‘Los Williams,’ highlights the rising prominence of Basque documentaries

In July, José Luis Rebordinos, director of the San Sebastián Film Festival, highlighted the growing prominence of documentaries at this year’s event. Among the notable examples he cited were Albert Serra’s “Afternoons of Solitude,” and the New Directors opener “La guitarra flamenca de Yerai Cortés,” the directorial debut of Antón Álvarez, better known to date as singer-songwriter C. Tangana.

“Genre auteur cinema has been around for some time, but there’s ever more of it, and non-fiction cinema is increasingly normal,” Rebordinos observed. These selections highlight Spain’s expanding presence in the documentary realm. Basque cinema is not lagging behind. 

A prime example is “Los Williams,” which arrives at the festival bolstered by the celebrity of its subjects, soccer superstar siblings Iñaki and Nico Williams. Amaia Remírez, its producer at Kanaki Films, shared with Variety that director Raúl de la Fuente drew his inspiration from seeing the profound influence these two Black athletes had on his nine-year-old son.

“I’d say that it’s a growing scene, and it’s growing internationally. I think there are more bold titles coming every year, and the vision they have has expanded,” said Marias Recarte of En Cero Coma, Fremantle’s Spanish doc label which co-produced the project. 

“Basque producers are becoming increasingly aware of the power their local stories have to become universal,” added Rosaura Romero, also from En Cero Coma, which, since its founding in 2021, has followed the words of its then head Fernando Jerez to “add talent, discover new creators, and explore new perspectives.”

In documentary filmmaking, more than any other genre, patience is key as narratives unfold in real time. Iñaki and Nico Williams did their bit, emerging as pivotal figures in Athletic Bilbao’s Copa Del Rey triumph, with Nico further distinguishing himself at the Euros as one of the world’s most promising talents.

While the scale of these projects has increased, their core themes remain consistent. “The reason behind this film is that he [the director] wanted to keep talking about the themes he’s been dealing with his whole career, like integration, international human rights, but using a very powerful loudspeaker, that of soccer,” Amaia Remirez observed.

Pinpointing the exact reasons for the Basque Country’s documentary prowess is challenging, yet Xabi Berzosa of Irusoin speculates that regions with deep historical roots create fertile ground for the genre to thrive. “You know that the Basque Country is very intense in documentary production and it relates to the magic of all places that are politically strong – they always want to get documentaries, tell their side of the story,” he said. 

John Hopewell contributed to this article.