euskalkultura.eus

It’s been three years now since Telmo Esnal (Zarautz, Basque Country, 1967) launched his last movie: Happy New Year, Grandma! a successful dark comedy about the difficulties in family relationships. On September 6^th it will be shown at the Vancouver Latin American Film Festival (VLAFF), where he will also be a member of the jury for the New Directors section.

Ander Egiluz Beramendi. Thanks to the fluent relationship Esnal has with Christian Sida-Valenzuela and the organizers of the festival, and to the support of the Etxepare Institute, seven Basque short-films will be projected, all of them part of the Kimuak program: A political story, Cholera, Hotzanak, for your own Safety, Democracy, Minerita, One Hour, One Step, and Zela Trovke.

-After three years, grandma is still celebrating the New Year!

-(He laughs). It is usual to go from festival to festival when you launch a new film, to promote it. And that’s what I did with this one three years ago, but still today, I still get calls from smaller festivals to show it. It’s a good sign, it means people like it.

-So far the film has been accepted in over 20 film festivals around the world. Why do you think the film has been successful?

-I think the movie is unpredictable and so the audience cannot guess how it will end, and that it gets stuck in your memory. Also, the movie is a cocktail of genres: dark comedy, white comedy, thriller, drama… It’s kind of explosive for somebody that doesn’t know what to expect.

-It must feel great to see your work being recognized. But could it also be tiring if, after three years, you’re still promoting the same film and not moving on?

-It is never tiring, it always feels great. But, once the film is launched, most of the time, you forget about it. After the first year of promotion many times you have to look back and try to remember what you were trying to say.

-You are also a member of the jury in Vancouver

-I met Christian Sida-Valenzuela, the director of the festival, and he told me he wanted to show Happy New Year, grandma! at the festival. And since it is a small festival and everything is connected they also asked me to be part of the jury. And I’m looking forward to it because I’ll take part in the New Directors section and I want to know what young filmmakers are doing.

-There is also a section called ‘Let’s talk in Basque’.

-It is important for us and it is great news to see something like that. In this case, though, it can be said that I promoted this section myself. Christian told me he wanted to show the film but that he could not because it is a Latin American festival. So I selected some Basque movies for him and he created this section. I also contacted the Etxepare Institute and told them this was a great opportunity to showcase Basque cinema, so they also helped us.

-The Zazpiak Bat British Columbia Basque Club is based in Vancouver. Do you have any relationship with the Basque Diaspora?

-I’ve never had until now but I always thought it could be a gateway to the international arena for Basque films. Currently, I’m working on a project called Dantza (Dance).  I was a dancer before, and I know Basque dancers in Europe have always had a good relationship with Basque dancers in the Diaspora. I want to be in touch with the Basques abroad. Besides that, Basque cinema today has some very good movies, and I think they could be helpful promoting them.

-What three Basque movies would you recommend to the communities in the diaspora?

80 egunean (In Eighty Days); Ander, and the documentary Bertsolari.

(*) Happy New Year, Grandma! will be shown at The Cinematheque (1131, Howe Street) on September 6th, at 7:00 p.m.