Big Basque period production “Blind Ants,” “How the Lights Get In” from emerging director Diego Llorente and “War Material Captured From the Enemy,” the first feature directed by “The Others” editor Nacho Ruiz Capillas, all played at a vibrant second edition of Locarno’s Spanish Film Previews.
Joined by Carmela Román’s “Bed of Grass” and “Juliette & Camille,” two hybrid doc-fictions, the lineup also served to underscore one big driver powering Spanish cinema: its bullish regional industries.
Directed by Igor Legarreta (“All the Moons”), “Blind Ants” weighs in as a calling card for Basque Country production standards, galvanized by up-to 70% tax credits, attracting top companies from the rest of Spain, such as two of the film’s producers, Buendía Estudios and Lazona.
Adapting a Basque modern classic by Ramón Pinilla, Legarreta’s third feature is sold by Playtime, produced by top Basque production house Lamia and bound for release in Spain by Disney’s BVI on Oct. 9 – a powerful combination.
Set in 1935, “Blind Ants” was sneak peeked at Locarno via an impactful excerpt located on Bizkaia’s plunging north coast cliffs, where a storm destroys an English coal ship on the rocks below and Algorta’s villagers scramble for the cargo.
