resistanceOsa Vargas arrived in a small town in northwestern Spain to investigate the disappearance of a young girl, which marked an unlikely milestone.Vargas is a fictitious detective The smell of daisies (Bitter Daisies), the show became the first Galician series broadcast on Netflix in 2019. Galician is a language with a population of less than 2.5 million.The series Become one of the top 10 non-English programs with the highest ratings in the UK and Ireland Only one month after its international release.
Ten years after Nordic film noir attracted the attention of international TV audiences, a TV genre called “Galician Film Noir” is emerging in the rainy corners of Spain. HBO made its Galician debut in the Spanish-Portuguese miniseries last year Dry water (Dry Water), a murder mystery set in the port city of Vigo, was soon produced by Galicia in a police thriller unit (The Unit) is on the Spanish subscription platform Movistar+. recent, The mess you left (The mess you left behind), Adapted from a novel by the screenwriter Carlos Montero, which premiered on Netflix in December.
The prosperity of Galician production is part of the global success of Spanish theater, most notably Netflix shows such as teen thrillers Elite, Also written by Montero, and Money robbery (Money Heist)-The most watched non-English program on the platform. Netflix sees the potential of Spain to reach not only Latin America but also audiences around the world, so it established its first European production center in Madrid in 2019 and has been investing heavily in Spanish content, with a focus on “Local talents create local stories, local productions”.
Ghaleb Jaber Martínez, one of the screenwriters of “Bitter Daisy”, said that because its landscape is very different from other parts of Spain, and the existing film production industry, Galicia provides a Good starting point. “Galicia has a variety of landscapes, cities, villages, seas, mountains… which is always very attractive to novels,” he said. “We also have a network of film industry workers with outstanding technical and creative skills.” Last month, Amazon Prime was the latest platform to launch Galician products 3 paths, A series about a group of friends getting together on the Camino de Santiago pilgrimage route.
But it is the crime story that originated in Galicia that originated in the literature of the region.As part of a broader cultural movement, literary crime fiction began to rise in the 1980s after the success of Carlos G Reigosa’s detective story Criminal activity in CompostelaGalicia has long been a landing place for pirates and smugglers, and its modern history has been plagued by drug smuggling-this is a common theme throughout many Galician crime novels.In the past ten years, the genre has continued to grow, most notably Domingo Villar’s bestseller Death on the Galician coast Non-fiction books with Nacho Carretero Farinha, It was adapted into a TV show and premiered on Netflix as an international Cocaine Coast In 2018, public institutions even Recognize a new subtype call Vigesa Crime Fiction, Dedicated to numerous crime stories set in the city of Vigo.
When it comes to bringing these stories to the screen, the Galician landscape plays the leading role. From rugged coastlines and sandy beaches to windy seaside towns and hilly countryside, it provides a series of rural environments that are particularly suitable for these types of stories. Netflix’s vice president of original content Diego Ávalos (Diego Ávalos) said: “There are different light, different atmosphere, which helps to create the tone of the thriller.” Spain“On the surface, this is a very peaceful place, which helps the narrative tension.”
“Madrid and other big cities are already “saturated”,” Martinez said. “Like the Nordic film noir, shooting a story in a small village in Galicia just provides a new environment, some real things, away from the more unified aesthetic of the city.” Like “Bitter Daisy”, Montero’s ” “The Mess You Left” is adapted from his novel of the same name. The story takes place in a small town where a teacher in a local high school mysteriously died, which shrouded this close-knit community. It is the mentality of a small town that provides the intensity Montero seeks. “I come from a small village like tha, where everyone knows each other, where you need to fight to protect your privacy. This is the perfect environment for developing mysterious stories,” he said.
The Galician tradition of storytelling goes hand in hand with the decades of film and television production promoted by Galician regional TV channels, the latter being an important driving force for the industry. The huge talent pool in the region is reflected in these new works, such as “The Mess You Left”, in which 85% of creative and technical personnel are from Galicia. “Televisión de Galicia has always invested in novels, and many creators come from here,” said Martínez. “The film department manages to do its work with very few resources, but this actually allows creativity to flourish,” he said. The arrival of Netflix, HBO Spain (launched in 2016), Amazon and Movistar+ has provided local industries with opportunities to go international. “There is no doubt that Galician TV has always been an important bargaining chip,” said Emma Lusters, who produced “The Mess You Left” and unit“Now we are lucky to have Netflix and other platforms, and they make us suddenly appear on the map.”
Streaming media platforms have accelerated the growth and global influence of TV programs in languages other than English. This trend was initiated by Scandinavian and Korean dramas and is now benefiting other European regions. “One of the great things about TV shows is that you always want to learn more. You want to discover a new place in the world that you don’t know, and language has a lot to do with it,” Montero said.
Although Netflix is stepping up its dubbing work, programs such as “Bitter Ju”, which are only broadcast in Spanish on the platform, continue to prove that subtitles are not an obstacle to reaching English-speaking audiences. For Montero, it boils down to telling stories that are universal and easy to connect. “I think of the audience I know, if it impresses me, then I hope it will impress other people, even if they live in New York,” he said. “What has changed is the hyperlocalization setting. If you are loyal to yourself and your place, this is what makes it more real.”
