The TV vs film debate may never be solved. But that hasn’t stopped film festivals from embracing the television industry. That’s how those attending Cannes got to see Gael García Bernal’s latest TV venture Aquí en la tierra, how Tribeca-goers saw the Latino Karate Kid reboot Cobra Kai before it went up on YouTube, and how those going to Sundance got a chance to catch America Ferrera’s Gente-fied before anyone else. Los Cabos International Film Festival is no different.
In addition to serving as an industry showcase for upcoming Mexican feature film productions, the Baja California fest is also investing heavily in television. This year, for example, five series-in-the-making made their way to Los Cabos to drum up excitement (and funding!) for what are an exciting roster of shows coming your way very soon. Whether you like drug war thrillers, sports docs, or even dark dramas about nurses who are serial killers, you’ll want to keep these shows on your radar.
Check out the full list below and start the countdown to when they’ll be released.
Los abogados del diablo (The Devil’s Advocates)
Documentary (Argentina)
Directors: Various
Producers: Daniela Alatorre, Elena Fortes, Mario Gutiérrez Vega
Behind a famous accused or proven criminal there is always a famous lawyer. In its first season, this series portrays seven Latin American lawyers from seven different countries, from all facets and perspectives. Each episode is the story of a lawyer told through interviews, archives, research, stories, and the daily record of the world that surrounds them to delve into their past and personal life, as well as their relationship with their clients.
El idealista (Free Trade)
Thriller/Fantasy (Mexico)
Director: Santiago Mohar Volkow
Producer: Juan Simons
Free Trade is a fictional television series based in part on Nazario Moreno’s autobiography. It uses the drug lord’s surreal life story to comment on issues of urgent interest to a worldwide audience: the violence of the drug war, government corruption, the trauma of undocumented migration, the tensions between Mexicans and Mexican-Americans, the changing landscape of Latino Christianity and the moral ambiguity of caudillos.
Los ángeles de la muerte (Angels of Death)
Thriller (Mexico)
Director: Miguel Cohan
Producer: Hernán Musaluppi
Piety, mercy, or compassion can be reason enough to become the biggest serial killer of the 21st century. Two nurses decide the future of patients: who lives and who deserves to die is part of their routine competition. The revelation of this dynamic and the extensive damage of its actions will put the entire health system of a country and the logic of justice in check.
Mario
Biography/Drama (Mexico)
Director: Bernardo de la Rosa
Producer: Fernanda Gabenara, Alberto Muffelman
This dramatic bio-series takes place from the early 80s to the mid-2000s in the city of Chicago, and tells a true story based on the life of Mario Flores. Mario is a Mexican immigrant who joined the famous gang “The Latin Kings” as a child. In this story about friendship and betrayal, Mario and his friends are incriminated in two murders. His two best friends, supported by their lawyers, accuse Mario, and he is sentenced to death by lethal injection.
Versus
Documentary Sports (Mexico)
Director: Raúl Cuesta
Producer: Gabriela Gavica Marrufo
After years of daily training and sacrifice, a group of tennis players takes the risk of competing in the ATP tour. Between them and the dream of being professionals are a series of challenges. Strenuous trips, financial debts, and parental expectations interfere, increasing the tension in their path to become part of the best in the world.