EXCLUSIVE: Félix Viscarre’s work on HBO series Patria is considered a key depiction of Basque separatist group ETA, and he is now returning to the subject.
Cameras are set to roll on Blanco, a Spanish film about Basque councillor Miguel Ángel Blanco, who was abducted and murdered by ETA in 1997. Viscarre is directing a project that’s been spearheaded by Nadie es Perfecto Producciones‘ Kiko Martínez in collaboration with journalists including Jon Sistiaga and Jimmy Guerra.
Blanco will use testimony from those journalists and other broadcasters to tell the story of Blanco’s killing, which became perhaps the most consequential death in ETA’s quest for the Basque region in Spain’s north to succeed from the country. Thousands protested the murder, turning the tide against the separatist movement. ETA disbanded in 2018.
Filming on Blanco will begin in September ahead of a planned 2027 release to coincide with the thirtieth anniversary of Blanco’s death. Producer Nadie es Perfecto is billing the pic as “not only” an exploration of the political and social impact of the events, “but also the human dimension of a tragedy that mobilized millions of citizens and turned Miguel Ángel Blanco into a symbol of unity and resistance against terrorism.”
Founded in 2000, three years after Blanco’s death, Nadie es Perfecto has developed more than 40 films, docs and TV series in total, including Fenómenas from Carlos Therón in 2023); Disco, Ibiza, Locomía from Kike Maíllo in 2024); Mala Influencia from Chloé Wallace last year).
The company is now lining up a trio of further productions: Pioneras. Solo Querían Jugar, directed by Marta López Díaz; Looking for Michael, by Juana Macías; and Perfectos Conocidos, by Javier Fesser.
Viscarret was co-director on Patria, a HBO Europe drama series about two women become estranged when one’s husband is killed by ETA. The novel adaptation was HBO’s first Spanish original.
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