Documentary 'Ipuina Kontatu' films final scenes in the Basque Country

It is three months since the Basque media group EITB closely followed the progress of documentary film Ipuina Kontatu''s Kickstarter campaign to raise 12,000 dollars.

With many of the scenes already recorded and edited, 12,000 was the amount documentary-maker Emily Lobsenz was seeking to be able to give her film the final cut and polish she passionately felt it deserved.

Now in October, Emily has been back in the Basque Country ("my favorite place in the world") with her team (cameraman Marcus Lehmann from the US and production manager Mariana de Nadal from Barcelona) to film the final scenes with which to complete her story.

EITB caught up with Emily on two days of a jam-packed, ten-day filming schedule: Firstly, at the Mining Museum in Gallarta, Biscay and later, at the Untzi Museo, Donostia-San Sebastian''s naval museum.

"Ipuina Kontatu" means "telling stories" in the Basque language Euskera; the spirit of story-telling and how it has helped keep traditions alive over the decades and centuries is the main focus of Emily''s film:

"Story-telling is so important to me," explains Emily, "it''s how the people here made the (Basque) story come alive to me.

"The process of making the film was very much collecting all of these stories and fitting them together," she adds.

The team''s ultimate objective in the last weeks of filming has been to put the finishing touches to the documentary to be able to construct a coherent story that makes sense even to those who have never visited or have no previous knowledge of the Basque Country or its history.

Support

During Emily''s almost two-month long campaign to raise 12,000 for Ipuina Kontatu, the film received backing from some 59 donors via the Kickstarter campaign, as well as funding from the Gipuzkoa Foral Alduna Dirección General de Euskara, National Philanthropy USA and the US Embassy and the Spanish Embassy''s program for Cultural Exchange.

It also received sponsorship and other services from: Txikito Restaurant NYC; Hoteles Barcelo Basque Country: (where the team stayed during the final days of filming); Ruibal Alquiler de Vehicles; 11Itzulpen; IFP (Independent Feature Productions) and the Zuazo Gaston Bodegas.