ASTANA – Miguel Ángel Vivas, the acclaimed Spanish director of “Money Heist” (“La Casa de Papel”), has started filming “The Truce” (“La Tregua”), a Kazakh-Spanish movie about Karlag under an exclusive Netflix contract, the Karagandy Region administration’s press office reported on Nov. 26.
Photo credit: gov.kz. Click to see the map in full size. The map is designed by The Astana Times.
Karlag, short for Karaganda Corrective Labor Camp, was one of the largest labor camps within the Soviet Gulag system. Established in 1931, it was located in the Karagandy Region of Kazakhstan.
The film will tell about the hardships faced by people during the 1930s-1950s and the resilience of human dignity despite the daily struggle for survival. The atmosphere of Karlag will be conveyed through costumes, props, and sets created after extensive research in archives and museums.
The director placed his bet on the actors’ skills. The leading roles in the new film will be taken by Miguel Herrán, who played Rio in “Money Heist,” and Arón Piper, who played Ander Muñoz in the Netflix teen drama series “Elite.” Among Kazakh actors are Dina Tasbulatova, Altynai Nogerbek, Sergey Ufimtsev, and Farabi Akkozov.
Miguel Ángel Vivas, the acclaimed Spanish director of “Money Heist” (“La Casa de Papel”), has started filming “The Truce” (“La Tregua”), a Kazakh-Spanish movie about Karlag. Photo credit: gov.kz
Initially, the movie was planned to be filmed in Kazakhstan, but later plans changed – a replica of Karlag was built near the Spanish city of Bilbao.
“We are aware that it is impossible to accurately reproduce the entire setting – the Kazakh steppe, – but we have made every effort. Our team has studied a huge amount of documents; a colossal amount of work has been done by a group of production designers. It was a challenge, but we did everything possible to recreate a piece of Kazakhstan here in Bilbao,” said César Benítez, the director of Plano a Plano, the production company behind the film.
Photo credit: gov.kz
“The Truce” marks the first Netflix project with active involvement from Kazakh actors, producers, and coordinators. General producer Amanat Konakbayev emphasized the film’s potential to promote international cooperation.
“In the current conditions, when the world is facing challenges and searching for common ground, such projects show that art can unite,” he said.
Filming will take two and a half months, and the filmmakers hope to showcase the movie at major category-A film festivals.
