Titled Sanyu, Bustamante’s first television project is an original bilingual and bicultural Afro-Latino thriller with universal themes of connecting to one’s heritage and the journey to find oneself.
Sony Pictures Television (SPT) Latin America today announced a project in development with acclaimed Colombian director and producer, Diana Bustamante.
Sanyu, which is Bustamante’s first television project, is an original bilingual and bicultural Afro-Latino thriller with universal themes of connecting to one’s heritage and the journey to find oneself.
“We are thrilled to have the opportunity to work with Diana on Sanyú, her first TV project,” said Nestor Hernandez, VP of Content Development in Latin America and US Hispanic for SPT International Production. “We’ve been focusing on elevating unique voices and stories in the region and Diana’s immense creative talent is a huge asset as we tell this original story about Afro-Latino heritage in Latin America. Such stories which are rarely ever told with this level of visibility, and more importantly through this transnational yet universal lens.”
“It’s incredible to be working with Sony to bring Sanyú, one of the greatest creative challenges of my career, to life,” said Bustamante. “The creative freedom we’ve been given allows for great opportunity. We have gone through extensive research that allows us to enter other realities including some that may be less obvious and richer. The region is intensely complex. This is a work of many details, flavors, tensions, and characters.”
Bustamante’s project aims to immerse audiences into the stunning beauty and complexities of Afro-Latino culture and harsh realities of the Colombian Pacific. Sanyú centers on Hamilton, a paramedic in medical school who returns to his homeland after the violent murder of his mother. After more than 20 years, Hamilton leaves Baltimore and returns to the Buenaventura, a port city in the Colombian Pacific to attend her funeral. In this place, where traditions and witchcraft intersect with corrupt political mafias and criminals, Hamilton will try to discover the truth behind the crime of his mother, a task that he will soon find confusing and a risk to his own life.
Bustamante is a filmmaker and producer. Her most recent collaboration with Thai director Apichatpong Weerasethakul, Memoria, which stars Tilda Swinton, won the Cannes Jury Prize this year. Since her first production Los Viajes del Viento (Cannes, 2009), she has been worked with film directors including Oscar Ruiz, with whom she produced El Vielco del Crab (Berlin, 2010) and Los Mushrooms (Locarno, 2014). Sanyú is her first television project.
