Trailer for The Search for Emak Bakia.
In 1926, avant-garde artist Man Ray, a leading figure in the Dada and Surrealist movements, shot a cine-poem on Spain's Basque coast. The film was called Emak Bakia, a title rumoured to be obtained from a gravestone in a Biarritz cemetery - or perhaps it was the name of the house in which the artist stayed.
Filmmaker Oskar Alegria, inspired by the whimsically inventive artist, determines to uncover the truth behind the layers of myth. His journey is not, however, a straightforward one. At one point he decides to follow the path of a hare. He finds references to the film in singular nooks and crannies across Europe, from clowns to publishers, from a vintage clothes shop to old postcards.
An absurdist voyage or an assemblage of coincidence, Alegria's film brilliantly channels this legendary boundary-breaking artist.