Starz Announces Plans For New Santeria Television Show

In an effort to target Latino viewers the Starz network announced this week that they will be debuting a new television show called Santeria. According to The Hollywood Reporter–

“Santeria is a supernatural drama that centers on two undercover agents who investigate a bizarre murder. The drama explores the complex relationship between the Cuban people and Santeria, the ancient religion born on the island of Cuba. Cuban writer-director Alejandro Brugues (From Dusk Till Dawn) and Eduardo Sanchez (The Blair Witch Project, From Dusk Till Dawn) will executive produce and direct with Gregg Hale (The Blair Witch Project) on board as an EP. “

Eduardo Sanchez, who will be directing, was born in Cuba in 1968. The other producer Alejandro Brugues is also Cuban.  So I guess we will see what two Cubans have to say about their unofficial national religion of La Regla Lucumi, more commonly referred to as Santeria. Recently we have seen the Santeria religion as a storyline on the popular Orange Is The New Black. I wrote about the accuracy and intensity of this story in my post Orange is the New Black Puts On It’s Santeria Whites. The questions going through my mind are numerous. Will this drama be in the tradition of the successful Starz production Outlander? That show did a decent job of portraying the Pagan practices in the storyline realistically. Or will the show Santeria go down the stereotypical path of disappointing portrayals of the voodoo religion that we saw on American Horror Story Coven ? What makes the producers believe this will appeal to younger Latino community? Are they looking at something I’m not? I guess time will tell. The religious Santeria community is already nervous about the possibility of another disrespectful and sensationalized portrayal of their tradition. All we can do for now, is to stay tuned.

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