Asier Altuna directs Karmele
- The Basque director's new film, based on the book La hora de despertarnos juntos by Kirmen Uribe and starring Jone Laspiur and Eneko Sagardoy, is currently being shot in the Basque Country
Asier Altuna (Bertsolari [+see also:
trailer
film profile] and Amama (When a Tree Falls) [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Asier Altuna
film profile], both selected in competition at the San Sebastian Festival) is currently directing his feature film Karmele on location in the Basque Country until the end of May. Jone Laspiur (Goya winner for Best New Actress 2021 for Ane Is Missing [+see also:
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trailer
interview: David Pérez Sañudo
film profile] and recently seen in titles such as Maixabel [+see also:
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interview: Icíar Bollaín
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interview: Colectivo Negu
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film profile], Contando ovejas [+see also:
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interview: José Corral Llorente
film profile] and the series Patria [+see also:
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series profile], as well as the film for which he won the Goya for Best New Actor, Giant [+see also:
film review
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interview: Aitor Arregi and Jon Garaño
film profile]) star in this film, supported by Nagore Aranburu (recently in La The Chapel [+see also:
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trailer
film profile] and Cristóbal Balenciaga [+see also:
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series profile]) and Javier Barandiaran (Maixabel, the series The Boarding School: Las Cumbres) in the roles of the central character’s mother and father.
Karmele is a project in Basque that is inspired by the novel La hora de despertarnos juntos by Kirmen Uribe, based on the true story of Karmele Urresti and Txomin Letamendi. Its plot (written by Altuna) features Karmele (played by Jone Laspiur), a Basque nurse exiled in France in the late 1930s. There she meets Txomin (played by Eneko Sagardoy), a virtuoso trumpet player with whom she experiences a story of love and political commitment between Paris, Caracas and the Basque Country. Together they form a family and share absolute complicity until the time comes to choose between loyalty to home and loyalty to ideas.
According to Asier Altuna, "Karmele is a story of perseverance, struggle and dignity in the face of a lack of freedom. As well as a journey through culture, music and art. I have always been attracted to family stories where different generations live together. I want to present a woman who, from a very young age, was forced to confront extreme situations with a courageous and dedicated attitude, consistent with her ideas and who never hesitated to defend them."
This is a project that Altuna has worked on for four years together with executive producer Marian Fernández Pascal (Txintxua Films) and for which the filmmaker has surrounded himself with his usual team: Javier Agirre (Goya winner for Giant and Amama (When a Tree Falls)) as cinematographer, Ander Sistiaga (also a Goya winner for Giant) as production manager, and Zaloa Ziluaga as art director, among others.
Karmele is produced by Txintxua Films and Esnatzeko Ordua Films AIE and participated in the 8th Europe-Latin America Co-Production Forum and in the Spanish Screenings Financing & Tech at the San Sebastian Film Festival; in the Industry section of the Dominican Global Film Festival in Santo Domingo; in the Proyecta section of the Ventana Sur Market in Buenos Aires; and in the Best Seller to Box Office Co-Production pitching session at the Cannes Film Festival. The film is in collaboration with Gastibeltza Filmak, is supported by the Région Nouvelle-Aquitaine, the Basque Government and the Diputación Foral de Gipuzkoa, and has the participation of EiTB and RTVE.
(Translated from Spanish by Vicky York)
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