Globo's environmental thriller 'Aruanas' dramatizes the Amazon rainforest crisis to great effect
A series trying to raise awareness about environmental issues rarely manages to escape the trap of academic tone and jargon.
It is not easy to incorporate hard facts, fight public opinion and raise awareness while also trying to establish a connection with an audience.
GloboTV's upcoming project 'Aruanas' manages to do just that with its unconventional approach.
The dramatic environmental thriller series makes a subject like the deterioration of Amazon's biodiversity—pardon our theatrics—popcorn-worthy. You can watch the trailer to the series here.
The series tells the story of three idealistic women who begin investigating the activities of a mining company in the Amazon rainforest.
Three idealistic friends set up Aruana, an NGO that investigates the activities of a mining company operating in the Amazon rainforest. It is a place of harsh reality where strange events occur. The activists, each one following their respective investigative leads, have come up with a plethora of evidence that sheds light on some shocking environmental crimes. While these women unravel a dangerous web of crimes and secrets, they also must deal with their own ghosts and personal dramas, according to the official synopsis of the show.
In the fictional city of Cari in the Amazon region, people are falling mysteriously sick.
The illegal mining has already caused irreparable damage to the locals through the use of mercury and other heavy metals.
Our four determined protagonists are set to investigate the mining company KM, whose owner Miguel Kiriakos is a philanthropist highly respected by the locals.
Directed by Carlos Manga Jr. and Estela Renner, 'Aruanas' is produced in Portuguese but will be subtitled in English, Spanish, French, Italian, German, Dutch, Russian, Arabic, Hindi, Turkish and Korean, for a global consumption.
The series is an ambitious project and Globo hopes to reach millions of people across the world, even those who are disconnected from the Amazonian crisis.
'Aruanas' is capable of inducing real fright in the audience.
With the sheer earnestness that it depicts environmental and human crimes—illegal mining, deforestation, contamination of rivers and lakes, violation of indigenous rights, and playing on the vulnerabilities of the weak—'Aruanas' is a terrifying series that brings us face-to-face with humanity's sins.
The show will debut on aruanas.tv on July 2, 2019.