Basque company Gariza Films is partnering with France’s La Fidèle to co-produce “Ane & Peio, A Paprika Love Story,” writer-director Lara Izagirre’s follow-up to “An Autumn Without Berlin.”
Izagirre caught attention with “Berlin,” a Basque homecoming drama which earned a best new actress Goya award for Irene Escolar in 2016.
One of the 17 movie projects selected to be pitched at the San Sebastian Festival’s 7th Europe-Latin America Co-Production Forum, “Ane & Peio” is set up at Gariza, and produced by Itxaso Espinal and Jokin Etcheverria at La Fidèle.
The story turns on Ane, a 30-year-old journalist whose dream has always been to be a travel writer and spend her life globetrotting. But her hopes don’t coincide with reality: She lives in Amorebieta, a small town in the Basque Country, sharing a flat with her grandfather.
However, Ane decides to change her life and starts to look for her first love, a man she hasn’t seen since she was 12-years-old.
“The project could be called as a dramedy,” Espinal said. “A romantic comedy, with a road trip as a common thread, where life gives us some sweeter moments and some that are not so good.”
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The Spain-France co-production for ‘Ane & Peio’ has been organic.
Taking place on both sides of the Spain-France border, filming is scheduled to take place in the two territories. Ane is from Spain’s Amorebieta, and Peio from Ezpeleta, a small town in the French Basque Country.
“The main language of the film will be Euskera but dialog will also be in French and [Castilian] Spanish. Having a French co-producer was an idea that arose at script stage,” Espinal said.
“In the co-production deal, La Fidele has 20% equity, 80% corresponds to Gariza. Both the artistic team and crew will be made up of people of both nationalities,” she added.
The project has secured 40% of its financing, having won support from Euroregion Nouvelle Aquitaine-Euskadi-Navarra cultural projects development program, and from the Basque Government for both screenplay and feature film.
‘Ane & Peio’s’ script has been developed at the SGAE Laboratory; project was selected by the 1st Barcelona Film and TV Market. Filming is scheduled for June 2019.
“The Spain-France co-production makes it easier for us to bridge into Europe. If we had a Latin American sales agent or distributor, it would open the door of this market and would be one step further to launching the project at a global level,” Espinal said.
“Pedro, Ane’s grandfather, one of the main characters in the film, is of Latin American origin. We would very much like to find a partner who would propose an actor for this role,” she added.
Bizkaia-based Gariza Films, whoich has produced five features in the last three years, is looking to back new filmmakers, build international outreach and produce quality films with cultural value.
Gariza’s credits include Paul Urkijo’s standout Spanish genre film, “Errementari – The Blacksmith and the Devil” and “An Autumn Without Berlin.”