Spain’s Movistar Plus, the Spanish TV and streaming label of telco giant Telefonica, has announced “Rapa,” a new Latin Noir thriller original series starring one of the country’s most decorated film and TV actors, Javier Cámara (“Talk to Her,” “Truman”).
La Rapa is supposed to be a day of celebration and festival in the Galician town of A Capelada. However, when the village’s mayor is murdered the local community goes into panic mode. In a careful-what-you-wish-for moment, frustrated professor Tomás (Cámara) becomes the center of attention and the resulting investigation as the only witness to the crime. He will join forces with local Civil Guard inspector Maite, a woman most in her element when on a manhunt, to uncover what happened on that day.
“Rapa” sees Movistar team once again with leading Galician production company Portocabo, producers of one of the broadcaster’s biggest hit original hits “Hierro” – it’s Movistar’s most watched series of 2021 so far – and that shows’ creator Pepe Coira, who this time shares the creator title with standout screenwriter Fran Araújo.
Araújo has established himself as one of Spain’s most influential voices in TV, whose writing credits include “Hierro,” “The Plague” and Isaki Lacuesta’s San Sebastina Golden Shell winner “Between Two Waters.”
Coira’s brother and lifelong collaborator Jorge Coira, a key figure in the recent rise of the Galician screen industries, will direct the series. Alfonso Blanco from Portocabo is executive producing with Movistar’s Domingo Corral and Susana Herreras.
“Rapa is the story of a crime, and the reasons why someone kills and why others investigate,” the series’ creators explained in a joint release. “It is a story that brings together a cast of characters that we were excited to see interact: the frustrated professor who witnessed a murder; the sergeant who is most comfortable on the hunt for the culprit; and the men and women of the community for whom it’s difficult to distinguish who is guilty and who is a victim.
“The story is set in a mystical place, where sea and land are intermingled, wind and calm. The territory that goes from the Sierra da Capelada on the Atlantic coast to Ferrol is a place where anything can change at any moment,” they added.
Northwestern Spain and Portugal have established themselves as the key territories of a burgeoning Latin noir scene. Inspired by the success of Nordic Noir and local fare such as Netflix’s “Money Heist,” entrepreneurial producers in Galicia, in Northwest Spain, have recently been making waves with gritty crime thrillers, set nicely among the often-grey skies, unpredictable weather and small villages of the area which provide an idyllic backdrop for intimate, contained crime stories.
A Galician TV powerhouse, Portocabo racked up strong ratings in Portugal and Spain last year with its arms-trafficking drama-thriller “Dry Water” (“Auga Seca”), inspired by the true-life story of the theft of military ammunitions in Portugal in 2017.
Shooting of “Rapa” will kick off in September, with the entire series to be shot in the Galician towns of Cedeira and Ferrol. The series is set for delivery in 2022 and promises to be one of Movistar’s key titles for the year. Additional casting will be announced in the coming weeks.