Faire la parole

Opening with the testimony of a politically exiled Basque author reminiscing on a childhood where he was forced to hide his language as something ugly Faire la parole then keeps apace with some young people from the French and Spanish Basque Country Nora who saw the newspaper where she worked closed by the Guardia Civil in 2003 then Aitor Ana and Ortzi The last three still teenagers lend a summery and easygoing tone to the film which is magnificently framed by Eugène Greens longtime cameraman Raphael OByrne The dialogue that settles in between the younger members and those in their thirties has a rare quality as if the difference of language which each has had to impose on their family or on their national entourage had almost tacitly created a secret community Starting with the political stakes regional languages versus centralism the story hikes over the mountains with these new friends brought together by the filmmaker