IRAILAK: documentary about historical and family memory

Project description

"Irailak" (Septembers) is an 80 minute documentary where my dad (Manu, 79) and I travel by motorhome to Burgos (Spain) to discover the truth behind the execution of Miguel Varga Arnaiz, my paternal great-grandfather, and the family secret that hides a tragic episode of the Spanish Civil War.

Synopsis

At the beginning of 1936, a few months before the start of the bloody Spanish Civil War, Miguel Varga Arnaiz, my great-grandfather, left the family in Tolosa (Basque Country) to return to San Millán de Lara, his hometown in Burgos. Right in the middle of the war, my great-grandmother was notified that her husband had died in the front. That was the official version. His corpse was never returned to the family.

When what happened was questioned, there were no answers and the subject was avoided in family conversations for decades to come. But one day in 2018, something happened that changed not only my family history but the historical memory of the Basque Country.

Through Gogora Institute's DNA programme, my great-grandfather's remains were recovered, and returned to the family at the Aranzadi Foundation. We were told many details surrounding the circumstances of his death, but 2 very important questions were left unanswered: why did my great-grandfather left to Burgos and why was he killed?

My 79-year-old father Manu, Miguel's grandson, and I will embark on a mission to answer these questions and discover the truth behind our family secret.

Why we want to tell the story

Miguel didn't die in the front, he was executed, but the family was never told in which circumstances, why or where. This also fed the mystery. So is the narrative of war such that the losing side has no option but to create an account of reality perhaps far from the real events, just to have some closure? ? Will we ever know the whole truth?

Through this documentary, we will try to find the missing pieces to complete the puzzle.

According to Rights International Spain, Spain is among the countries in the world with the highest number of forced disappearances: Official figures from the Ministry of Justice register 2,567 mass graves in Spain. 58,000 victims have already been counted. It is estimated that there could be more than 114,000 missing.This documentary is also a homage to them.

How we will tell the story

The script is divided in 3 acts: The Good, The Bad, The Ugly, as a reference to Sergio Leone's Western, which was filmed a few kilometres from San Millán de Lara, my great-grandfather's home town.

3 different elements or narrative pieces will complement each other to try to discover what really happened to Miguel:

Road Movie: We will film a road trip to Burgos which my dad and I will go on, and we will talk to people who knew our family (people who can be our distant relatives or people who knew them) and neighbours. These scenes will be filmed and presented as a road movie with elements of a Western film.

Black and white animation: I have written a few scenes based on the information we have gathered about what happened in the last months of Miguel's life. This information comes from the documentation found by the family, press articles and the report written by Aranzadi Foundation. We will bring Miguel to life through impressive animation scenes that will provide the necessary historical and social context to complement the filmed part of the documentary.

Family lunch: We will film a meal on Mount Izaskun in Tolosa, where my relatives will talk about what they know and not know about what happened to Miguel.

What will we use your contributions for?

The budget is mainly allocated to the remainder of the development of the documentary:

• a photo location trip to record images that will be used to make the teaser of the film and close locations that will be used in the recording of the road-movie part of the documentary

• cost of making sketches and testing illustrations of what will be the animation part of the film

• cost of a calligrapher expert to decipher and transcribe the handwritten 1936 documents that we have found

• writing the last version of the script

• expenses derived from the Verkami campaign, such as the production, purchase and shipping of rewards, the social media campaign and taxes.

Planned Schedule

DEVELOPMENT:

January 2025 - July 2025

PREPRODUCTION:

July - August 2025

SHOOTING:

September 2025 - February 2026

EDITING:

October 2025 - April 2026

END OF POSTPRODUCTION:

May/June 2026

Some of the rewards will be delivered during 2025 and others (like viewing the film) in the summer of 2026.

Who we are

Izaskun Arandia - Director | Producer

With a degree in Advertising from the University of the Basque Country and a Master's Degree in Screenwriting from Bournemouth University (Screen Academy), Izaskun was professionally formed in England, where she lived for 14 years. There she worked for renowned audiovisual companies such as Discovery Channel, TwoFour, and BAFTA.

She has directed 4 short films and a documentary web-series. She debuted as a feature-film director with the documentary My Way Out, which premiered at the 2022 San Sebastián International Film Festival.

IZAR Films - Production company

IZAR Films was founded in the United Kingdom in 2009 to produce independent films with social themes. His first feature film, To Say Goodbye, premiered at the San Sebastián Film Festival in 2012.

Based in the Basque Country since 2013, IZAR Films works mainly with stories related to human rights and with female directors and promoting young talent by also producing shorts by first-time female directors. He has produced a body of work that ranges from short films and feature-length documentaries to web series.

Highlights include the multi-award-winning documentary web series Ni Naiz Naizena (I. Arandia) and the successful feature-length documentary Non Dago Mikel? (Amaia Merino, M.A. Llamas, 2021), shortlisted at the 2022 GOYA awards in the category of best documentary.

Also, the short animation Azkena, selected in the official section of the 2024 Zinebi, Alcine and Aguilar del Campoo festivals. As well as the short documentary Mi Pequeño Gran Samurái, selected in more than 80 festivals and winner, among others, of the Audience Award at Zinegoak 2020.

Development so far:

Our project Irailak has participated in the following development labs and workshops:

Follow us on our social media accounts:

• Follow the project on Instagram Irailak Filma

• We are also (for now) on X (formerly Twitter)

• And also (for now) on Facebook Irailak Filma

• And we are very happy at Bluesky :)