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It is surely one of the ETB programs that has sparked the most international interest even before airing one episode.  'Origen' brings people from the Diaspora to Euskadi who are looking for their roots, and accompanies them on this process of discovery.  The news of its recording ran like wildfire and the producer has received hundreds of letters from people wanting to participate.  The first season will air in September and if it is well-received, they will continue to record new episodes. 

Bilbao, Bizkaia.   Maite Ibañez, producer of 'Origen,' says that when people found out about the program, the received “waves of people who wanted to participate,” and they had to work hard to choose, because they couldn’t include everybody.  They have chosen very different stories, that took place at different times with different experiences, and many testimonies were left behind.  But the selection promises, and Ibañez told EuskalKultura.com, that some episodes have already been recorded.

One of the participants is Mariana D’Orazio, from Argentina whose great grandmother emigrated to look for a better life, leaving her children in Euskal Herria (more about Mariana in this article on EuskalKultura.com).  “The extreme difficulty of this experience is what caught our attention, the anxiety of a mother who had to leave her children,” Maite said.

Another protagonist is Juan Martin Guevara, Che’s brother.  “We were interested in the concept of identity and how the Basque culture is transmitted.  In the case of Che’s family, they know very little about their origins. According to Juan Martin, he only remembers an aunt that told them that they only had one idea that was square, because they were descendants of Basques and Irish.”  During filming, Guevara discovered that “the myth was Basque, but also on all four sides,” Ibañez said.

Other participants include from Uruguay Eduardo Strauch Urioste, one of the survivors of the tragic airplane crash in the Andes, Pilar Garcia de Gurtubay (more on this program here), Txomin Amutxastegi from Mexico, grandson of the mythic cesta punta player Guillermo Amutxastegi and Argentine Chef German Martitegi, who is very well-known in the country from his TV show.

Maite Ibañez announced that the first batch of episodes will air in September and that if they are well-received, they will record a second season.  This will mean choosing new testimonies and researching new stories.  In this case, the producer is contemplating widening the net to other countries such as the US.

“Origen” can be seen on Canal Vasco, as well as through streaming from the Eitb website.  In the meantime, anyone interested may contact the program on social media or on Twitter: @OrigenETB.