REinvent Boards Norwegian True Crime “Escape from Bolivia”

Scandinavia’s leading distribution company REinvent has boarded Norwegian crime thriller Escaping Bolivia, which is currently filming in Cape Town, South Africa, following an initial shoot in Oslo.

Fenomen (“Rod Knock”) and the long-standing ensemble 4 ½ (“Out Stealing Horses”) produce for TV2 Norway in co-production with the German pubcaster NDR and the Oslo Film Fund.

Helmer Anna Gutto, behind Lionsgate’s “Paradise Highway” starring Juliette Binoche, is concept director, working alongside creator and episode writer Emily Beck, who is attached to Netflix’s “Royalteen.” The main roles in the six-part series are Jakob Oftebro (“Agent Hamilton”), Ella Øverbye from Dag Johan Haugerud’s “Dreams”, Josephine Tetlie, Lisa Hovden and the Danish actor Joachim Fjelstrup (“The Girl with the Needle”).

The show is inspired by the infamous drug case of three Norwegian girls, aged 17, 18 and 21, who were imprisoned in Bolivia in 2008 with 22kg of cocaine in their bags after being caught. Two managed to escape – one with a child, helped by a journalist – while the third stayed behind.

In the series we follow Ida, her sister-in-law Michelle and Ida’s lover Cecilie as they are arrested at the airport in Bolivia with suitcases full of cocaine. They are sentenced to prison in one of the most dangerous women’s prisons in the world. Ida soon realizes that she cannot trust her friends or the Norwegian authorities’ ability to rescue her. She begins planning her escape.

“After eight years of development and research, it’s a great feeling that we’re finally filming!” said Beck, who co-wrote the story with Helena Nielsen, Ingrid Haukelidsæter. “I am sure that Escaping Bolivia will touch, captivate and challenge viewers. The series focuses on friendship, betrayal and love and something as unique and beautiful as motherhood and doing anything for the people you love. At the same time, the series is also about what you’re willing to do and sacrifice to save yourself and having to grow up behind bars,” she said.

Helene Aurø, Sales and Marketing Director of REinvent, said: “We are very proud to have selected ‘Escaping Bolivia.’ It is an amazing story that needs to be told and we are sure the series will have an audience on the The whole world will find it.” Delivery is planned for the end of 2025.

Other premium titles on REinvent’s Mipcom slate include Finnish thriller drama “L/over,” the first live-action fiction show initiated by Marika Makaroff, founder of “Moominvalley’s” producer Gutsy Animations. The finished series, starring Krista Kosonen and Jani Volanen, is scheduled to premiere in Finland in 2025 on MTV3/C More.

Buyers will also be introduced to two high-quality Icelandic shows: “Reykjavik 112,” based on bestselling author Yrsa Sigurdardóttir, touted as a “Nordic, bright and modern take on the crime genre,” and the anticipated biopic “Vigdis.” from “Blackport” creatives at Vesturport prodco, about Iceland’s former president, the iconic Vigdís Finnbogadóttir.