{ "id": "epfz043hye", "slug": "handia", "title": "Handia", "updated": "2026-11-01", "topic_path": [ { "id": "culture", "label": "Arts and culture", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture" }, { "id": "culture.performance", "label": "Screen and stage", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen", "label": "Film and television", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.films", "label": "Films and standalone screen works", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.films" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works", "label": "Individual films by title and year", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.war-historical", "label": "War and historical films (individual works)", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.war-historical" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.war-historical.historical-dramas-and-epics", "label": "Historical dramas and epics", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.war-historical.historical-dramas-and-epics" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.war-historical.historical-dramas-and-epics.alpha-symbols-to-l", "label": "Titles symbols to L", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.war-historical.historical-dramas-and-epics.alpha-symbols-to-l" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.war-historical.historical-dramas-and-epics.alpha-symbols-to-l.alpha-en-to-l", "label": "Titles En to L", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.war-historical.historical-dramas-and-epics.alpha-symbols-to-l.alpha-en-to-l" } ], "geo": [ { "id": "geo.weu.t2001.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.war-historical", "label": "Western Europe · 2001 to 2020: War and historical films (individual works)", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.weu.t2001.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.war-historical", "path": [ { "id": "geo.weu", "label": "Western Europe", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.weu" }, { "id": "geo.weu.t2001", "label": "Western Europe · 2001 to 2020", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.weu.t2001" }, { "id": "geo.weu.t2001.culture", "label": "Arts and culture", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.weu.t2001.culture" }, { "id": "geo.weu.t2001.culture.performance", "label": "Screen and stage", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.weu.t2001.culture.performance" }, { "id": "geo.weu.t2001.culture.performance.screen", "label": "Film and television", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.weu.t2001.culture.performance.screen" }, { "id": "geo.weu.t2001.culture.performance.screen.films", "label": "Films and standalone screen works", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.weu.t2001.culture.performance.screen.films" }, { "id": "geo.weu.t2001.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works", "label": "Individual films by title and year", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.weu.t2001.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works" }, { "id": "geo.weu.t2001.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.war-historical", "label": "War and historical films (individual works)", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.weu.t2001.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.war-historical" } ] } ], "excerpt": "Handia (Giant) is a 2017 Basque-language Spanish historical drama by Aitor Arregi and Jon Garaño about Miguel Joaquín Eleizegui, the Giant of Altzo; it won ten Goya Awards and the San Sebastián Special Jury Prize.", "snippet": "Handia (Giant) is a 2017 Basque-language Spanish historical drama by Aitor Arregi and Jon Garaño about Miguel Joaquín Eleizegui, the Giant of Altzo; it won ten Goya Awards and the San Sebastián Special Jury Prize.", "node": "culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.war-historical.historical-dramas-and-epics.alpha-symbols-to-l.alpha-en-to-l", "markdown": "# Handia\n\n**Handia** (Basque for \"the biggest\"; international title *Giant*) is a 2017 Spanish historical drama directed by Aitor Arregi and Jon Garaño, filmed almost entirely in the [Basque language](https://www.edgepedia.org/basque-language). It is inspired by the real story of Miguel Joaquín Eleizegui Arteaga (1818–1861), the \"Giant of Altzo\", a man with acromegaly who was exhibited as a freak-show attraction across Spain and Europe in the 19th century.[1](https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/14636204.2022.2142188) The film premiered in the Official Selection of the 65th San Sebastián Festival in September 2017, where it won the Special Jury Prize and the Irizar Award for Best Basque Film, and it went on to win ten [Goya Awards](https://www.edgepedia.org/goya-awards) in 2018.[2](https://www.kowalskifilms.es/proyectos/peliculas/estrenados/handia/)\n\n| Key fact | Detail |\n|---|---|\n| Original title / meaning | *Handia*, Basque for \"the biggest\"; international title *Giant*[3](https://filasiete.com/critica-pelicula/handia/) |\n| Directors | Aitor Arregi and Jon Garaño; screenplay by Arregi, Garaño, José Mari Goenaga, and Andoni de Carlos[2](https://www.kowalskifilms.es/proyectos/peliculas/estrenados/handia/) |\n| Running time / country | 114 minutes, Spain, 2017[4](https://www.sansebastianfestival.com/2017/sections_and_films/official_selection/7/650200/in) |\n| Historical basis | Miguel Joaquín Eleizegui Arteaga (1818–1861), the Giant of Altzo, who had acromegaly and toured Spain and Europe as an exhibition attraction[1](https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/14636204.2022.2142188) |\n| Language | Mainly Basque, with passages in Spanish, French, English, Portuguese, and Arabic, plus background Latin[5](https://journals.uco.es/hikma/article/view/11407) |\n| San Sebastián 2017 | Special Jury Prize and Irizar Award for Best Basque Film; nominated for the Golden Shell[2](https://www.kowalskifilms.es/proyectos/peliculas/estrenados/handia/) |\n| Goya Awards 2018 | 10 wins from 13 nominations, including Best New Actor (Eneko Sagardoy) and Best Original Screenplay[6](https://www.audiovisual451.com/el-trabajo-en-equipo-hace-gigante-a-handia-en-los-32o-premios-goya/) |\n\n## Spoilers\n\n### Plot and historical basis\n\nThe story opens in 19th-century Gipuzkoa. Martín (Joseba Usabiaga) returns from fighting in the First Carlist War to the family farmhouse and finds that his younger brother Joaquín (Eneko Sagardoy) has grown far taller than normal. Convinced that people will pay to see the tallest man on Earth, the brothers take Joaquín on a long tour of Europe as a fairground and circus attraction, and ambition, money, and fame permanently change the family's fate.[4](https://www.sansebastianfestival.com/2017/sections_and_films/official_selection/7/650200/in) In the film the giant is exhibited before illustrious figures including Queen Isabella II of Spain.[7](https://www.sensacine.com/peliculas/pelicula-244692/)\n\nThe historical Miguel Joaquín Eleizegui was born in 1818 at the Ipintza Zarra farmhouse in Altzo Azpi, a small municipality in the Tolosa region of Gipuzkoa.[8](https://www.labayru.eus/en/basque-ethnography-at-a-glance/giant/) He measured 2.42 meters, began growing abnormally at about age twenty, and did not stop until his death.[9](https://www.euskadi.eus/gobierno-vasco/-/noticia/20160411142735/jon-garano-hace-tiempo-que-queriamos-rodar-altzoko-handia-/kulturklik/es/) As recorded in the ethnographic study released by Labayru Fundazioa, he received visits from Elizabeth II of Spain, Victoria of England, Maria of Portugal, and Louis Philippe I of France.[8](https://www.labayru.eus/en/basque-ethnography-at-a-glance/giant/) Screenwriter Andoni de Carlos noted that the historical record on Eleizegui is scarce and much of it is mixed with myth, so the film's blend of reality and legend was a natural one; the film omits some documented episodes, such as his meetings with the leading monarchs of the era, including [Queen Victoria](https://www.edgepedia.org/queen-victoria).[10](https://bloguionistas.com/2018/02/05/goya-2018-sobre-el-guion-de-handia/)\n\nThe published synopses disagree on the opening year: the San Sebastián Festival and the Cinémathèque québécoise place the return in 1836, while sales and platform materials such as The Film Catalogue and Apple TV use 1843.[4](https://www.sansebastianfestival.com/2017/sections_and_films/official_selection/7/650200/in) • [11](https://www.thefilmcatalogue.com/films/handia-giant) The Film Catalogue also lists a 105-minute international version against the 114-minute festival and Spanish release print.[11](https://www.thefilmcatalogue.com/films/handia-giant) • [4](https://www.sansebastianfestival.com/2017/sections_and_films/official_selection/7/650200/in)\n\n## Production and language\n\nThe film was produced by Moriarti Produkzioak with Irusoin, Kowalski Films, and Aundiya Film, photographed by Javier Agirre, edited by Laurent Dufreche and Raúl López, and scored by Pascal Gaigne, a French composer based in [San Sebastián](https://www.edgepedia.org/san-sebastian).[12](https://lamadraza.ugr.es/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/Febrero-2026-ciclo-LOS-MORIARTI-ARREGI-GARAN%CC%83O-y-GOENAGA.pdf) • [13](https://www.abandomoviez.net/indie/p-52572-handia) Because no actor measured 2.42 meters, the production built the giant's body with digital effects, optical effects, and other tricks; costume designer Saioa Lara, who won a Goya for the wardrobe, described designing custom, proportioned clothing to disguise the stilts used for the role.[9](https://www.euskadi.eus/gobierno-vasco/-/noticia/20160411142735/jon-garano-hace-tiempo-que-queriamos-rodar-altzoko-handia-/kulturklik/es/) • [6](https://www.audiovisual451.com/el-trabajo-en-equipo-hace-gigante-a-handia-en-los-32o-premios-goya/)\n\nLanguage is central to the film's design. A study by Ana Tamayo Masero and Elizabete Manterola Agirrezabalaga of the University of the Basque Country documents that *Handia* is shot mainly in Basque but contains fragments in Spanish, French, English, Portuguese, and Arabic, with Latin heard in the background of several scenes, a novel feature in Basque-language cinema.[5](https://journals.uco.es/hikma/article/view/11407) The directors and their collaborators at Moriarti, founded in San Sebastián in 2001, had earlier made *Loreak* (2014), the first Basque-language film nominated for the Goya for Best Film; *Handia* was their follow-up, with Garaño describing the group's collaborative method in which their most important films are co-directed by two or three people.[14](https://elpais.com/cultura/cine/2025-11-06/los-maestros-del-plano-conjunto-que-gestaron-la-eclosion-del-cine-en-euskera.html)\n\n## Reception and awards\n\nAt the 65th San Sebastián Festival (22–30 September 2017) the film competed for the Golden Shell and received the Special Jury Prize and the Irizar Basque Film Award.[4](https://www.sansebastianfestival.com/2017/sections_and_films/official_selection/7/650200/in) It later won the Black Panther Award for best film at Noir in Festival 2017 in Como, where the jury cited its portrayal of cultural and personal identity through the relationship of two brothers.[15](https://www.noirfest.com/2017/News.asp?id_dettaglio=1179&lang=eng) It was preselected, together with *Campeones* and *Todos lo saben*, to represent Spain at the 2019 Oscars.[7](https://www.sensacine.com/peliculas/pelicula-244692/)\n\n**Goya sweep.** At the 32nd Goya Awards in February 2018 the film received 13 nominations, more than any other film that year, and won ten awards: Best New Actor (Eneko Sagardoy), Best Original Screenplay, Best Original Music, Cinematography, Editing, Production Direction, Art Direction, Costume Design, Makeup and Hairstyling, and Special Effects; it lost Best Film and tied *La isla mínima* and *Blancanieves* for the number of Goyas won.[6](https://www.audiovisual451.com/el-trabajo-en-equipo-hace-gigante-a-handia-en-los-32o-premios-goya/) • [16](https://elpais.com/elpais/2018/02/02/escaparate/1517586881_814012.html) It also won Feroz Awards for Best Music and Best Poster.[2](https://www.kowalskifilms.es/proyectos/peliculas/estrenados/handia/)\n\nOn Rotten Tomatoes the film holds a 78% Tomatometer from nine critics and a 65% audience score.[17](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/handia) Critics were broadly positive about its craft. Jonathan Holland of The Hollywood Reporter called it technically superb but found the script plodding after the midpoint.[17](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/handia) Javier Ocaña of *El País* praised its visual taste and formal apparatus, describing a film that avoids conventional biopic in favor of a near-poetic tale of superstition.[18](https://elpais.com/cultura/2017/10/19/actualidad/1508423789_618495.html?outputType=amp) Spanish press scores collected by eCartelera ranged from 60 to 80, with Carlos Boyero of *El País* calling it \"strange in the best sense, beautiful and sad\".[19](https://www.ecartelera.com.mx/peliculas/handia/criticas/)\n\n## Themes and scholarly reading\n\n[Academic writing](https://www.edgepedia.org/academic-writing) has read the film as an allegory of Basque identity in a century of change. Stephanie A. Mueller, an assistant professor of Spanish and Hispanic Studies at [Union College](https://www.edgepedia.org/union-college), contends in the *Journal of Spanish Cultural Studies* that Joaquín's atypical body stands for an othered, agrarian Basque culture threatened with extinction amid a modernizing Europe, whereas Martín tries to leave behind the rural life in which he was raised; the film additionally records how the two brothers cope with the liberal triumph in the First Carlist War and the fall of the Ancien Régime.[1](https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/14636204.2022.2142188) A related analysis in the *Hispanic Research Journal* reads the two brothers as embodiments of the confrontation between collective identity, associated with the rural *baserri* (Basque farmhouse), and individualism, associated with urban life, against the backdrop of the [Industrial Revolution](https://www.edgepedia.org/industrial-revolution) and the Carlist wars.[20](https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/14682737.2026.2696133)\n\nThe film's commercial and cultural reach has also drawn attention. Mueller's article states that *Handia*, with its ten Goyas, is the most viewed Basque film in history.[1](https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/14636204.2022.2142188) The actor Eneko Sagardoy, who won the Goya for Best New Actor for the role, said in 2025 that the film changed his life and that he still lives from it nearly a decade later.[14](https://elpais.com/cultura/cine/2025-11-06/los-maestros-del-plano-conjunto-que-gestaron-la-eclosion-del-cine-en-euskera.html) Alongside *Loreak* and *Amama*, it is cited as a work after which Basque-language film production flourished.[21](https://basqueculture.eus/media/uploads/basque/puntos/relacionados/10_things_basque_culture.pdf)\n\n## References\n\n1. [Stephanie A. Mueller (2022). \"Doubled brothers: misfitted male bodies and minoritized Basque culture in Handia (2017)\". Journal of Spanish Cultural Studies 23(4).](https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/14636204.2022.2142188)\n2. [Handia, Kowalski Films (filmography page with awards)](https://www.kowalskifilms.es/proyectos/peliculas/estrenados/handia/)\n3. [Juan Antonio Moreno (2018). \"Handia: Mito e identidad\". FilaSiete.](https://filasiete.com/critica-pelicula/handia/)\n4. [Handia, 65th San Sebastián Festival (2017) Official Selection](https://www.sansebastianfestival.com/2017/sections_and_films/official_selection/7/650200/in)\n5. [Ana Tamayo Masero & Elizabete Manterola Agirrezabalaga (2019). \"La creación, la traducción y el tratamiento lingüístico en Handia\". Hikma 18(1), 283–314.](https://journals.uco.es/hikma/article/view/11407)\n6. [\"El trabajo en equipo hace gigante a 'Handia' en los 32º Premios Goya\". Audiovisual451, 5 February 2018.](https://www.audiovisual451.com/el-trabajo-en-equipo-hace-gigante-a-handia-en-los-32o-premios-goya/)\n7. [Handia, SensaCine](https://www.sensacine.com/peliculas/pelicula-244692/)\n8. [\"Giant\". Labayru Fundazioa, Basque ethnography at a glance, 30 March 2018.](https://www.labayru.eus/en/basque-ethnography-at-a-glance/giant/)\n9. [\"Jon Garaño: «Hace tiempo que queríamos rodar 'Altzoko Handia'»\". Gobierno Vasco / Kulturklik, 11 April 2016.](https://www.euskadi.eus/gobierno-vasco/-/noticia/20160411142735/jon-garano-hace-tiempo-que-queriamos-rodar-altzoko-handia-/kulturklik/es/)\n10. [\"GOYA 2018: SOBRE EL GUION DE HANDIA (I)\". Bloguionistas, 5 February 2018.](https://bloguionistas.com/2018/02/05/goya-2018-sobre-el-guion-de-handia/)\n11. [Handia (Giant), The Film Catalogue](https://www.thefilmcatalogue.com/films/handia-giant)\n12. [Handia film notes, Universidad de Granada Moriarti cycle (February 2026)](https://lamadraza.ugr.es/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/Febrero-2026-ciclo-LOS-MORIARTI-ARREGI-GARAN%CC%83O-y-GOENAGA.pdf)\n13. [Handia (2017), AbandoMoviez](https://www.abandomoviez.net/indie/p-52572-handia)\n14. [\"Los maestros del 'plano conjunto' que gestaron la eclosión del cine en euskera\". El País, 6 November 2025.](https://elpais.com/cultura/cine/2025-11-06/los-maestros-del-plano-conjunto-que-gestaron-la-eclosion-del-cine-en-euskera.html)\n15. [\"Handia wins the 2017 Black Panther Award\". Noir in Festival.](https://www.noirfest.com/2017/News.asp?id_dettaglio=1179&lang=eng)\n16. [\"Las películas favoritas de los Goya 2018\". El País Escaparate, 2 February 2018.](https://elpais.com/elpais/2018/02/02/escaparate/1517586881_814012.html)\n17. [Handia, Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/handia)\n18. [Javier Ocaña (2017). \"Las raíces de un gigante\" (review). El País, 20 October 2017.](https://elpais.com/cultura/2017/10/19/actualidad/1508423789_618495.html?outputType=amp)\n19. [Críticas de 'Aundiya' (Handia), eCartelera México](https://www.ecartelera.com.mx/peliculas/handia/criticas/)\n20. [\"Urban Heart, Rural Soul: Exploring the Duality of Basqueness through Handia [The Giant] (2017)\". Hispanic Research Journal.](https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/14682737.2026.2696133)\n21. [\"10 Things to Know About Basque Culture\". basqueculture.eus.](https://basqueculture.eus/media/uploads/basque/puntos/relacionados/10_things_basque_culture.pdf)\n\n---\n*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Individual films by title and year › War and historical films (individual works) › Historical dramas and epics › Titles symbols to L › Titles En to L*\n\n*Initially written Oct 3, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*\n\n*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*\n\nLicense: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license\n", "same_as": [], "url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/handia", "markdown_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/handia.md", "license": { "name": "Edgepedia Community License 1.0", "url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license", "summary": "Free with credit, commercial use included. AI training is open to everyone. For other uses, organizations over USD 100M in revenue or 100M monthly users license separately.", "spdx": "LicenseRef-Edgepedia-Community-1.0" }, "credit": "\"Handia\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), https://www.edgepedia.org/handia. Edgepedia Community License 1.0.", "credit_md": "\"[Handia](https://www.edgepedia.org/handia)\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), [https://www.edgepedia.org/handia](https://www.edgepedia.org/handia). [Edgepedia Community License 1.0](https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license).", "credit_html": "\"Handia\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), https://www.edgepedia.org/handia. Edgepedia Community License 1.0.", "speakable": "Handia is a 2017 Basque-language Spanish historical drama by Aitor Arregi and Jon Garaño about Miguel Joaquín Eleizegui, the Giant of Altzo; it won ten Goya Awards and the San Sebastián Special Jury Prize." }