‘Zuretzako’ wins nomination to best film at the Red Rock International Film Festival of Zion Canyon (Utah)
Javi Aitor Zubizarreta, the young Basque film director from Boise, is back on the news.
His film ‘Zuretzako’, about the traditionally Basque, immigrant occupation of shepherding on the hills of Idaho, has won anomination to best film in the fiction feature competition of the Red Rock International Film Festival of Zion Canyon, the newest incarnation of the film festival in Southern Utah. It evolved from a college film competition in 1991, and became an international event in 2004.
The 60 minute movie, which stars Javi Zubizarreta’s father Luis and his brother Josu, is the story of Javi’s grandfather, Joaquin, as he herded sheep in the mountains of Idaho, hundreds of miles away from his family in the Basque Country.
Zuretzako starts in 1935, though it later shifts to 1955 when Joaquin is back in the Basque Country with his wife and children and must leave them once again. The action then moves to 1975, when his own son Luis (played by Josu) comes to America to herd with him. Father and son must deal with the fact that they haven’t seen each other for many years.
Zubizarreta enjoyed previous success with his documentary Artzainak: Shepherds and Sheep, which takes a look at the history of shepherding on the Idaho hills near where he grew up.
You can read the entire article on the eitb.com website.
Related articles
- “Zuretzako”, a Basque immigrant tale
- “Zuretzako” in the Idaho Statesman
- Javi Zubizarreta’s “Zuretzako” to premiere in Boise next week (Includes an interview with Josu Zubizarreta)
