09/12/2025 - Iñigo Azpitarte and newcomer Izaro Nieto star in an existentialist fable with elements of black humour, produced by Garabi Films and Txintxua Films

Actress Izaro Nieto, director Koldo Almandoz and actor Iñigo Azpitarte on the set of Azken Agurra (© David Herranz)

“I’m starting to shoot a feature at the end of the month, with touches of black comedy and a hint of existentialism. I’ll shoot it with my trusted team because for me, cinema, more than the result, is about the process. Of course I want them to be seen and liked, but films are the result of that process. A process that many people take part in, where there’s discussion, laughter, tears... That’s something AI will never achieve,” commented filmmaker Koldo Almandoz (The Deer [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Koldo Almandoz
film profile], programmed in the New Directors section of San Sebastián, and Ghost Ship [+see also:
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trailer
film profile], screened at IFFR and San Sebastián) in mid-October, when consulted by Cineuropa about his series Mouths of Sky [+see also:
interview: Koldo Almandoz
series profile] (see the interview). Now, that very shoot has just wrapped, and the end result will be titled Azken Agurra.

Shot on location in Donostia, Irun, Orio, Errenteria, Pasaia and other corners of the Basque Country, the film, written by the director himself and spoken in the Basque language, builds a contemporary, absurd, tender and profoundly human story, an auteur project that looks at life and death with irony, black humour and a deeply humanist sensibility. Its protagonist is Tomás Martínez, a 45-year-old antihero, who is the owner of a civil funeral home, infatuated with his young intern secretary, a clumsy father, a chaotic entrepreneur and an incorrigible dreamer who tries to make his way amid urns, secular funerals and questionable decisions.

The film is toplined by Iñigo Azpitarte (an actor seen recently in Karmele and Undercover [+see also:
trailer
film profile]) and marks the first feature-length turn by actress Izaro Nieto, while the cast is rounded off by Iñaki Beraetxe (the series Cristóbal Balenciaga [+see also:
series review
series profile], Karmele), Iraia Elias (She Walks in Darkness [+see also:
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trailer
film profile] and Pheasant Island [+see also:
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trailer
film profile], plus the series Mouths of Sky and Rotten Legacy) and the young Laia Escribano; it also boasts the participation of Sara Cózar (20,000 Species of Bees [+see also:
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trailer
interview: Estíbaliz Urresola
film profile]), Miguel Garcés (Sundays [+see also:
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interview: Alauda Ruiz de Azúa
film profile]) and Jose Ramón Soroiz (Maspalomas [+see also:
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interview: Aitor Arregi and José Mari …
film profile]), among others.

As in all of Almandoz’s work, spaces and locations play an essential role in Azken Agurra, which is conceived as an urban feature that explores the dichotomy between interiors and exteriors. These spaces, according to the auteur, reflect the characters’ psychology, their contradictions, and their emotional transition between the everyday and the absurd. “This feature will see the light of day during 2026. It’s a simple, suggestive story about ordinary people. I intend for anyone who goes to the cinema to see it to be able to switch off and enjoy a sincere, ironic story, a far cry from grand epics, fashionable causes and intellectual discourse,” the filmmaker concludes.

Azken Agurra is being produced by Marian Fernández Pascal and Koldo Almandoz for Garabi Films, in co-production with Asier Altuna and Marian Fernández Pascal for Txintxua Films, via Frakasa Films AIE. It has secured the support of the Basque Government and sees the participation of EITB.

(Translated from Spanish)