Netflix Drops Cate Blanchett’s ‘Stateless’ and Latinx Psychic Doc ‘Mucho Mucho Amor’
Two shows are launching on Netflix today: “Stateless” and “Mucho Mucho Amor: The Legend of Walter Mercado.”
The intense new drama “Stateless” is co-created by Oscar-winning actress Cate Blanchett.
The six-part series is inspired, in part, by the true story of Cornelia Rau, unlawfully detained in the early 2000s. “Stateless” involves four stories: a flight attendant escaping a cult, an Afghan refugee, a young father leaving a dead-end job and a bureaucrat trying to contain a scandal. They meet at an immigration detention center in the middle of the Australian desert.
In addition to co-creating the series with Tony Ayres and Elisa McCredie, Blanchett serves as executive producer and plays Pat, a glamorous cult leader. She has also worked with the UNHCR (United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.)
The cast includes Yvonne Strahovski, Fayssal Bazzi, Jai Courtney, Dominic West, Marta Dusseldorp and Soraya Heidari.
“The wonderful benefit of streaming and streaming internationally is that stories that are made in one particular territory have a global reach, and that was something that was very important to us, that we weren’t making a culturally hermetically sealed piece of work. Even though it takes place in Australia, the resonance is global,” Blanchett told Deadline.
Also debuting today is the documentary “Mucho Mucho Amor: The Legend of Walter Mercado.” A legendary psychic-astrologer, Mercado was a star in the Spanish-speaking world. Draped in Liberace-like costumes, he was a larger-than-life personality — who vanished at the height of his fame.
Per Netflix: “Every day for decades, extravagant Puerto Rican astrologer, psychic and gender nonconforming legend Walter Mercado charmed the world with his televised horoscopes. Equal parts Oprah, Liberace and Mr. Rogers, Walter reached over 120 million viewers at his peak, enthralling the Latin world with sequined capes, opulent jewelry and horoscopes that shared a message of love and hope to his devoted viewers. Then, he mysteriously disappeared.
“Over a decade later, award-winning directors Cristina Costantini (“Science Fair,” “The Last Resort”) and Kareem Tabsch (“The Last Resort,” “Cherry Pop”) and producer Alex Fumero (“I Think You Should Leave with Tim Robinson”) capture Walter’s final two years, when the pioneering icon grappled with aging and his legacy, and prepared for one last star-studded spectacle.”
“Mucho Mucho Amor” was an Official Selection of the 2020 Sundance Film Festival.