Gaua

In the Basque mountains of the seventeenth century, Kattalin flees her violent husband in the middle of the night. She seeks refuge in the dark forest, where she meets three old women by the river. While they wash their clothes, they tell each other village gossip and ancient ghost stories, but what starts out innocently starts to get under Kattalin's skin. Fantasy becomes reality in this feverish nightmare, and her fate becomes intertwined with myths. In Gaua (The Night), four of these macabre stories come together in a satirical fairy tale. For within the Catholic witch hunts of the Inquisition lies the struggle for female liberation, and the witch is no evil monster in this case, yet a symbol of resistance. This eerie, deeply atmospheric folk horror powerfully demonstrates how old stories come to life and help turn the tide against oppression.

The Night, originally titled Gaua (Basque for 'the night'), premiered last year in the official competition of the 58th Sitges Film Festival and was subsequently selected for the Harbour program at IFFR. It is director Paul Urkijo Alijo's third Basque-language feature film.