THIS July, Instituto Cervantes’ Vimeo channel will host the short-film series Zinegoak, featuring eight animated LGBTQ+ stories by various Basque filmmakers. The film cycle presents personal stories, reflections, and testimonies that deal with gender identity, homosexual love and transsexuality, focusing on an underrepresented genre in cinema.
The series will kick off on July 5 and 6, with the screening of the eight-minute animated film Azaletik azalera, released in 2021 by Mel Arranz. A multi-awarded short film, the work manages to materialize bodily intimacy, through detailed shots of the touching of skins, something hardly representable in real image cinema. The short film will be available for 48 hours through this link: https://vimeo.com/824067226. The film series will continue on July 8 and 9, with La mesa (directed by Adrian García Gomez, 2019), a short film that challenges the representation of men, love and masculinity, which can be accessed at https://vimeo.com/827926201.
The second week of the cycle will feature Beti bezperako koplak (2016), another short film directed by various filmmakers that denounces male violence and abuse against women. It will be available for viewing on July 12 and 13 through https://vimeo.com/824069808. On July 15 and 16, directors Paco Ramirez and Tanya O’Carroll will present their short film Thara (2018). The documentary, which depicts the life and difficulties of a Honduran transsexual woman, can be seen at https://vimeo.com/830183775.
It will be the turn of the animated documentary Dejarse crecer el cuerpo (2022) by Andrea Gudiño on July 19 and 20. It consists of six real testimonies of people with different, non-binary gender identities and is an interesting approach to the different ways of conceiving identity and the relationship with one’s own body and love. It can be viewed at https://vimeo.com/827934522. It will be followed by Ezohikoak (2022, Alejandra Bueno), a film about the roles of women in Basque culture, which will be shown on July 22 and 23 at https://vimeo.com/824069976.
On the last week of the film cycle, on July 26-27, catch Garelako (2015, Usue Egia), which is a call for freedom to all to define themselves and feel as each and everyone wants. It will be accessible at https://vimeo.com/828266180. Lastly, the animated documentary Makun (2015, Emilio Martí), which depicts the harsh reality of detention centers for foreigners who left their countries to be themselves, will conclude the film cycle on July 29-30, and will be available at https://vimeo.com/827930587.
The movies, presented by Instituto Cervantes in collaboration with Zinegoak Film festival, will be in Spanish or Basque with English subtitles. Admission is free. For details and updates on this film series, check out Instituto Cervantes’ Facebook site (www.facebook.com/InstitutoCervantesManila) or the event page: https://www.facebook.com/events/222136474040685.