Noticia de un secuestro (News of a kidnapping) on Prime Video and Turbia (Muddy) on ViX+ are the two Colombian productions available for subscribers.
Early 90's, Colombia. The government tries to combat drug trafficking with extradition laws. Maruja Pachón and Beatriz Villamizar –the wife and sister of congressman Alberto Villamizar– are kidnapped by the Extraditables. The police begin a search for clues that could help them close in on the kidnappers, and Alberto joins the operation to rescue his family.
This is the official synopsis of Noticia de un secuestro, a series based on the book by Gabriel García Márquez. It tells the true story of a group of people in politics and journalism in Colombia who Pablo Escobar and his entourage kidnapped during the drug trafficking era in the early nineties. The book recounts the interrelated kidnappings of journalist and Focine director Maruja Pachón; Beatriz Villamizar de Guerrero; director of Criptón news and Hoy x Hoy magazine, Diana Turbay; editor Azucena Liévano; writer Juan Vitta; camera operators Richard Becerra and Orlando Acevedo; German photographer Hero Buss; Marina Montoya; and the editor-in-chief of El Tiempo, Francisco "Pacho" Santos.
Composed of six episodes and co-produced between Chile and Colombia, the series is directed by Chileans Andrés Wood (Violeta se fue a los cielos —Violeta went to heaven—, Machuca) and Julio Jorquera (Mi último round —My last round—). A technical team of more than 250 people produced the film. It included executive producers María Elena Wood, Matías Cardone, Macarena Cardone, and Patricio Pereira (Invercine & Wood); Lourdes Díaz and Stuart Ford (AGC Studios); and García Márquez's son, screenwriter, and director, Rodrigo García Barcha (The Affair, Six Feet Under). In Colombia, production services were provided by FoxTelecolombia, with Diana Camargo Buriticá as executive producer; Miguel I. Littin-Menz and Paulo Pérezas directors of photography; Eleonor Barajas as art director; Ana María Urrea as costume designer; Vivianne Saler as makeup designer; and Boris Herrera, Juan Manuel López, and Yesid Vásquez in sound.
The series stars Colombians Juan Pablo Raba, Cristina Umaña, Julieth Restrepo, Constanza Duque, Majida Issa, Carmenza Gómez and Jairo Camargo.
Turbia on ViX+
In 2023, Cali is experiencing a tremendous environmental and social crisis due to water scarcity. The drought that has been going on for several months and the contamination and disappearance of the city's main water basins have made various inhabitants carry out their daily tasks, trades, and activities amid a harsh and savage context. The city has been split into two zones. The first one, a privileged area with strong security cordons, is the home of the wealthiest and most powerful. The second one, the "dry zone," lacks drinking water and shelters the rest of the population. People living in the dry zone, completely hit by the crisis, have reached the highest levels of violence, unhealthiness, and corruption. Meanwhile, an approaching rain announced in the media disturbs everyone.
This is the story of Turbia, which is now available on ViX+, a TelevisaUnivision Interactive platform aimed at Spanish-speaking audiences in the United States and Latin America. ViX is the world's largest Spanish-language streaming service with a catalog of original series, movie premieres, and telenovelas. It was relaunched on March 31, 2022, in Mexico and the United States as part of the merger of Blim TV, Univision Now, and its sister platform Prende TV. ViX+ is a paid monthly subscription service that provides access to exclusive content initially created in Spanish.
Turbia is a six-episode series directed by Colombian filmmakers Oscar Ruiz Navia (El vuelco del cangrejo—Crab Trap—), Carlos Moreno (Perro come perro —Dog eat dog—), César Acevedo (La tierra y la sombra —The land and the shadow), William Vega (La sirga —The towrope—), Jorge Navas (La sangre y la lluvia —Blood and Rain—) and Santiago Lozano (Siembra). The series had its world premiere in the International Panorama Competition of the Series Mania Festival in France. It has won awards such as Best Latin American Fiction Series and the Grand Prize Diseñar Futuro at the TAL 2021 Awards of the Latin American Public Television Network. It was also nominated for Best Miniseries, Best Screenplay, and Best Art Direction at the India Catalina Awards of the Colombian Audiovisual Industry 2022. It was selected at the Los Angeles Latin American Film Festival - LALIFF (2022) in its Episodics section.
It is a production of Colombian companies Contravía Films and Inercia Películas, in co-production with Telepacífico, Blond Indian Films, and Gatoencerrado Films, in association with 64-A Films. The film screenplay was written by Alonso Torres Arana, Genny Cuervo, Oscar Ruiz Navia, César Acevedo, Carlos Moreno, Jorge Navas, and Carlos Tellez. Juan David Velásquez directed the cinematography, Marcela Gómezand Daniel Rincón were in the art direction, Andrés Porras and Felipe Guerrero in editing, Isabel Torres and Carlos Segovia in direct sound, John Alex Castillo in casting, Ana María Acosta in costume design, and Ángela Trejos in production management. Felipe Bravo composed the original music, Nathalie Choquette led the line production, Julián Laguna was the first assistant director, and Juan Manuel Betancourt was the VFX artist.
The film was produced by Ana María Ruiz Navia and Oscar Ruiz Navia from Contravía Films and Paola Pérez Nieto from Inercia Películas. The cast included Francia Márquez (current Vice president of Colombia), Serena Hebenstreit, Mario Bolaños, Juan Sánchez, Miguel Ángel Viera, Álvaro Rodríguez, Gladys Donado, Juan Carlos Martínez, Héctor Mejía, Raúl Estrada, Ángela García, Francisco Cucalón, Wendy Betancourt and Liliana Montes, among others.
