristina Ortiz Ceberio and María Pilar Rodríguez

Figure 1: Lurralde hotzak (Iratxe Fresneda, 2018)

Figure 2: Un otoño sin Berlín (Lara Izagirre, 2015)

Figure 3: Varados (Helena Taberna, 2019)

An Approach to Film Adaptations of Basque Literature: Zeru horiek (Aizpea Goenaga, 2006) and Amaren eskuak (Mireia Gabilondo, 2013)

María José Olaziregi Alustiza

Figure 1: Zeru horiek (Aizpea Goenaga, 2016)

Figure 2: Amaren eskuak (Mireia Gabilondo, 2013)

Visibility and Recognition: The Critical Reception of Basque Cinema Directed by Women

Javier Sánchez Zapatero

Figure 1: Paisito (Ana Díez, 2008)

Figure 2: Amaren ideia (Maider Oleaga, 2010)

Creating the Network of Basque Filmmakers

Izaskun Arandia Galarraga

Figure 1: Group photo at the 68th San Sebastian Film Festival

Figure 2: Las letras de Jordi (Maider Fernández, 2019)

Figure 3: Cante cósmico. Niño de Elche (Leire Apellaniz and Marc Sempere-Moya, 2021)

Figure 4: Arima (Jaione Camborda, 2019)

Cinefeminism: Pamplona International Women’s Film Festival and Zinemakumeak Gara!

Elena San Julián, Ana Gutiérrez and María Pilar Rodríguez

Figure 1: Poster for the 33rd edition of Pamplona International Women’s Film Festival (2019)

Figure 2: Poster for the 24th edition of Zinemakumeak Gara! (2019)

The Cinema of Ana Díez: Anchoring History Today

Pilar Martínez-Vasseur

Figure 1: Ana Díez

Figure 2: Ander eta Yul (Ana Díez, 1988)

Figure 3: Galíndez (Ana Díez, 2002)

Refusing to Look the Other Way: Helena Taberna, a Filmmaker Searching for Our Shared Humanity

Annabel Martín

Figure 1: Yoyes (Helena Taberna, 2000)

Figure 2: Extranjeras (Helena Taberna, 2003)

Figure 3: Acantilado (Helena Taberna, 2016)

The Cinema of Yannick Bellon: Revelation and Reply

Luisa Etxenike

Figure 1: Yannick Bellon receives the Silver Shell at the San Sebastian Film Festival from France Lambiotte for La Femme de Jean in 1974

Figure 2: L’Amour violé (Yannick Bellon, 1978)

Figure 3: Les Enfants du désordre (Yannick Bellon, 1989)

This Edition

María Pilar Rodríguez

University of Deusto

David Coury

University of Wisconsin-Green Bay

This book was originally published in Basque and in Spanish in 2022 and that edition and publication were possible thanks to the initiative carried out by Euskadiko Filmategia (Basque Film Archive) and its director, Joxean Fernández. The aim was to provide an overview of Basque cinema based on the works of female directors in various genres and formats—feature films, short films, and documentaries—and to conduct an academic and informative exploration of these artistic works. The book was very well received and has become a reference work both for specialists in the field of Basque cinema and women’s film studies. Its informative approach has opened the doors to a general audience who have also enjoyed reading it, while the academic rigor of the authors that contributed chapters to the book has helped to consolidate the field of Basque cinema directed by women. We think that opening this book up to an international audience is another step toward the recognition of Basque women filmmakers.

This edition is an English translation of the original work, carried out by David Coury and María Pilar Rodríguez. This brief introduction to the book outlines the main contributions and substantial changes that have taken place in the field of Basque female filmmakers over the last five years, as the original research carried out by the authors sometimes extended to 2020 or 2021. We would like to thank the authors that have helped us update the information.

Sadly, we must begin with the news of the death of Mirentxu Loyarte on September 3, 2025, in Pamplona. As can be seen in the pages dedicated to the study of her films in this book, she was a true pioneer, and her work is fundamental to understanding the beginnings of Basque cinema. Iratxe Fresneda rescued her figure through the documentary Irrintziaren Oihartzunak (The Echoes of Irrintzi) in 2016, and the editor and translator of this book, María Pilar Rodríguez, had the privilege of talking with her as moderator of the round table discussion “Pioneers of Basque-Navarrese documentary cinema” at the Punto de Vista Festival, on February 28, 2025, where she reflected alongside Ana Díez and Natalia Ardanaz on the path they paved as pioneers in Basque cinema. We would like to pay a heartfelt tribute to the person and work of Mirentxu Loyarte.

Details

Pages
XX, 270
Publication Year
2026
ISBN (PDF)
9783034365925
ISBN (ePUB)
9783034365932
ISBN (Hardcover)
9783034363785
DOI
10.3726/b24012
Language
English
Publication date
2026 (July)
Keywords
Basque cinema women filmmakers feminist film studies Eureopean cinema Spanish cinema gender and representation documentary film short films transnational cinema cultural identity film industry film criticism audiovisual studies
Published
New York, Berlin, Bruxelles, Chennai, Lausanne, Oxford, 2026. XX, 270 pp., 36 color ill., 1 tables.
Product Safety
Peter Lang Group AG

Biographical notes

María Pilar Rodríguez (Volume editor)

María Pilar Rodríguez is Professor in the Department of Communication at the University of Deusto (Spain). She holds a Ph.D. from Harvard University. Until 2002 she taught at Columbia University (New York, USA). She has published extensively on communication, film, culture, gender studies and Basque and Hispanic studies (over one hundred and fifty publications). She is the Principal Investigator of the communication research group.

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Title: Basque Women Filmmakers