Aitor Arregi (Oñati, Gipuzkoa, 1977) He’s been euphoric for a few days. His film Handia, which he has co-directed with Jon Garaño, has just won the special prize of the jury of the Festival of San Sebastián.
What or who took him to the movies?
Since childhood I was hypnotized watching movies on TV or in the movies. Then it has been a long process of approaching this world little by little, until I met my partners of the production company Moriarti.
What book do you have on your nightstand?
Now I have two and they are very good. Lili Eta Biok (Lili’s education in Castilian), by Ramón Saizarbitoria. And the echo of the gunfire, by Edurne Portela.
And one that couldn’t end?
I tried it again and again, but I couldn’t finish the wizard, by John Fowles.
What’s the last movie you liked?
There have been several, but this year I liked the moment is silence, Martin Scorsese. I saw recently also Toni Erdmann, of Maren Ade, and I liked it, has been growing in my head.
What about your all-time favorite?
It makes me impossible to say one. I manage a group of favorites that according to the day … Now I’d say the Indiana Jones trilogy (the fourth doesn’t count for me) and Ryan’s daughter.
As a Basque, how does it feel to win the Special Jury Prize at the San Sebastián Festival?
It is an immense joy because it is the festival with which we have grown and we have discovered the cinema. But above all we are excited because San Sebastián Festival is one of the most important festivals in the world and to be in its prize, for us is very important.
What kind of movies do you hate?
There’s no one to loathe. But perhaps the least I like is bumping into a film that is Ventajista and does not address the issues with sincerity.
What song would I choose as a self-portrait?
One that I relate to my co-workers. The Musica Notturna de Madrid, by Luigi Boccherini. Especially the relationship with the end of Master and Commander, and during the filming of Handia we used to put in the car on the way to the set because it is so vital that we encouraged the day.
If I wasn’t a film director, what would you like to be?
It would haunt the audiovisual field. Several colleagues are also university professors and audiovisual schools and I feel comfortable there.
What is socially overrated?
The ability to adapt the person. It looks like a good thing, but, quoting Saizarbitoria, we would have to question whether it can sometimes be a miserable thing to have that ability to adapt to anything.
What order would you never accept?
I remember the Bond movie never Say Never ever. Life gives so many laps that I dare not answer something fairly convincing.
What filmmaker would give him a Nobel Prize? It’s hard to say a name again. Of the dead, I would give David Lean, Luis Buñuel and Alfred Hitchcock. Of the living, Steven Spielberg and David Fincher.
