Yesterday, officials at Netflix announced that they are working on new Brazilian series Ninguém Tá Olhando, or ‘No One is Looking’.
The series aims to add a touch of dark humour to complex humanitarian concepts, such as the notions of “truth” and “right”. It tells the story of Uli, a nonconforming guardian angel who decides to rebel from the daily orders he receives from his superiors.
The series’ director will be São Paulo-born Daniel Rezende, the film editor and director nominated for an Academy Award for his work on the 2002 box office hit Cidade de Deus.
“The idea is to subvert pre-established conceptions so that we can reflect on them, once we get over the fit of giggles,” Rezende told Brazilian tech publication Canaltech, speaking of his intentions for the series.
Rezende adds Ninguém Tá Olhando to a long list of achievements which, as well as BAFTA award-winning film City of God, include his roles as editor of films such as Motorcycle Diaries and Elite Squad 1 and 2.
Among Rezende’s portfolio of productions is also the series O Mecanismo (The Mechanism), recently released this March. Loosely based on Brazil’s Lava Jato operation – arguably the largest corruption scandal in the country’s history – the series notably provoked an angry reaction from impeached former President Dilma Rousseff. The ex-President accused its producers of political bias and character assassination directed towards members of the PSOL party, which she belongs to.
Speaking to Canaltech, Erik Barmack, who is Vice-President of international content at Netflix, outlined his hopes for the series to reach audiences beyond Brazil. “It presents topics that interest our audience not just in Brazil, but across the world, with a critical and good-humoured stance on what it is to be human these days,” he said.
Ninguém Tá Olhando joins other Brazilian dramas on Netflix, such as 3% and Samantha! which will make its debut on 6th July.
However, although growing, Brazilian and Portuguese-language series content is still a relatively minor part of Netflix’s International Section, lagging behind the masses of Spanish speaking novela-style dramas.
