More than half a century ago, many Basques left Spain to look for a better life working as sheepherders in the American West. In Amerikanuak, Nacho Reig looks at the lives of some of the last remaining Basque sheepherders in the United States. Against the backdrop of the vast blue skies and bleak but beautiful winter landscape of the small town of Elko, Nevada, immigrants such as Juan “Parrillas” Juaristi, an 83-year old resident at a Basque boardinghouse, reflect on the difficulties that many of these immigrants faced in forging new lives in a foreign country, their nostalgia for what was left behind, and their effort to preserve Basque culture. The Basque group Audience created the soundtrack specifically for the film, providing the perfect background for this film about Spanish emigration, adaptation, courage, community, and a rapidly disappearing way of life.
