Yes Studios is partnering with Paramount’s Ananey Studios to produce “The Lost City: 101 Days in Captivity,” a new three-part documentary series about the true story of four young Israelis who were kidnapped while on a trip to South America in 2003.
The series, which will premiere on Yes Docu on September 19, was created by award-winning documentary filmmaker Ofir Trainin (“Wandering Eyes,” “Family in Trans”) and Omri Kronland, editor and director of documentaries and non-scripted content at Ananey Studios. Kronland is also the author of the novel “The Place Where the Sun Begins.”
The Lost City: 101 Days in Captivity, directed by Trainen, tells the story of four young Israelis who decide to take a trip to the “lost city” in Colombia, accompanied by four foreign travelers they meet along the way. Within 48 hours, they are kidnapped by the National Liberation Army (ELN), a notorious guerrilla organization, and held for 101 days in the heart of the Colombian jungle. Twenty years later, their shock is brought back to life when news comes that dozens of Israelis have been kidnapped by Hamas on October 7 and taken to Gaza. For the first time, those kidnapped in South America are able to meet with the leader of the ELN, the organization that kidnapped them, to try to get answers to the questions that have haunted them all these years.
The Lost City: 101 Days in Captivity was produced using real-time footage, personal diaries written in captivity, and conversations with the film's protagonists in English, Spanish, German, and Hebrew.
“This compelling and terrifying documentary series offers a fascinating look at what it means to be kidnapped, as well as the long-term physical and psychological effects of a former hostage’s survival journey,” said Sharon Levy, Managing Director of Yes Studios. The company will handle international sales of the documentary series.
“At a time when the plight of hostages, from how they are treated by their captors to the long-term effects of such violent disruption on their lives, remains a very important topic, not only in Israel, but also in other areas of the world where there is conflict, we believe this new documentary will resonate with many international buyers,” Levy added.
The groundbreaking documentary series is executive produced by Keren Gleicher, Guy Lavi and Uzi Karen for Yes, with Orly Atlas Katz and Osnat Saraga serving as executive producers for Paramount’s Ananey Studios. Yes Studios previously partnered with Ananey Studios, an award-winning Tel Aviv-based studio, on a new scripted series “Wonder” earlier this year.
