ZDF Studios has picked up the international distribution rights to "Lume," an eco thriller set against the wildfire crisis on the northern Portugal-Spain border, which is having a devastating impact on the countryside. The series will be streamed on Warner Bros. Discovery's platform Max in Spain and Portugal. It will air at the same time on RTP and Televisión de Galicia (TVG), which are the public broadcasters of Portugal and Galicia, Spain's north-west region.
The six-part suspense drama was produced by Lisbon's Coral Europa and Setemedia in Santiago de Compostela, which is the capital of Galicia. It is set in a hamlet called Seara, which is on the Portugal-Galicia border. A massive forest fire is blazing there, and journalist Lucía is investigating. She has her reasons for wanting to get to the bottom of what happened. She was born and raised in the village, and her father was accused of starting the deadly fire and then committing suicide in jail. In the series, Lucía starts to uncover the powerful economic interests behind the forest fire. "Lume" is directed by Portugal's International Emmy-winning and two-time nominated Sérgio Graciano ("Laços de Sangue") and Spain's Giselle Llanio ("Pazo da familia").
The series was executive produced by Setemedia's Alberto Domínguez and Coral Europa's José Amaral, and was created by Irene Pin and co-written by Pin and Sara Rodi. The cast includes Portuguese Academy Sophia Award-winner Lúcia Moniz ("Love Actually," "Uma Vida à Espera"), Albano Jerónimo ("The Domain") and Ricardo Pereira ("Amor Amor") from Portugal and Spain's Cristina Castaño ("La que se avecina") Xúlio Abonjo ("Sin plomo") and Alfonso Agra ("Serramoura").
Susanne Frank, Director of Drama at ZDF Studios highlighted the collaboration with Spain and Portugal:"We were sold on the subject matter and the partners involved right away. We've been working with Spain and Portugal for decades and we're really happy to be able to build on that and work together more and more on joint projects and co-productions," stated.
Meanwhile, Alberto Domínguez, Executive Producer at Setemedia made reference to the environmental issues surrounding the thriller:""Lume" is a thriller, which is one of the best commercial vehicles out there, but it's the first TV series to portray wildfires as a social issue. It's not just Spain and Portugal that are seeing more and more wildfires. Germany and Canada are also affected. It's a global issue, and we're shooting it with a lot of respect," commented.
Finally, Bruno de Lima Santos, Managing Director, Coral Europa emphasized the importance of the genre: "The secret is also in two words we’ve used to described its genre from the beginning: Eco thriller. Ecological issues concern all societies, and thrillers are in market demand. Combining the two, our series is a curious hybrid, attracting attention from broadcasters and society at large," noted.
Related News
