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Argentine bio series “Cris Miro” is slated to debut on TNT, Flow and Max across various territories in late June. While cable network TNT will be airing the series every Sunday from June 23 in Argentina, Uruguay and Chile, local platform Flow will stream the series in Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay starting June 24.
Max launches it on June 24 across Latin America, the U.S. and in the European countries where it’s available, including Spain, France, Switzerland and Portugal.
The TNT and Flow Original, developed and produced by Buenos Aires-based EO Media and Nativa Contenidos, traces the life of trailblazing Argentine trans artist Cris Miró who was selected in 1995 as the first trans vedette of the Teatro Maipo in Buenos Aires, marking a pivotal moment in her life. Embracing her true identity, she left her past behind to become a renowned figure in Argentine society. Miró’s fame brought visibility and acceptance to the trans community in the 1990s. However, when a stigmatizing health diagnosis shattered her plans, she resolved to make a tragic pact with herself: to hide her suffering and die as meaningfully as she lived.
Based on the biography ‘Hembra, Cris Miró – Vivir y morir en un país de machos’ by Carlos Sanzol, the eight-episode series is directed by Martín Vatenberg and Javier Van de Couter. It honors Miró’s legacy as Argentina’s first trans vedette, a torchbearer who achieved remarkable visibility and symbolizes the enduring struggle for recognition and acceptance, said its producers.
For EO Media’s Eze Olzanski, the series comes at an opportune time. “We are living in a moment – and I think it aligns with what is happening in the world – where suddenly there is a shift towards a time where minorities are being discriminated against once more, where everything that happened over the years now faces a sort of backlash,” he said.
He added: “I think that the series arrives at an important time because it tells a different, diverse story and, above all, it shows the human side and the true story behind this person. And for the mainstream, especially for those of us who lived in the ‘90s, it shows a reality that reflects how Cris actually lived and, therefore, how a trans woman can live her own reality beyond the public eye.”
“Here, I believe, lies another true value of the story in terms of the impact we expect will have in the younger audiences as well: it resonates with the desire of young people to become who they truly want to be,” he noted.
“It was a pleasure for EO Media and Nativa to build this story alongside the teams from Warner Bros Discovery and Flow,” he added.
For such an iconic role, finding the right actress, who the producers decided had to be a trans woman as well, was a challenge. So Olzanski, together with creator/writer /director Vatenberg, co-writer Lucas Bianchini and Nativa executive producers Karina Castellano and Helen Roca, decided to hold an initial casting call through social media.
As Olzanski relates it, they were convinced it had to be an Argentine. “But when Vatenberg came to us and said that Mina Serrano, a Spanish trans woman living in Paris had contacted him via social media, wanting to be considered for the role, the initial reaction was: ‘How could a Spanish girl living in Paris play Cris Miró, an Argentine?’”
“The language barriers and the logical concerns came to mind but as we were having this conversation, Martin turned the screen towards us and showed us her photo, and we realized that Mina was Cris Miró reincarnated, the spitting image of Miró.”
Said Serrano: “I was already familiar with Cris’s story; she was a significant inspiration to me. So, I sent in some materials, and that’s how it all started. At that time, I had just moved to Paris, and it seemed like a very distant possibility.”
“I discovered her story years ago through a book “[Las Malas” by Camila Sosa Villada, about the trans community in Argentina]. Back then, I was more uncertain about my identity. Learning about her opened my eyes,” she said, adding: “Sometimes, we just need an example to show us that it’s possible to be happy and loved while being true to ourselves. For me, Cris was that figure.”
Now 26 years old, Serrano’s only acting experience was in Italian film “Le Favolose,” directed by Roberta Torre, which premiered at the Venice Film Festival in 2022.
Working in Paris as a model and in the worlds of performance art, cabaret and video art, Serrano had never acted in a series before. “It was a huge challenge for us because we were putting her in a leading role, appearing in almost every scene. And honestly, it’s like Cris embodied her, and Mina became Cris Miró. Her Argentine accent is impeccable, perfect,” said Olzanski.
“It was a very emotional shoot; the whole team connected with the sensitivity of the project, and you could feel it in the atmosphere; from producers Karina Castellano, Helen Roca, and Ezequiel Olzanski, through the entire creative team to the last technician. We had to face many challenges because we filmed in a very difficult context for the country, but we felt that now more than ever, this story had to be told; Cris’s figure appeals to empathy and freedom in all of us,” said Serrano.
“We also had the fortune of having people who were part of Cris’s life present, family, friends… For me, it was essential to reach out to them, share this experience with them, and show them the respect we had for Cris,” she told Variety.
The rest of the cast includes Katja Alemann, César Bordón, Agustín “Soy Rada” Aristarán, Vico D’Alessandro, Marcos Montes, Toto Rovito, Manu Fanego, Campi, and Adabel Guerrero, among others.
