02/04/2025 - Following the great reception of Celeste, the new Movistar Plus+ original series produced by Mediapro and Buendía Estudios Canarias, stars Javier Cámara and Carla Quílez

(l-r) Director Elena Trapé, actor Javier Cámara, actress Carla Quílez and creator Diego San José on the set of Yakarta (© Manolo Pavón)

Filming has just finished on the series Yakarta, created by Diego San José and directed by Elena Trapé, an artistic duo that is reunited after the success of Celeste [+see also:
series review
trailer
interview: Diego San José
series profile], which has just received the awards for Best Series and Best Actress for Carmen Machi in the Panorama section of the Series Mania Festival (read more). Its other two directors are Fernando Delgado-Hierro and actor Javier Cámara himself (Goya winner for Living Is Easy with Eyes Closed [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] and Truman [+see also:
film review
trailer
making of
interview: Cesc Gay
film profile], who has already directed some episodes of the series Rapa [+see also:
trailer
series profile], Vamos Juan and Venga Juan [+see also:
trailer
series profile], which he also starred in), who stars alongside Carla Quílez, Silver Shell for Best Leading Actress at San Sebastian Film Festival for La maternal [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Pilar Palomero
film profile].

The cast is completed by David Lorente (Escape [+see also:
trailer
film profile], soon in the series Anatomía de un instante), Pilar Gómez (Goya nominated for Adiós [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Paco Cabezas
film profile]), Marina Guerola (nominated for the last Goya for Glimmers [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Pilar Palomero
film profile]) and Anna Alarcón (whom we have seen in the series The New Years [+see also:
series review
trailer
series profile] and who has just won an award in the Zonazine section in Málaga for Join Me for Breakfast).

With a script by San José, Delgado-Hierro and Daniel Castro, it tells the story of José Ramón Garrido (played by Cámara), a former Olympic badminton player who survives by teaching physical education at a public high school in Vallecas. Divorced and hopeless, he believes he has discovered the diamond that can turn his life around: Mar (Quílez), a teenage player who could be the ticket to make his dream come true of competing in Jakarta, the city where ex-players are treated like stars. But Indonesia's capital is a long way away, especially for two strangers. Together, they will have to learn to put up with each other as they embark on a journey through rundown boarding houses, sports centres and petrol stations.

Diego San José (creator of the series Vote for Juan, Vamos Juan and Venga Juan, and Su majestad) says that “After filming a series like Celeste in the Treasury, it seemed impossible to find an even greyer world in which to tell a story. But I remembered that there are regional badminton tournaments: championships played in ugly sports centres, without an audience, and in cities like Totana, Ponferrada and Torrelavega. I, who am from Irún, am passionate about provincial towns, because they’re all the same and make me feel at home. Yakarta is a story that reasserts an uncharismatic Spain where nothing special ever happens. Our protagonists are like two provincial towns, because they have no charisma and nothing special happens to them. I like people without charisma. I find them calming. This series is our tribute to those people who lose even when they win.”

Co-director Elena Trapé (responsible for Distances [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Elena Trapé
film profile], Golden Biznaga at Málaga Film Festival), adds: “I heard about Yakarta while we were shooting Celeste. At that time, the project was still being finalised, but it already had two highly appealing elements: Diego, with whom I have forged a wonderful professional collaboration, was the creator, and Javier, an incredible actor with whom I was able to work in the first season of Rapa, was the main character. It was a real treat to be approached months later. I was attracted to the fact that it was a story of characters and its protagonists share the wound of abandonment, of failure, of having nowhere to go, of being left without affection.”

Yakarta, a series of six 30-minute episodes, is produced by Fran Araújo for Movistar Plus+, Laura Fernández Espeso and Javier Méndez for The Mediapro Studio and Alejandro Flórez for 100 Balas (also from the Mediapro group) together with Ignacio Corrales for Buendía Estudios Canarias.

(Translated from Spanish)