Cinema in Common

Kukuaren kanta
Residents of Lerga, Spain, 2025, 30 min, DCP, Spanish, English subtitles.

 

Ziarraize
Residents of Espinal, Spain, 2025, 30 min, DCP, Basque, Spanish, English subtitles and electronic Spanish subtitles.

Introduction by residents of Lerga, residents of Espinal and Ekhiñe Etxeberria (film programmer).

 

In the past, when film premieres were a massive social phenomenon, the main question the public asked themselves before going to the theatres was which actors or actresses were the protagonists. Subsequently, after the shift caused by auteur theory, the question moved to who directed the film — and things remain the same today. Beyond these two premises lies collective filmmaking, which dismantles traditional canons to open new paths of cinematic creation and of what is represented on screen.

 

The short films Kukuaren Kanta and Ziarraize are an initiative of the production company Hiruki Filmak, created by Marina Lameiro, Garazi Erburu, and Ione Atenea. When these two films end, one can see in their closing credits how established norms are deconstructed. Several dozens of people are credited as directors, screenwriters, or participants in their creation. This makes us go back and think about how they started — their shared decision-making process agreed collectively, organised through assemblies, and self-managed. A horizontal cinephile-political structure that contrasts with the rigid pyramidal structure of the film industry. This empowerment of the film’s players is further enhanced by the locations filmed — small towns in Navarre with few inhabitants —Lerga and Aurizberri; known as Lerga and Espinal in Spanish—, usually invisible and with a community used to sharing and cooperating — a trend that is increasingly rare in urban areas.

 

Kukuaren Kanta meanders around the rhythm of the seasons and the arrival of the end of the world. Ziarraize is shrouded in the memory of witches and the mysterious behaviour of the women of the village. Both films capture through cinema the memory of their ways of life, documenting their cultural and social heritage; the search for a collective reflection on local identity.