Filming will take place entirely in Bogotá in the near future, with a female-led creative team.
La Corona, the acclaimed documentary nominated for an Academy Award in 2008, will be adapted into a narrative feature film by a distinguished international team of producers.
Originally released on HBO and honored with multiple awards — including a Special Jury Mention at the Sundance Film Festival for co-directors Isabel Vega and Amanda Micheli — the documentary was widely praised by critics and audiences alike for its intimate and moving portrayal of a beauty pageant held inside Bogotá’s El Buen Pastor women’s prison.
Vega and Micheli: “are thrilled that this unique story continues to resonate and are excited to collaborate with this talented team to bring it to a whole new audience.”
The film will explore the reality, vulnerability, and humanity of a group of women behind bars, marked by complex pasts, who find in a beauty pageant an unexpected opportunity for hope, resilience, and sisterhood.
The production is led by Secuoya Studios (Zorro), under the leadership of Mónica Aguirre from Black Sheep Productions; Vince Gerardis (Game of Thrones, House of the Dragon) and Hope Rieser Farley as part of Startling; the award-winning Infinity Hill, formed by Axel Kuschevatzky, Cindy Teperman, and Phyn Glynn (Argentina, 1985; Dive); and includes consulting support from Runaway Films, the company behind the documentary created by Isabel Vega and Amanda Micheli.
The script is currently in development, written by María Renée Prudencio (Dive, Señorita 89), recipient of the Ariel Award, with María Camila Arias (One Hundred Years of Solitude, Birds of Passage) serving as script consultant. Acclaimed actress Natalia Reyes (Birds of Passage, Terminator: Dark Fate) will lead the cast and serve as a producer.
Maria Renee Prudencio commented: “I am thrilled to be working alongside a talented team of women committed to telling stories that explore empowerment and freedom in these complex times.”
Filming will take place entirely in Bogotá in the near future, with a female-led creative team. The project will have the support of Fundación Acción Interna, led by Johana Bahamón, along with former inmates and experts in social reintegration, to ensure an authentic and respectful representation.
Synopsis:
Four contestants compete for the crown in an unlikely beauty pageant held annually inside a women’s maximum-security prison in Bogotá, Colombia.
