‘Dressed in blue’: The second part of ‘Veneno’ presents the first images of the series

The legacy of ‘Venom’

Venom is gone, but it left its mark. The press, the public and international critics said so. The series by Javier Calvo and Javier Ambrossi more than met expectations. It not only reached the groups, It was a boom in Spanish fiction. ‘Venom’ was a revolution, and it also became an international phenomenon.

“It has reached a much higher level than we all thought,” admits Ambrossi, one of the fathers of successful fiction. “It has reached people of all profiles, ideologies, social classes. The message has gone a long way.” Now Calvo and Ambrossi have a new series in their hands, of which they are producers: the series ‘Vestidas de azul’ is the new baby that starts from Suma Content, its production company.

Do you feel vertigo when launching as producers? “There was, but ‘Cardo’ took it from us,” they confess. 2022 has been an interesting year for them. “As directors and screenwriters, you do know what you are doing and what you have to promote. But as producers we were going blindly enough. And finally ‘Cardo’ has given us so much joy… It has been a super powerful reaffirmation, it has given us a lot to take a risk, because a project like ‘Veneno’ needed a very powerful second part.

This one without a doubt it is an ambitious project: it will involve many weeks of shooting, a lot of period plot, many characters “Now in the plot that we are going to the past we have six Venoms, not just one!which means delving into six different personalities, each with their own world”.

The script is carried out by Vegas herself, together with Javier Holgado and Susana López Rubio. Like its “predecessor”, ‘Vestidas de azul’ will be a very careful production in terms of photography, art and treated with the greatest care from all departments. Many staff from ‘Cardo’ are now in ‘Vestidas de azul’, so for Suma Content it has been a natural step. Valeria Vegas is also executive producer. “It is one of the most important pieces of this, the beacon that guides this project as it already was in ‘Veneno,'” acknowledges Ambrossi.

This is a new story, which is what Atresmedia was looking for, as detailed by the producer Montse García. “We were looking for a story that moves and makes you empathize.” ‘Vestidas de azul’ follows a similar style: it mixes drama, nostalgia and costumbrismo, which connects so well with people.”

The biopic, like the adaptations, works well both here and abroad.. “It is a trend that continues and will continue“, assures García. And always under the cloak of nostalgia for times that begin to sow longing, as has been seen now with the early 90s in series like ‘La Ruta’, which has brought people who lived through that time closer, such as We are going to do the same with ‘Vestidas de azul’: “We come and go to the 80s, addressing transsexuality in the 80s, a very hostile moment for this group, and it is a place where you have to get closer to the most faithful way”.

‘Dressed in Blue’, Synopsis

Calvo and Ambrossi returned with the adaptation of ‘Vestidas de azul’, the next book by Vegas, which shows the lives of the women that Antonio Giménez-Rico portrayed in his 1983 documentary, ‘Vestida de azul’.

There was a latent doubt: Is this about a second part of ‘Venom’? Yes and no. It’s kind of a second part, but it’s a series in itself.

The series will play in two parallel plots: on the one hand there is Valeria, the character of Lola Rodríguezwhom we met in ‘Veneno’ at the stage where she met Cristina Ortiz. Now he will investigate the issues that resulted in what is the next Vegas book., ‘Dressed in blue. Social and cinematographic analysis of transsexual women in the years of the Spanish Transition’, published in 2019. On the other hand, the series will travel to the past delving into the lives of those six pioneering women who starred the 1983 documentary.

Therefore, ‘Vestidas de azul’ will try to deepen the idea of ​​what it is to be trans. In it the present will be known from where ‘Venom’ left it. So they will follow the character of Valeria in later years and the rest of the mythical characters that were in the plot that we met in ‘Veneno’. “Paca the Piranha will take a lot of prominence from her,” say the creators of the series. With her will also be Juani and the rest of the women we met in the series released in 2020.

Therefore Past and present will be mixed throughout the plot with twelve protagonists: seis that we already knew and another six “from” the documentary.

The series takes place two years after Cristina’s death, when Valeria finds the VHS documentary ‘Vestida de azul’ at her house.

‘Dressed in Blue’, Cast

As the creators assured, there is quite a sizable group of new signings, all unknown actresses who will be playing the new characters. They thus join the protagonists of the present that we met in the first season. Elena Irureta, Susana Abaitua, Luis Callejo, Estrella Xtravaganza, Mercedes Sampietro, Anabel Alonso, Pedro Casablanc, Llum Barrera or Juriji Der Klee among others will also be in the series.

‘Dressed in blue’, Direction

Filming for ‘Vestidas de azul’ began in December and the producer couple have left the management chair in very good hands. Now, those who are in charge of the direction are Mikel Ruedawho directed two episodes of ‘Venom’, Claudia Costafredaco-creator of ‘Thistle’ and screenwriter of ‘Veneno’ and she also joins them ian de la rosa (nominated for a Goya for Best Short Film last year for ‘Farrucas’). The three are in charge of directing the episodes of the series.

‘Vestidas de azul’, a production with commitment

The series follows the path of its predecessor: it remains firm in its principles for integrity and visibility in front of the cameras, but also behind. Suma Content’s commitment continues. In fact, the production company has signed an agreement with the FLGTB, the State Federation of Lesbians, Gays, Trans, Intersexuals and more, called Yes, We trans, and for this reason ‘Vestidas de azul’ has trans people working in all departments of the production.

Ambrossi and Calvo are sure that this series, their new creation, will make people fall in love. That’s how we stayed, wanting to know more and get excited again as we did with the story of Cristina Ortiz.

‘Dressed in Blue’, Images

During his time at the Berlinale we have been able to see a first image of the long-awaited series. To this is added the posters with the protagonists of the past, and the poster with those of the present. As can be seen in the first photo, you can see a moment of filming that shows several of the girls who give life to the women that Giménez-Rico portrayed in the 1983 documentary.