Amaia Aberasturi, the Akelarre actress who triumphs in Spain

“I thought Akelarre It was going to be a powerful movie because the script seemed good to me before I started. During the filming I did not stop to think about it, but when I saw the final result I loved it and I realized that this had a future ”, he confesses Amaia Aberasturi (Gautéguiz de Arteaga, 1997) about the film about the witch hunt in the Basque Country that has catapulted her, almost overnight, into the Olympus of Spanish cinema. The interview takes place before the delivery of the Goya, to which it has been nominated. “I’m hallucinating. Me, my family and everyone around me, ”he says.

“The critic has described Akelarre like a feminist movie. However, the man’s shadow is lengthened, both thanks to the inquisitor (Judge Rustegui, played by Alex Brendemühl) and to those absent (parents, boyfriends …) to whom the accused entrust their salvation. It is a feminist film, but the man also has his weight because without him the plot would not exist. It is through their innocence that girls manage to understand what the male figure, in this case the judge, intends. My character is 16 years old, she does not know what they want from her, but from innocence she understands what the man is asking of her. It is always said that so hackneyed that all women are a bit witches and sometimes even in a pejorative sense. Yes, it is not said “you are a witch” …. This film wants to turn the concept around, demolish ideas of the patriarchy and see being a witch as something positive, women who tried to escape the repression that men put on them . Akelarre is another example that Basque cinema is full of intimate stories that captivate us more and more. We live in a good moment. Handia, Loreak … we come from powerful movies. I could not tell you the reason for its success. These are simple stories made by compact teams where there is a lot of pooling work … And although they are located in the Basque Country, we try to give it a universal component “.

Among all the praises and nominations received, do you remember which fuel compliment you liked the most? I would tell you that it has come from my parents, who have always insisted that I do what I like, that I am good for this. I am a very introverted person, but when I get on stage I gain confidence in myself. Seeing that the performance made me happy, it made me great, they supported me. Their trust has made me believe in myself too.

You danced, right? Since I was a child. In fact, one of the most important people in my life is Rosa, my dance teacher, who also trusted me. The dance was with the first thing I said “how good I feel.” Until I discovered interpretation and understood that what I wanted was to convey things. But I keep dancing; It makes me grow as an actress.

In an interview you said that what you missed the most when you were studying Early Childhood Education in Madrid was your horse. I have ridden since I was little. After leaving Madrid, I decided that I wanted to live in the Basque Country and travel when I had to work. I am very Basque and I love my land. I bought a horse there. After confinement, the first thing I did was go riding, but I fell, broke my arm, shoulder, foot … A disaster. I’ve had three operations on my foot. Now I try to be full with rehabilitation, but I have the agenda full between physiotherapists, surgeons, jobs, interviews …

A critical time to be stuck in hospitals. The last operation was in December. I empathized a lot with all those people who have to be in the hospital at times like this. They can’t come to visit you, there are strict hours … You don’t think about it until it’s your turn. You learn from everything.

What makes you feel comfortable? Very simple things. Being close to my family, sunny days, going to the beach, walking barefoot on the grass, the wind in your face …

And the fashion? Does it make you happy? I like. What happens is that I love to be comfortable, to be silly and if I’m gorgeous maybe I can’t (laughs). In my day to day I wear jeans, a T-shirt, sneakers … I like dresses because if I put them on I don’t have to think much. And I am inspired by magazines, seeing different styles and how fashion defines us. Now that I do shootings I discover things that a year ago I would not wear. For example, I never would have imagined that one day I would be dressed in Chanel and, look, here I am today. I am fascinated by the firm; His clothes seem super elegant to me and I think that his proposals can favor me.

You belong to the generation that is supposed to change the world. Are you on it? There are people who have very powerful critical thinking and others who do not and I don’t know why. But it is something that must be promoted and cinema is a way of making people think. Akelarre is in that line, inviting you to reflect. The good thing about critical thinking is that, whatever you think, you can defend it with arguments. As an Early Childhood Education teacher I try to do it with children: make them think from a young age, listen to what they have to say to me and put themselves in the place of the other.

You have started filming the Welcome to Eden series for Netflix, but do you see yourself practicing as a teacher in the future? Yes. Right now I choose to be an actress, although if I see that acting does not make me happy or is incompatible with living in my environment or with my family, I will resume teaching

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