I just finished a beast (in length at least) of a book copyediting job for the Center for Basque Studies at the University of Nevada, Reno: The Basque Nation On-Screen: Cinema, Nationalism, and Political Violence by Santiago de Pablo, 548 pages in its manuscript form. A film study of how Basque culture and politics are conveyed on-screen, the book is a great read into fact, fiction, and myth in Basque Country history, particularly the period involving the democratic transition after Franco’s death and the various components of Basque Nationalism, especially ETA violence.

It’s amazing how much goes into the making of a film, and this book goes to show how, especially when politics are involved, films can take on all new meanings depending on the audience and the year they are viewed. Though many of the discussed films were box-office failures, I’ve marked a few for my Netflix queue.