Érase una vez en Euskadi

After finding Maixabel (2021-also reviewed) to be mesmerizing,I took a look at what other movies featuring a Q&A were playing at VIVA:The 28th Spanish & Latin American Film Festival, and was intrigued to discover, that like Maixabel, this one also involves looking at the the impact ETA had on the Basque Country, leading to me visiting Euskadi.

Note: Review contains some plot details.

View on the film:

Detailing in the Q&A after the screening that the script was written whilst he was listening to a soundtrack that he made for the characters, Manu Gomez plays his feature film writing/directing debut with a excellent ear for setting the mood of the era, from the opening blast of The Ramones, to frantic Spanish Punk blaring down the streets filled with protests that the boys run through.

Inspired by his own childhood, the screenplay by Gomez takes a brilliant, refreshing non- rose tinted view of a 80's childhood, with the arrival of a Cuban woman into town, highlighting a bigotry on the cold shoulder that the adults give her as a outsider, which the children brush pass as they attempt to welcome her into Basque society.

Running with friends Marcos, Jose, Toni, and Paquito (played by the superb Asier Flores, Hugo Garcia, Aitor Calderon and Miguel Rivera, who all mix youthful high energy, with a maturing coming of age) down cobbled streets away from the mischief they have just caused, Gomez delicately ties earthy, realistic comedic exchanges the boys have at their homes and when messing around on the streets during a long Summer holiday, be broken by the stark reality of violent protests, family members getting involved with ETA,a increase in the use of heroin on the streets, and having to see the tragic sight of family dying from AIDS.

Covering the bedroom walls with Rock and Pop star posters, director Gomez & cinematographer Javier Salmones wonderfully keep the camera to the same height as the boys, who are followed with refine tracking and panning shots down busy streets which capture an exciting, sunny atmosphere In the midst of the school holidays, which gets broken in stark close-ups on the youthful innocence of the boys facing mortality for the first time, once upon a time in Euskadi.