The Search for Emak Bakia

In the spirit of Ray's astonishing art of the unconscious, filmmaker Oskar Alegria gleefully pursues diversion after diversion, exploring the narrow, seaside streets of Biarritz and its Basque Country environs: a clown's grandiose grave marker, an eccentrically named vintage clothier and a hard-to-decipher postcard all provide opportunities for narrative and geographical detours. With Alegria finding an answer to his initial inquiry around the 45-minute mark - it is at this extremely unconventional juncture that the film's opening credits finally roll - attention shifts to yet another extraordinary discovery of the filmmaker's roundabout search: a real-life Romanian princess (and former table tennis champion!) with an intimate knowledge of Emak-Bakia's true namesake. (Denver International Film Festival)