The Barakaldo filmmaker, after being awarded at the Bilbao Invisible Film Festival, has discussed the central theme of her short film, titled Hogaitabat. This short film tells the story of a girl adopted in China who, as an adult, recounts how her eyes have become witnesses to hatred in a country where no one considers themselves racist.
The filmmaker graduated in Audiovisual Communication from the University of the Basque Country and has participated in international film festivals such as Zinebi and Zinegoak, both as a volunteer and as a young jury member. Additionally, she has worked as a production assistant at the Culture, Communication and Development organization. In 2024, she was selected for the Gidoi Mentoring call to develop a feature film script, and has participated in the Aukera mentoring program to develop the fiction short film Haziak. The teaser for this project won two awards at the Zinebi festival. Her team has been selected in the 2DEO Serieak call with the series Laboa, and will soon immerse herself in another film mentorship called Noka at Tabakalera.
“"We are Euskera and we are here. Hand in hand, we have traced the corporeality of our people. Breathless, but our body has carried us forward. One step and another, rooting in the earth. When Korrika runs, our body is the one whose heartbeats quicken. The one that stirs. The one that tires. The one that gets emotional. Our body is the one that revitalizes when Korrika runs. The one that is enriched by constant transformation. The one that always moves forward. We say we are Euskera, not I am Euskera. We speak of community. Of a body with open arms, that has windows in its eyes"
According to the filmmaker, she is often perceived as Chinese, and people cannot imagine that Basque is her mother tongue. In her childhood, she experienced painful situations where she was told that her parents were not her real parents. This led her to hate everything related to China, and she even wished to have surgery on her eyes to make them round.
Today, having been awarded at film festivals and selected for several mentorships, with the script for her first feature film underway, her reflection is deeper. She questions herself and others about identity and being: «Where does your identity lie? Where is the soul of a people? In the eyes? In the color of the skin? Yes, I was born in China. I was... a homeland? for 11 months. But here I have become a woman, a Barakaldo native, a daughter, a sister, a friend, a filmmaker. Here I started, here I grew, here I was educated. I have been Basque for 21 years. Is it so difficult for others to accept it, not to be surprised?»
The filmmaker emphasizes that being Basque has nothing to do with one's birthplace or physical characteristics, but rather with language, culture, feelings, and life. She believes she is living in a period of transition, where the world is globalizing and Basque society must embrace diversity.
