Filming in Aedipsos for “Yerma”

A major international co-production is coming to Greece to film in Aedipsos. Yerma is an adaptation of Federico García Lorca’s theatrical masterpiece, portraying a woman’s desperate attempt to become a mother, directed by Lara Izagirre Garizurieta. It is a Spanish-Greek collaboration that emerged through the initiatives of the Thessaloniki Film Festival within the framework of the Evia Film Project, which is carried out with the support of the Ministry of Culture.

Lara Izagirre Garizurieta is the producer of the award-winning film 20,000 Species of Bees (2023) that began its journey from Thessaloniki and the Festival’s Agora, where it won the 2|35 Post-Production Award. It, then travelled to dozens of festivals throughout the world and won 42 awards, including the Silver Bear for Best Leading Performance in the Berlin Film Festival.

The director and producer of Yerma was a guest of the Festival in the Evia Film Project’s editions in 2023, 2024, and 2025. There she met and finalized her collaboration with producer Amanda Livanou and her company, Neda Film. In 2023 the Festival organized a special program for location managers and producers from Greece and abroad (a FAM Trip / familiarization trip), aiming to help film industry professionals discover the environment and locations of Northern Evia, promoting it as a filming destination for productions from around the world. The director of Yerma participated in this program. At the same time, the Evia Film Project and its networking activities played a decisive role in establishing connections with local authorities and the local community.

Lorca’s Yerma is one of the most important works of the Spanish theatrical repertoire and explores the anguished and tragic pursuit of motherhood arising from the social conventions of the time. The play highlights the proto-feminist perspective of Federico García Lorca, offering a critique of the patriarchal mindset that prevailed in rural Spain.

The film’s director brings the story into the contemporary era. Yerma will begin shooting in Bilbao at the end of April, while the shooting in Aedipsos will take place in June. Mara seems to have everything in place: her vocation is now her career, a marriage, and a new home. Until a new, unstoppable desire puts everything at stake: becoming a mother. She longs for biological motherhood more than anything, unaware that the repeated failures of fertility treatments will push her to unimaginable limits. Her stability is shaken by an obsession she must break free from in order to find herself again.

The adaptation of the original theatrical work was made by screenwriter María Goiricelaya for the stage in Bilbao, where it achieved great success. Subsequently, the screenwriter co-wrote the film script together with the director, with the same actors in the leading roles, Ane Pikaza and Aitor Borobia.

Yerma is produced by Gariza Films, in co-production with Neda Film and supported by Eurimages. The film also receives support from the Basque Government, the public broadcasters EITB and TVE, and the BBK Foundation, and on the Greek side, it is co-produced with ERT, with support from the Hellenic Film and Audiovisual Center (EKOMED) and additional development support from Creative Europe MEDIA.

Screenwriters: María Goiricelaya, Lara Izagirre Garizurieta

Director: Lara Izagirre Garizurieta

Producers: Lara Izagirre Garizurieta, Garazi Elorza Vadillo, Ana Angulo Umaran, Amanda Livanou, Katerina Tzourou

Starring: Ane Pikaza (Mara), Aitor Borobia (Jon)

In addition to the co-production of Yerma, another important collaboration emerged through the activities of the Evia Film Project with the production company Gariza Films. This is an artistic exchange between the Festival and the creative hub Etxe Betea in Bilbao, managed by Gariza Films, with the aim of developing film projects. Specifically, Etxe Betea runs a residency program titled A Room of One’s Own, offering women directors who are preparing their films, accommodation and financial support for their projects. As part of this collaboration, director Alkistis Efthymiou was selected in 2025 to travel to Bilbao. At the same time, two international creators, Mikelle Landa Eigurén and María Herrera López, who participated in the Etxe Betea program, took part in the Evia Film Project Agora in 2025, where they held meetings with leading industry professionals from around the world in search of new collaborations.

The Evia Film Project is an initiative of the Thessaloniki Film Festival, which operates under the supervision of the Ministry of Culture.