'Amerikanuak' shows at eitb.tv

A documentary based on the lives and struggles of the first Basque communities which formed in the western states of America shows at eitb.tv, as part of a program that goes under the name of Zinema Euskaraz (Cinema in Basque language).

Amerikanuak, filmed entirely in Basque between January and February 2010, uses first hand accounts from Basques who traveled to the US in search of employment and a way to make money, most with the intention of returning home.

Directed by Nacho Reig and Gorka Bilbao, the 90-minute-long documentary looks at themes of adaptation, rootlessness, nostalgia and community. It talks about feeling homesick, about struggling in a different country to make a decent living and about being part of a community.

Amerikanuak and 12 other new films in Basque language join the Zinema Euskaraz catalog, which had already 30 movies available to watch for free. Among the animated movies you could find titles like Unibertsolariak, Betizu eta urrezko zintzarria, Karramarro uhartea, Haragijaleen krisia, Cristobal Molón or Glup. Fiction movies include, for example, Aupa Etxebeste, 80 egunean, Obaba or Ander.

Supported by the Department of Culture of the Basque Government, kulturklik.net and eitb.com, Zinema Euskaraz gives the possibility to watch films in Basque language free of charge.

eitb alacarta enables users to access 'on demand' the largest store of audiovisual content in the Basque language which has existed up to now. It brings together both EITB's radio and television broadcasts and enables the company to "raise the profile of Basque culture in the rest of the world.