Zumiriki

In the Basque language, a zumiriki is an island in the middle of a river. Oskar Alegría spent his childhood holidays on just such an island. It disappeared under the water one day, flooded for the construction of a dam. The director became the owner of the invisible island. It would be difficult to find more romantic circumstances for the start of a philosophical journey through time. Since the age of Thomas More, islands—especially imaginary ones—have been the choice of the creators of utopias, symbolic testing grounds for their thoughts about alternatives to the status quo. Alegría moves to the riverbank opposite the island, where only the canopy of trees can be seen sticking out of the water. He builds a primitive hut and arranges a vegetable garden. He is kept company by two hens, a camera, and a few dozen books. He spends four months there. The film is a record of his Waldenesque experiment. It is the diary of a castaway, an intriguing collage made of observations, field recordings, memories, and reconstructions. The director tries to recover his childhood memories, but he’s also an inquisitive archaeologist trying to save vanishing Basque customs and the language. He immortalizes forgotten words and the people who are disappearing along with them.