José Alayón is shooting a new feature film, entitled La lucha, an intimate story set in the world of Canarian wrestling, a traditional sport of the Canary Islands that has been practised since its distant aboriginal era. The film - shot in super 16mm format - will be a coming-of-age film starring non-professional actors, mostly real wrestlers. An extensive search had to be carried out over a year by casting director Cendrine Lapuyade (El agua [+lire aussi :
critique
bande-annonce
interview : Elena Lopez Riera
fiche film]). From this process, the protagonists emerged: the young Yazmina Estupiñán and the veteran fighter Tomasín Padrón.

After his debut film, Slimane [+lire aussi :
bande-annonce
fiche film], and after years in creative production (his name appears in the credits of documentary titles such as Dead Slow Ahead [+lire aussi :
critique
bande-annonce
interview : Mauro Herce
fiche film] by Mauro Herce and The Sea Stares at Us From Afar [+lire aussi :
critique
bande-annonce
interview : Manuel Muñoz Rivas
fiche film] by Manuel Muñoz Rivas) and cinematography  (White on White [+lire aussi :
critique
bande-annonce
interview : Théo Court
fiche film] by Theo Court and The Hidden City [+lire aussi :
critique
bande-annonce
interview : Víctor Moreno
fiche film] by Víctor Moreno, among others) from the company El Viaje Films, Alayón now tells the story of Mariana (played by Yazmina Estupiñán). Her only passion is wrestling, but her body is too small for the canons of this contact sport, until one day in a rage she breaks the rules and faces the consequences. Meanwhile, her father, Miguel (played by Tomasín Padrón), is a veteran puntal (top-level wrestler) who is suffering from physical and emotional injuries, as he is still grieving for his recently deceased wife. Between day-to-day work, family, training and competitions, father and daughter try to overcome the difficulties of life.

The film is being shot in Fuerteventura, where a large technical team of professionals from the Canary Islands, as well as from the Iberian Peninsula, Colombia and Chile, has been assembled. Among them, Mauro Herce as cinematographer (winner of the Goya award for his work on Fire Will Come [+lire aussi :
critique
bande-annonce
interview : Óliver Laxe
fiche film] and who has already worked on Alayón's debut film), Marina Alberti as screenwriter and executive producer (White on White), Silvia Navarro as art director  (They Carry Death [+lire aussi :
critique
bande-annonce
interview : Samuel M. Delgado et Helen…
fiche film]), and Emma Tusell as editor (The Undergrowth [+lire aussi :
critique
interview : Macu Machín
fiche film], a film by Macu Machín, seen in the Forum at the last Berlinale and a success in the Zonazine section of the 2024 Malaga Film Festival).

La lucha is a co-production between El Viaje Films (España) and Blond Indian Films (Colombia), and funded by MEDIA - Europa Creativa, ICAA, Government of the Canary Islands, Cabildo de Tenerife and Radio Televisión Canaria. Also, with the associated production of Macaronesia Films and the support of the Canarian Wrestling Federation, the Fuerteventura Wrestling Federation, the town councils of Puerto del Rosario, Tuineje, Pájara and Antigua, the Fuerteventura Film Commission, and several Canarian wrestling clubs and associations.