It was announced today that the co-production Dignity is one of the series selected in the European encounter Cannes Series 2020, which will take place from March 27th to April 1st in France. The series was produced by Invercine & Wood (Chile) and Story House (Germany) and backed by the 2015 National Television Council (CNTV) grant. Created by María Elena Wood and Patricio Pereira and directed by Julio Jorquera, it is inspired by the lawyer who uncovered the case of Colonia Dignidad in 1997 and was shot in Villa Baviera. Its cast includes German actor Götz Otto as Paul Schäfer, who has acted in films like Schindler’s List and The Downfall. The co-production — which in Chile will be shown on Mega — is the first international original series by Joyn, the German OTT of Discovery and ProSiebenSat.1.
Dignity figures as one of the nine international series selected in the event, where it will have its world premiere. According to Wood, “The story delves into the life of two siblings who have been separated for 20 years at the hand of Paul Schäfer. They are reunited, and one of them, our protagonist, will do everything in his power to save his brother and catch Paul Schäfer.”
Meanwhile, she commented on the development process of the series. “The investigation began with a team of investigators and writers who first took on everything that’s published about the Colony as well as the processes of these cults, and also about the topic of perversity. How a perverse being organizes an entire world to satisfy his perversion, which is the case of Paul Schäfer and Colonia Dignidad.” She added, “We later had the opportunity to meet the lawyer Hernán Fernández, who is the true hero of this story. It was he who followed Paul Schäfer for 10 years until he managed to put him in prison. He was the first person who managed to get an arrest warrant against Paul Schäfer, and thanks to his work and investigation, 10 years after this first warrant and first raid on Colonia Dignidad, he found him along with journalist from the program ‘Contacto’, Carolina Fuentes, in Argentina. If it weren’t for the work of Hernán Fernández, Paul Schäfer would have died free. It was he who inspired us to tell this story that you all will see in the series.”
In recent days, the series was presented in Berlin in the space focused on television production, Series Market, which had five Chilean professionals as its main guests, representatives of our country’s contemporary series, who will participate in Series Market Showcase. The Showcase is the opening event of the section, where CinemaChile will act as co-host, and which will be dedicated to the best series content as of late. There, it participated alongside Fabula, Parox, Tridi 3D Films, and Promocine. In October, 2019, Dignity participated in MIPCOM, the French event directed toward the television industry, becoming one of the high points of said event. The first episode was shown there before the industry and press.
The objective of Cannes Series is to bring together the best talents in the field, discover new professionals, and create an international competition for series that encompass all genres and formats. It also seeks to promote and elevate series from all over the world and to become the voice of this modern, popular, and creative art. Extracting its energy from the heart of the world-renowned city of Cannes, the festival is carried out in parallel with MIPTV (The Global Content Market for the Future), an indispensable event for industry professionals.
