Baskavígin

In June 1615, 86 Basque whalers, captained by Martín de Villafranca, Pedro de Aguirre and Esteban de Tellería set sail for the icy waters of Northern Iceland. Over a successful hunting season, several clashes and thefts occurred between the Icelandic population and the Basque crews. These events were turned to their advantage by Lutheran minister Jón Grímsson and local magistrate Ari Magnússon to prompt an armed peasant uprising. To boot, in late September a ferocious storm destroyed the whalers' vessels, making it impossible for them to return to San Sebastian. Trapped and with no supplies on the poorest and most hostile island in Europe, the men set out on a desperate flight where only the hardest and wiliest among them would make it. An adventure of survival told by the learned Jón Laérdi Guðmundsson, who never imagined that his Basque friends would play such an important part in Iceland's darkest episode. (San Sebastian International Film Festival)