What was the production of the documentary Operación Esperanza like?

Prime Video premieres this April 26 his new documentary ‘Operation Hope: The Lost Children in the Amazon‘, a moving story of survival and hope in the middle of the largest jungle in the world.

On May 1, 2023, a small plane crashed deep in the Colombian Amazon. Four children were on board, who not only survived the impact, but managed to face the dangers of the jungle for 40 days until their eventual rescue on June 9.

Also read: María José Camacho, the face of ‘Devuélveme la vida’, tells her story

Operation Hope tells the true story of the unprecedented rescue that joined forces between the Colombian army and indigenous rescuers. The documentary features interviews with the protagonists of the search, including the children, who share their experiences with their families.

Operation Hope: Lost Boys of the Amazon was produced by Emporium Productions and directed by Tom Cross, known for his work on ‘Inside the World’s Toughest Prisons’ and ‘Extreme Tribe: The Last Pygmies’. The script and executive production were carried out by Emma Readwhile Dollan Cannell served as showrunner. Oliver Schmieg and Kathy Hale completed the team as producer and production director, respectively.

The documentary presents valuable testimonies from those who were directly involved in the search and rescue. Among them are Brigadier Pedro Sánchez, commander of the operation for the Colombian army, Eliecer Muñoz, indigenous leader who found the children, relatives of the children and Luis Acosta, national coordinator of the Indigenous Guard.

The story is narrated by Gloria Emilse Martínez Perea, known as Goyo, singer, producer and co-founder of the group ChocQuibTown. Her voice brings emotion and sensitivity to the story of this extraordinary case of survival.

KienyKe.com interviewed Emma Read, Tom Cross and Dollan Cannell, to learn more details behind this moving production that premieres this Friday, April 26.

KienyKe.com: What made you want to portray this project?

Emma Read: In the United Kingdom, as in any country, our news is concentrated on what is happening in the United Kingdom. But this is a story that really stood out and as we got updates, towards the end, when the children were found after 40 days, after an amazingly long search, the more I read of the interesting collaboration between the special forces and the indigenous guard, I thought: ‘My God, there’s something different here’, the story didn’t seem like the typical story of people lost in the jungle and then rescued, it wasn’t about that, it was a modern fairy tale with a touch of magic.

I started doing more research and talking to people involved, we talked and realized that we really wanted to do it, it felt like a good news story, especially at a time when the world, you look around, and there is garbage everywhere. This just feels like something from the heart, we wanted to find from a different perspective, especially from the indigenous guard, because it seemed like there was something different to our experience of the world today. That was the catalyst for wanting to do it and the moment we realized that everyone, the family, the indigenous guard and the special forces, agreed to work with us, Amazon quickly said: ‘yes, please, we would love to do it. us’, and that was it, just a great story.

Watch the full interview with the creators of ‘Operation Hope’ here