At this year’s LA VirtualScreenings, Filmaxis highlighted its latest TV acquisition: the series Mouths of Sand(4×50’), produced by Txintxua Films for ETB and successfully released by the Basque public TV channel.
The series is a Nordic-noir style police thriller set in northern Spain. It is directed by KoldoAlmandoz, winner of the Basque Film award at the San Sebastian Film Festival for his opera prima The Deer (2018), and boasts a strong cast headed by Nagore Aramburu (Flowers, Patria) and EnekoSagardoy (Errementari, Handia).
Mouths of Sand isthe latest offering from the thriving Basque scene, which has been responsible for some of the best Spanish fiction in recent years and has enjoyed success in both cinemas and on the small screen.
Marian Fernández, producer, said: ‘This is Txintxua Films’ first foray into the fictional series format and we’ve been able to tackle the challenge head-on, thanks to an outstanding cast and crew, with KoldoAlmandoz in the director’s chair, Nagore Aranburu and EnekoSagardoy heading a cast of wonderful Basque actors and Javier Agirre once again demonstrating his mastery of photography and lighting. The fantastic reception from both viewers and critics alike, after the premiere in the Basque Country, confirms that we have fulfilled our objective of producing a series that the audience connects with and that is hugely satisfying’,
Eduardo Barinaga, ETB’s director, added: ‘The backing that EITB has given fiction has been most relevantly displayed in the series Mouths of Sand, in which the know-how of a movie producer has come together with an experienced director and the platform that EITB offers. What the critics have dubbed the new «Basque noir», is the start of a collaboration that EITB hopes will be long-lasting. Both teams are currently working on developing a second series’.
Ivan Diaz, Head of International at Filmax, concluded: ‘We loved this series from the first moment we saw it. It is reminiscent of some of the best independent police thrillers that have been made in recent years. Much care has been taken over the style and aesthetic and we are sure that it has great potential to travel to other countries’.
