Alex de la Iglesia-Produced Dystopian Podcast Adaptation ‘Sanctuary’ Heads to Berlinale Series Market Selects

variety.com:

Holly Jones Wide-eyed expectant mother Pilar (Lucía Guerrero, “Money”) takes up residence at an idyllic domed birthing retreat after a climate-fuelled crisis leads to a toxic atmosphere.

She is introduced to Valle (Aura Garrido, “What the Future Holds”), the engineer tasked with looking after the women, and comes to senses the serene refuge holds a set of macabre secrets, nothing as it seems. “Sanctuary” (“Santuario”), the first co-production between Spain’s internationally ambitious Atresmedia TV (“Money Heist,” “Velvet”) and Carolina Bang and Alex de la Iglesia at Madrid’s Banijay-backed Pokeepsie Films (“30 Coins”), merges a not-so-implausible, ominous backdrop with strong female leads to showcase the breadth of feminine resolve in the face of clear and present danger, all with a gripping tension. “Four years ago, we loved the podcast.

The story was so powerful and well-crafted that turning it into a series was something that happened very naturally,” Montse García, director of fiction at Atresmedia, told Variety. “We’ve collaborated with the creators of the podcast themselves for this adaptation, which has allowed the world of the series to stay true to the original vision.

Additionally, working with Pokeepsie Films, specialists in science fiction, has resulted in a spectacular series in every way,” she added.