Session 54, Illegal_cinema

Film screening proposed by Mikel Eskauriaza, followed by discussion.

Agur Everest – Namasté, Chamo Longmu (Fernando Larruquert / Juan Ignacio Lorente, 1981, 84 min / 126 min)
“In 1974, a Basque expedition to Mount Everest was forced by a monsoon to return just three hundred metres from the summit. A separate expedition reached the “Roof of the World” in 1980. The film shows images of both expeditions, the first of which was filmed on 35mm by Fernando Larruquert and Ángel Lerman, the second on Super 16mm by Juan Ignacio Lorente, Martín Zabaleta and other members of the expedition.” [Basque Film Archive]

Fernando Larruquert (Irún, 1934). “Film editor, director and photographer. Has been interested in music from an early age. Founded and directed the Alaiki chorus in 1950 and the Coral Irunesa de Cámara in 1959. His passion for film, shared with his circle of friends, among whom were artists such as Jorge Oteiza, Néstor Basterretxea and Agustín Ibarrola, led him to his first short film, Operación H, co-authored by Basterretxea – a short experimental piece financed by Navarran industrialist Juan Huarte. Larruquert and Basterretxea then set up the production company Frontera Films Irun, SA, and started producing their own films. Larruquert also worked on many different productions as film editor and director of photography. In the early nineties, he finally left the film world to work as a commercial photographer in Irun.” [Basque Film Archive]

Mikel Eskauriaza (Bilbao, 1969) is an artist.