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Spanish actors Itziar Ituño (“Money Heist”) and Vito Sanz (“The Other Way Around”) have landed starring roles in “Numana,” a sci-fi drama series created by Argentine-Spanish writer-directors Jesica Arán (“Pájaros Negros”)
and Soledad Velasco (“Cross Dreamers”).
The series will be produced by Chilean-Spanish production company Clara Films and Barcelona-based Unbound Hub, a Senior VFX Strategy & Production Consultancy.
“Numana” is set in the near future, where the multinational corporation Numana has seized control of society and has swapped democracy for a surveillance state led by Aurora, an omnipresent AI system that tracks what people buy, feel and desire.
The story follows two genetically identical women who switch identities and consequently expose a hierarchical world based on genetic selection, exploitation and obedience.
“‘Numana’ uses genre to speak directly to the present,” said producer Clara Larraín Zegers. “It is a story about genetic privilege, corporate power, surveillance, social mobility and the lives that systems decide to discard. Jesica and Soledad have built a world that feels very real right now, disturbing and emotionally precise. Having actors of the caliber and emotional complexity of Itziar Ituño and Vito Sanz attached to the project helps us ground this dystopian universe in something deeply human.”
Currently in the packaging and financing stage, the series will be a European–Latin American co-production, combining studio work and real locations across Bilbao, Chile and other territories. The producers are currently looking for strategic European co-production partners, broadcasters, platforms and financing partners.
Variety had a chance to talk briefly with the show’s creators, Jesica Arán and Soledad Velasco:
How did you come up with the concept for the series?
Velasco: One afternoon, in a Madrid coffee shop, Jesica and I met to brainstorm what we wanted to tell. We were drawn to the possibility of using the science fiction genre to address current issues. We got goosebumps when we discussed the idea of defective products that we currently return through online platforms because we don’t like this or that, or because they don’t work properly…and we thought, if in the future we can order our children through an app, surely we’ll be able to return them if they malfunction, like any other product. That’s when we understood that there was something powerful in the idea of discarding a product associated with a customized baby. Of course, the series is much broader than that, but that’s the initial spark that inspired us.
Congratulations on landing Itziar Ituño and Vito Sanz for the series.
Arán: We’re thrilled because we believe that stories are the characters, and characters are embodied in the bodies and souls of real people. In the early stages of writing, the series was constantly evolving and changing, so we weren’t entirely sure who could play the roles, especially since it’s a project that could take place in Latin America, Europe, or the United States. So, we approached it with a very open mind.
It’s a significant step for us to know that figures of Itziar and Vito’s caliber have placed their trust in this story. They are two figures we admire, but above all, we know they possess the dramatic depth to embody complex characters full of contradictions, fears and desires.
How are you approaching casting the rest of the characters?
Velasco: We will definitely incorporate Spanish-speaking actors since the series’ universe doesn’t use the concept of national borders as we are accustomed to; instead, territorial divisions operate on a different logic. This allows us to organically add talent from other parts of the world and also enrich the story by bringing together a combination of actors we don’t usually see together on screen.
Do you believe the world you create in “Numana” could actually become reality?
Arán: The series was created by drawing on technological projections for the coming decades and reading about genetic intervention in DNA enhancement, in-vitro fertilization outside the mother’s body, and the increasing control over human life: being recorded, listened to, and monitored 24/7. While the series is a work of fiction based on all these elements, we do believe that watching “Numana” is a way to begin processing some things that could very well happen. Perhaps it serves as a form of therapy, helping us understand the world we will live in, a world for which we are psychologically unprepared. The contradictions inherent in any technological advancement are inevitable, and as witnesses of this era, we will have to be able to adapt in order to survive.
