EXCLUSIVE: Berlin-based Picture Tree International (PTI) has boarded sales on Rafaela, the debut feature from Basque filmmaker Alba Lozano.
Shooting since September 30, the film stars Loreto Mauleón, whose credits include Celia Rico’s period drama The Good Manners, HBO’s Patria and Netflix thriller The Snow Girl.
She is joined by Nerea Sanz, whose credits include Fernando González Molina’s Netflix feature My Dearest Señorita andMiguel Garcés, whose credits include San Sebastián Golden Shell winner Sundays and Berlinale competition title 20,000 Species of Bees.
Set in Bilbao in 1889 and inspired by the life of Rafaela Ybarra, the film follows the wealthy and deeply religious Rafaela seeking purpose after devastating family losses. When a baby left on her doorstep leads her to Catalina, a young woman trapped in a brothel, Rafaela takes Catalina and the baby’s mother, María, into her home.
Determined to offer them protection and an education, she sets out to establish a school for vulnerable girls, defying her own social circle. But Catalina has her own dreams, rejects religion and insists on choosing her own path. As social upheavals divide the city and threaten her project, Rafaela must reconcile her religious convictions with Catalina’s determination to live on her own terms.
Shooting in Basque over six weeks across the Basque Country, Rafaela is produced by Baleuko, 11 Varas, 100 Acres and La Claqueta PC, in co-production with Belgium’s Caviar. EITB and RTVE are participating, with funding from the Basque Government, the Provincial Council of Bizkaia and ICAA.
A Contracorriente Films will release the film theatrically in Spain, with a launch anticipated in autumn/winter 2027. It is written by Candela Izquierdo, Gemma Urraka and Leire Albinarrate (Ángela).
Picture Tree’s AFM market premieres also include Constantin Film’s The Perfect Holiday, Bora Dagtekin’s sequel to The Perfect Secret and the newly remastered 4K version of The Experiment, by Oliver Hirschbiegel.
Upcoming projects include the Uruguayan period thriller Matarifes – Hunger for Change, directed by Rafael and Bernardo Antonaccio (In the Quarry), Swedish tech satire Push the Button, featuring Noah Taylor, and The Stolen Child, an English language medieval fantasy epic written and directed by Sebastian McKinnon.
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