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‘La Koreana,’ a Banner New Talent Title From Spain, Brought to Market at Locarno by Producers Lazona Zinema and Estibaliz Urresola’s Sirimiri (EXCLUSIVE)
Basque director Joana Moya’s debut feature, ‘La Koreana’, is being produced by Sirimiri Films and Lazona Zinema and presented to potential partners at Locarno’s Match Me! co-production forum. The project has attracted attention after winning the top Sideral Ikusmira Berriak Prize at a Spanish development lab, positioning it as a notable emerging Spanish film title.
Set around the iron-mining landscape of La Arboleda in Bizkaia across timelines including 1890 and the 1960s, the film follows Manuela, an Andalusian woman joining her husband at a mine already in decline. Inspired by Moya’s grandmother’s migration from Málaga, it explores memory, industrial exploitation and the lasting effects on people and landscape, with the mountain presented as its central character.
In short
- Spanish debut feature ‘La Koreana’ heads to Locarno’s co-production market.
- It explores mining, migration and memory in the Basque Country.
- The project previously won a major Spanish development-lab prize.
Explained simply
La Arboleda, in Bizkaia in Spain’s Basque Country, grew around iron mining. The film moves between the mining era of the 1890s and the 1960s, following Manuela, an Andalusian woman who joins her husband at a mine in decline.
Director Joana Moya drew on her grandmother’s move from Málaga for the story. It looks at how migration and mining shaped people’s lives and the landscape, with the mountain at its centre.
The project is Moya’s debut feature, produced by Sirimiri Films and Lazona Zinema. Its prize at a Spanish film development lab and presentation at Locarno’s Match Me! forum bring it to the attention of potential production partners.
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