The Basque documentary producers’ delegation is taking part in EFM before a flagship showcase at CPH:DOX in March.
The Basque country in northwest Spain has a particularly vibrant documentary scene for a region with a population of just 2.2 million. Approximately 20 non-fiction Basque films are produced every year and some 60 production companies that focus partially or entirely on documentary content are based in the region.
The area also hosts Zinebi, the International Festival of Documentary and Short Film of Bilbao, the only A-list international documentary festival in Spain recognised by FIAPF. Recent Basque non-fiction successes include Carmen Chaplin’s Chaplin: Spirit Of The Tramp, which was named the Irizar best Basque film at San Sebastián International Film Festival in 2024; Itoiz Summer Sessions, about the Basque band Itoiz, which was released in January; and Juan Palacios’s Meseta, which won the first Professional Forum at Zinebi and received the Next:Wave award at CPH:DOX in 2019.
Basque. Audiovisual. is the organisation that fosters co-productions, facilitates global distribution and promotes the region’s filmmakers at international markets and festivals.
It is attending the European Film Market with a trio of producers - Doxa Producciones, Paloma Hernandez and Bixagu Entertainment - which are all seeking international partners for portfolios of fiction and non-fiction projects in various stages of development.
Zuri Goikoetxea and Ainhoa Andraka’s Doxa Producciones, which produced Itoiz, is one of several Basque companies giving a voice to alternative views. It premiered Albertina Carri’s White Roses, Fall! at International Film Festival Rotterdam in 2024, and will be in Berlin and then CPH:DOX to present Maia Iribarne’s Altxaliliak, a co-production with Gastibeltza Filmak. The documentary explores queer life in rural areas, focusing on the Altxaliliak collective, who find healing and empowerment through artistic expression and community. “We want to support minorities and spotlight overlooked issues, and are drawn to feminist and queer perspectives, although that doesn’t mean we won’t produce other projects,” says Goikoetxea.
Bixagu Entertainment, whose credits include Carlota Pereda’s 2023 supernatural drama The Chapel, is presenting Maider Oleaga’s Harakune, about the friendship between an undocumented Mexican immigrant and an elderly Basque shepherd. It is seeking a Mexican partner.
Paloma Hernandez is in Berlin with Joana Moya’s La Koreana, about an iron ore mine near Bilbao and its meaning for local people. The project was selected in Noka Ekoizpena filmmakers’ lab last year and is part of this year’s Ikusmira Berriak lab.
CPH: DOX presence
Doxa will also attend Denmark’s CPH:DOX in March under the umbrella of Basque. Audiovisual. It is joining a curated networking event with fellow Basque companies Pimpi & Nella Films, Marmoka Films, Atekaleun and El Santo Films.
Tamara García Iglesias and Xabier Erkizia’s Atekaleun, which specialises in experimental films, will be in Copenhagen with A European Woman, co-produced with Spain’s La Verneda and Argentina’s Mostra Films. It is about the search for what may be the first Basque film.
“My reference is David Lynch, that rare bird who blends the experimental and the commercial,” says García Iglesias, whose short Madwomen In The Attic screened at London Short Film Festival in January.
Marmoka is another Basque production company focusing on projects from overlooked minority communities. “Our films aim to tell stories in new ways without losing sight of the audience, blending creative documentary approaches with participatory storytelling. Unheard stories are our specialty,” says Gentzane Martínez de Osaba, co-founder of Marmoka with Alexander García de Bicuña.
The company is producing All The Roads Are Open, directed by Iratxe Fresneda, which follows two German women who embarked on a road trip from Berlin to France, Spain and Andorra exploring women’s suffrage in Spain in 1933. It is a co-production with fellow Basque outfit Pimpi & Nella, with which it collaborated on Fresneda’s Tetuán (2022).
Producer and director Nagore Eceiza of El Santo Films is showcasing two projects at CPH:DOX. Natxo Leuza’s Before You, My Shadow explores the lives and dreams of workers dismantling ships in the coastal town of Gadani in Pakistan, while Eceiza directs India-set If You Wish To Make An Apple Pie, a co-production with Izar Films and Cabiria Films. The latter follows a Muslim woman who returns to her family home after a secret eight-year relationship with her Hindu partner.
Eceiza highlights the role of Basque public broadcaster EITB in supporting documentaries and the significant impact of the region’s tax incentives, one of the highest in Europe, offering a tax credit of up to 60% of qualifying costs.
She also advocates for more opportunities to film internationally and still access the Basque support. “Why not? If the talent and technical teams are Basque,” she says.
Contact: Ione Feijoo, marketing, communication and international development
