Welcome Mister Hitchcock – A trip to the Basque Country. Exhibition of photographs. From 9 June to 3 September 2017, in the Didam.
The inhabitants of the Basque Coast have become accustomed to see countless visitors arriving during the summer. Among them, some celebrities who enjoy the climate and the atmosphere of our pretty Basque Country. Perhaps you think this phenomenon is new? Think again!
Our region and its abundant culture have been attracting people for a long time, artists, aristocrats, political figures, etc. From Victor Hugo to Madonna, Empress Eugenie, Bismarck, Matisse, Coco Chanel, Charlie Chaplin, Hemingway and Orson Wells, many have fallen under the spell of the Basque Country. And did you know? The great master of the suspense himself came too, to admire the beaches of San Sebastian and to tread Bayonne Bay … Indeed, he stayed in 1958 on the Basque Coast, on the occasion of the International Film Festival of Donostia where he presented his polar Vertigo.
Passionate about cinema and photography, the photographer Pedro Usobiaga has carried out a research and collection work on the Basque residence of the master of cinema.
The black-and-white photos he found seem to come straight out of a family album . We see the Hichtcock couple arriving at the airport, shopping, visiting San Sebastian, Lourdes and even Bayonne. Some photographs give an idea of the Bayonne of the late 1950s. Alongside the clichés of the era, the exhibition also presents contemporary photographs that reveal the changes that occurred during six decades.
The pictures also show the filmmaker’s interest in churches, but also his mood and anxiety during the evening following the premiere of Vertigo. They are accompanied by explanations and texts recounting the astonishing journey of Alfred and Alma Hitchcock in the Basque Country.
The exhibition was produced by the San Sebastian International Film Festival, as part of Donostia-San Sebastián, European Capital 2016.
At the same time, DIDAM organizes a number of activities, including visits by commentator Pedro Usobiaga, curator of the exhibition and Quentin Valois, director. But also the 22th of july, at 10pm, a free movie evening and outdoors, on the esplanade of DIDAM, with the spread of Sueurs froides.
For more information: http://www.bayonne.fr/culture-et-loisirs/culture/1465-le-didam-programme-5-expositions-en-2016.html
