Raul de la Fuente, who visited Armenia to take part in “Golden Apricot” film festival, was introduced as a Spanish film director, but he was repeatedly correcting his translator and saying proudly that he is not Spanish, but Basque.
It has been a long time that the Basques, being circled by a ring of mountains, have been struggling to preserve their unity and identity. Being a small and proud nation, the Basques are trying to prevent their being overcome by the Spanish language and culture; they don’t miss a single opportunity to highlight their national origin.
The film production opens with a large scene highlighting the national origin and this young film director, Raul de la Fuente, understands this fact very well. He was definitely the most “open” and “friendly” guest during “Golden Apricot” film festival and always was present during showings of the “Nomadic tx” film and was consistently meeting with people, answering their questions, and did not turn down any invitations to meet people. The film of this Basque film director is based on music, and the words don’t matter; the most important thing is the sounds. To be more correct, the most important point in his film was searching for sounds. Raul describes the genre of his film as “traveling, musical film”. The film heroes are two Basque musicians who are traveling the world to look for impressions and sounds, which had to be played on the national percussion instrument, Txalaparta (pronounced as chalaparta). The Txalaparta is a very interesting instrument; it is a wooden xylophone, which needs two players simultaneously as the music is creating a dialogue. These two musicians are playing separately; they don’t play at the same time. It seems that the Txalaparta is telling the world that one should listen in order to be listened to. Thus, this musical instrument from the Basques’ land is traveling around the world to find new sounds in the world. The Txalaparta is looking to understand itself better. The Basques are inviting representatives of different nations for musical dialogue, petitioning to play improvised compositions together, make improvisations, unite the national sounds, and create new ones. At the same time, being in different places, in each place they are creating new instruments by using the materials they find there such as wood, stones, and even ice (when watching this movie we understood that we could do the same too and propose to play the national sounds of the Arabs, Mongols, and Chukchis with our national instrument, the duduk, which would not be only our music, but composed of the sounds of different nations. This is not considered to be a violation, but normal collaboration).
The traveling map of the Txalaparta is very interesting; it crosses through the territories of Mongolia, Algeria, India, and Lapland, Morocco. Raul de la Fuente made this map with a certain vision.
– Did you choose the countries by chance or on purpose? It seems that there are too many problems in those countries and they differ from Europe, which is secure.
– The choice was not by chance; it is based on the Basques’ mentality. Being in Spain, we have many problems, the most important one of which is the problem of our identity. I have tried to make the route of the Txalaparta through such countries, which have problems with independence, demands for freedom, and migration. In a word, I tried to find countries similar to the land of the Basques in Africa, Asia and in the northern regions of the planet.
– Both the Basques and Catalans have problems with national identity in Spain. Do you think the struggle for national identity will become harsh or will it become weaker?
– I know that there are problems, which should be solved by all means. I can speak only as a musician and filmmaker. The means of my struggle is presenting the music and culture of the Basques; and such means are very important, as they are international. However, my nation has a big problem. That problem is not just struggling, but the international recognition of the Basques’ issue. The world does not know much about the Basques; we are more known as terrorists and activists, which is not true. We have a wonderful culture and traditions, which are not known to the world. The problem is that we need to present our culture to the world; this would help us find the solution of our problem.
– We have almost the same problems. Do you know about the Armenian culture and foreign problems?
– I don’t know much, I only know that Armenia was a Soviet state, and that you had a war with Azerbaijan after getting independence. However, I didn’t visit Armenia by chance; I wanted to see your country closer. Please tell me about your country, language and culture after the interview.
– We are trying to be represented in the world through our rich culture like you are doing; we understand that the culture, which has lived through centuries, is the best visiting card for a small nation to help to create a fair and corresponding image of the nation.
– Do you understand how lucky you are to have an independent state? The wealth of the country is a secondary issue. The most important thing is that you have your own borders and an opportunity to speak your own language. For us, the Basques, it is the biggest dream. We are a small country, within a big country, and don’t have the opportunity to solve our problems with our own efforts. We need the support of a third party. Being supported by a third party we can raise our issues in the world, and I believe this will help to find a positive solution.
– You spent four years to make your film. Generally, for making a film do you need more romanticism or prudence?
– Certainly, for making a film you should first of all be romantic. Personally, I am an incurable romantic, despite the fact that I am trying not to go too far from reality and forget about the budget of the film and the staff. The viewers always accept the most serious messages with their hearts and feelings; the intellect is not a good way to understand what the film is saying. It is not necessary to try to explain everything rationally. There are things that you should just feel. This is my approach, and I am a romantic.
– I think romanticism is born when looking at the tops of high mountains. When your country is composed of mountains and stones, you create romantic music, and myths. In order to understand that you should see mountains all the time and create such music, which will reach from one mountain to another.
– This is exactly the reason why the Txalaparta was created; it gave an opportunity to two people on different mountains to talk to each other. This instrument has been a means of conversation for many years. The mountains gave birth to the necessity of such an instrument.
We are a mountainous country, as your country, and like climbing peaks as you do. I understand the history of the Basques as an ambition to reach the top of the mountain by all means. The Basques love climbing mountains, traveling, and then returning home. We have a symbolic chain of mountains, which symbolizes holiness for the Basques. Its name is Alarar. I know that the Ararat mountain, whose name sounds alike, has the same symbolic meaning for you. In general we have many things in common; here I learned that there are similar words in the languages of the Basques and Armenians. I was very surprised to see that.
– Do you know about the duduk, which is our national instrument? It has a sound more sad and quiet than the Txalaparta.
– I learned about the duduk in Armenia and I am grateful to destiny for that. I think sad sounds exist in every instrument. The Basques are able to demonstrate both happy and sad sounds in one composition; this is a characteristic controversion in our culture, which involves nostalgic elements. This nostalgia is seen brightly in our poetry.
– Do you think it is necessary to look for new things, or it is enough to keep what is national?
– The Basques have been nomads for a long time, and the heroes of my film are traveling to find the sounds of those nomadic nations and people. The Basque musicians don’t want to be limited with their country only. I think this only helps to understand the national aspect better. Every place has its characteristic sounds, and the Txalaparta is accepting those sounds. Generally, the Txalaparta contains deep philosophy inside; it always seeks a dialogue. In my film the Txalaparta is just a reason, which in reality creates a dialogue between the cultures and mentalities. The instrument creates human contacts; in the film it is a symbol of communication.
– Film production is your occupation. Is this more a means of living or just pleasure for you?
– I have reached it through a normal, I mean very difficult way. At the beginning I worked as a worker in a film studio; I carried wires and technical facilities from one place to another. I understood that I needed to gain experience through watching the work of the masters. Later, when I was making my first films, I didn’t ask for money; I was just happy to work in that field. And now, when I have reached Christ’s age, i.e. 33, I just have to work and earn. Film production may be a pleasant hobby at a younger age, but it should be means of living for an older man.
– What about a woman?
– I believe both women and men have the same rights, but their weaknesses are different. You can’t view both women and men in the same context. When you are looking at a woman, your eyes are looking differently than at a man. That is it, it seems that you are putting a specific cover on your eyes and then looking, estimating and believing in what you have seen with your eyes.
– Very often the film makes people into heroes and makes them dignified and full of ideas. It seems to be the vice versa in your film; you have found ordinary people, who live in remote places, and who feel shame and are confused during conversations. Have the heroes been changed?
– There is not a lack of heroes in the world now; I have been traveling for over four years in the world and have found many heroes. These are not artificially made heroes. The hero is the weak, simple and ordinary person, who does not have the complex of being called a hero. For me my mother was a hero, who hadn’t got an education, but had a big heart and was ready to share her happiness with everyone. People always like to exaggerate their troubles, and just in the same manner they exaggerate their role and importance. Many people think that they have insolvable problems, but in fact they are mistaken. It is the same in the world; people think that they have more problems than they really have.