“Aulki Hutsak” (Empty chairs) it is a film about grief and hope. 


On a universal issue, it´s a multilingual project, made from a local perspective. Collecting both personal experiences and professional notes, interspersing both experiences from the perspective of the “wounded healer”. From the personal and professional experience of the author to encompass other personal and human experiences and deliver it structured as a audiovisual tool for informative purposes and what not, for healing. Among the participants, we count with well-known professionals as Izaskun Andonegi (Asociación Bidegin), Marije Goikoetxea (Universidad de Deusto), Julio Gómez (Hospital San Juan de Dios Santurtzi), Koldo Martínez (Complejo Hospitalario Navarra) or Imanol Querejeta (Hospital Universitario Donostia).

The film, in original version with subtitles in English, is divided into 4 chapters that go on graduation from the initial pain to the hope, talking about anger as one of the possible feelings, and considering those “perfect days” at Christmas or other marked dates as sometimes particularly difficult times. With an afterword in which we collect what was a big surprise for the whole team. It is accompanied by images taken at locations known and not so known in the Basque country and Navarre, with a good sample of contemporary music in Basque.

“AH” was premiered in December 2013, and since then we have carried out more than 60 public shows in different areas, from houses of culture with the general public to specialized palliative care sessions among professionals. The film was awarded in two categories at the 6th Edition of the Invisible Film International Festival of Bilbao in Autumn 2014. We participate also out of competition at the 12th International Festival of Cinema and Human rights in Donostia-San Sebastián and the Festival of Basque Cinema – Zinemaldia, Euskal Etxea of Barcelona.

It was showed in Euskal Telebista TV (one of the sponsors) and in Hamaika Telebista. It has been sponsored also by Fundación La Caixa, the county councils of Bizkaia and Gipuzkoa, the Basque Government and the Basque public University UPV/EHU. It is produced by the audiovisual cooperative “Arteman”.

It´s available for free on the net of public libraries of the Basque country and Navarra. You also have it in DVD format in the libraries ‘Garoa” of Zarautz and Donostia-San Sebastian and also via on-line in this link.


Iñaki Peña Bandrés
Director and writer of “AH”.
Internal Medicine Physician specialized in Palliative Care
Hospital del Alto Deba. Arrasate-Mondragón (Gipuzkoa).