Synopsis
Araitz Rodríguez, the daughter of a worker at the Euskalduna shipbuilding company, has taken on the task of reconstructing the memory of the struggle that took place in Bilbao between 1983 and 1988.
She does so from the point of view of her mother and other women who took part in the Assembly of the Women of Euskalduna (AME), constituted in 1984, to support the workmen on strike. Regardless of their defeat, and beyond the role of wife and mother (the only roles attributed to these women), their direct involvement in the struggle meant, for them, self-assertion, realization, and empowerment. Their participation in the struggle helped them cope with the difficulties of being women and standing as one in a working class environment that is mainly masculine.
About the Filmmaker
Larraitz Zuazo Aurrekoetxea has been immersed for the past 10 years in the audiovisual world, first through Dirudi, a company which she founded, and today through BEGIRA BIDEOAK. After finishing her masters in practice/theory of creative documentaries at the University of Barcelona, she directed her first documentary in 2004. The documentary won a first place award for best documentary at a short film festival that same year.
More from the Filmmaker
When writing a tale of history, black ink often spills over the lines about women, leaving many passages in the shadows. This is what happened to the heroines of this story. However, the black ink appears to have cast a shadow not only on the events, but also on the memories of them. In this documentary we take an emotional journey to recover those memories.
Along the way I learned how far a woman will go to defend her family without even realizing the importance of what she is doing. The strength shown by these women reawakened my desire to fight for a fairer future and, in their simplicity, the women reminded me of the value of the phrase, “Because you won’t get anywhere without a struggle.” I have reflected on the need to care for our cities, respecting history at all times and not allowing the memory and identity of a people be forgotten for the benefit of groundless interests.
Along the way, in order to understand who we are, I learned the importance of looking back so as to discover where we come from and to see where we are going.
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