Paul Urkijo’s Errementari (The Blacksmith and the Devil) Selected for Frontières@Brussels 2016
Howard Gorman
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Although still in pre-production, Paul Urkijo’s directorial feature debut, Errementari, has already been selected as one of just 20 projects accepted as part of this year’s Frontières@Brussels 2016 line-up.
In collaboration with the Basque production company Kinoskopik, writer/director Urkijo is preparing an adaptation of the Basque folklore fable “Patxi Errementaria,” first chronicled by José Miguel Barandiarán in 1903.
Errementari marks the young helmer’s first feature and will be shot entirely in Basque, reuniting him with Kinoskopik after a number of successful short film collaborations. Hot off the success of Miguel Ángel Jiménez’ Chaika (2012) and on picking up a plethora of international awards, the Basque Country-based production company makes a return to its roots to produce a passionately devised and ambitious fantasy film on a scale never previously witnessed in the Basque Country.
And Paul Urkijo can’t emphasize enough just how close to his heart this project is: “It’s a rural tale about the most nefarious of blacksmiths who even demons themselves are afraid of. It was a favourite story of mine as a child and I’ve always dreamed of being able to turn it into a feature film.”
Urkijo has been hard at work on the project for all of 4 years and, to date, has amassed a grand total of 85 national and international awards with his previous short films. Being quite the mythology buff, most of his output has featured folklore and fantasy elements yet always seen from a personal perspective whilst fusing all manner of genres ranging from comedy, horror and adventure right through to social critique.
Biscay production banner Gariza Films are also on board, handling all digital communication and providing coaching for all child talent involved.
This year also marks the very first time a project in Basque has been picked up by the Frontières International Co-Production Market:
On attending Berlinale, where a co-production agreement was entered into with French production company, The Project, Errementari was swiftly picked up to feature as one of only 20 international projects selected for the Frontières@Brussels line-up. The Frontières International Co-Production Market is a collaboration between the Fantasia International Film Festival, Vision-in-Motion, and the Brussels International Fantastic Film Festival, set up as an essential networking destination for industry professionals seeking to stimulate the co-production and co-financing of genre films.
Commenting on the news, Kinoskopik producer Luis Oza said, “Getting picked up for Frontiéres is the equivalent of being elegibile for an Oscar for our pre-production endeavours”.
Bringing together producers, distributors and sales agents from around the world, Frontières returns to the Brussels International Fantastic Film Festival (BIFFF) for its 3rd European edition from March 30 – April 1, 2016.
Right now, the Errementari team are contending with the films’ extremely ambitious design process and principal photography is expected to begin in the Basque Country this Fall-Winter.
Frontières@Brussels 2016 features an extremely strong cross-section of projects from both emerging and established filmmakers. This year’s participants include director Can Evrenol (Baskin), producer Giles Daoust (Starry Eyes), producer Amy Darling (Violent), director Alexandre Philippe (Doc of the Dead), director Aaron Schimberg (Go Down Death), producer François Cognard (The Strange Color of Your Body’s Tears, Painless), executive producer Gil Kenan (Monster House, Poltergeist – 2015), director Glenn McQuaid (I Sell the Dead) and producers Larry Fessenden and Peter Phok (The House of the Devil, The Innkeepers).
The Complete Frontières@Brussels 2016 Line-Up is as follows:
12 (UK)
Director/Writer: Evrim Ersoy
Producers: James Pearcey, Russell Would, Katherine O’Shea, Nicole McControversy, Thierry Phlips (Ne’er Do Well Productions Ltd.)
Amsterdam Gothic (Netherlands)
Director/Writer: Chris W. Mitchell
Producers: Jan Doense, Herman Slagter (House of Netherhorror)
The Ballad of Audrey Earnshaw (Canada)
Director/Writer: Thomas Robert Lee
Producers: Amy Darling, Thomas Robert Lee (Media Darling)
Bath of Blood (Hungary)
Director: Yvonne Kerékgyártó, Garegin Vanesian
Writers: Yvonne Kerékgyártó, Garegin Vanesian
Producer: Károly Fehér (Popfilm Kft.)
Co-presented with The Film Garage
The Battle of Farador (Canada)
Director: Édouard Tremblay
Writers: Édouard Tremblay, Daniel Boulanger
Producers: Sonia Despars, Marc Biron (PARALLAXES)
Bloodsuckers (Finland)
Director/Writer: Elin Grönblom
Producer: Leila Lyytikäinen (Fisher King Production Oy)
Co-presented with the Nordic Genre Boost
Chained For Life (USA)
Director/Writer: Aaron Schimberg
Producer: Vanessa McDonnell (Grand Motel Films)
Crashed (France)
Director: David Morlet
Writers: Jean-Luc Cano, David Morlet, Samy Baaroun
Producers: Vincent Brançon, François Cognard (To Be Continued)
Demonolatry (Canada)
Director/Writer: Daniel Perlmutter
Producers: Laura Perlmutter & Andrew Nicholas McCann Smith (First Love Films Inc.)
Drain You (USA)
Director: Amanda Kramer
Writers: Amanda Kramer & Benjamin Shearn
Producer: Rebecca Rose Perkins (Rosa Lucida)
Executive Producer: Gil Kenan
Errementari (The Blacksmith and the Devil) (Spain – France)
Director: Paul Urkijo
Writers: Paul Urkijo, Asier Guericaechebarria
Producers: Luis de Oza, Miguel Angel Jimenez, Ortzi Acosta, Paul Urkijo, Gorka Gómez Andreu (Kinoskopik Film Production) Rodolphe Sanzé, Laurent Fumeron (The Project)
Fracture (Belgium)
Director/Writer: Benjamin Viré
Producer: Marie Besson, Samuel Tilman (Eklektik Productions)
Ghosts of India (Germany)
Director: Thor Klein
Writers: Thor Klein & Lena Vurma
Producer: Lena Vurma (dragonflyfilms)
Grimes & Blake at Your Service (USA)
Director/Writer: Glenn McQuaid
Producers: Larry Fessenden, Peter Phok (Glass Eye Pix)
Housewife (Turkey)
Director: Can Evrenol
Writers: Can Evrenol, Cem Ozuduru
Producer: MO Film
In Vitro (Canada)
Director: Pascal Trottier
Writer: Svet Ruskov
Producers: Casey Walker and Jay Deverett (Cave Painting Pictures)
Loyal (France)
Director: Guillaume Pierret
Writers: Samy Baaroun & Guillaume Pierret
Producers: Frédéric Fiore et Rémi Leautier (Logical Pictures/Indemne Films)
La maison sans visage (Canada)
Director: Rémi Fréchette
Writer: Sophie Grech
Producer: Caroline Gaudette (Version 10 Productions)
Monsters Within (USA)
Director: Alexandre O. Philippe
Art Director: Paul Sullivan
Producer: Kerry Deignan Roy (EXA), Annick Mahnert (Screen Division), Tom Davia (CINEMAVEN), Uri Aviv
Painkillers (Belgium)
Director: Vincent Toujas
Writer: Giles Daoust
Producers: Giles Daoust, Catherine Dumonceaux, Vincent Toujas (Title Media)
Categorized:News
