Arriya - the Stone

Colour, 35 mm
Spain, 2011, 105 min
IP – International premiere
Section: Official Selection - Out of Competition

Synopsis

In a small Basque border town, two families have entered into a bet that spans generations. Their conflict, based on a competition to see whose horse or mule is better at pulling heavy rocks, is set in a cruel world of dirty tricks, doping, hatred, revenge, and envy. In this cold-hearted environment, the boulder may as well have been tied around the neck of the next generation: three young lives are intertwined in a love triangle that began in childhood – Peru is dating María, who battles against ossified traditions, and Jone returns from school in Paris for vacation in order to complicate their relationship. In such an atmosphere of intolerance, will they be able to escape from the endless, irrational feud and the narrow-mindedness of the past?

About the director

Alberto J. Gorritiberea (b. 1970, Zumaia, Spain) went to school in Madrid. He started out as an editor on commercials and for Basque television. He has shot several short films, including Vegetal, which screened at international festivals. Other documentaries: 1908-2008 y sigo, about the life and work of Jorge Oteiza, and The Whisper of the Rocks (Flysch, Haitzen Hitza, 2009), on the geological history of the planet. He debuted in features with Eutsi! (2007). Arriya - the Stone (2011) is his second feature film.