It’s an incredible story of survival, courage, tenacity and hope and it’s told by those who lived it.
“Lost in the Jungle” is the true story of four Indigenous siblings, aged 13, 9, 5 and 11 months who were lost in a remote part of the Colombian jungle after the Cessna aircraft they were on crashed, killing their mother and the plane’s pilot.
Director and producer Juan Camilo Cruz said the crash, which happened in May of 2023, was being followed by everyone in his home country of Colombia.
“It was the story of a plane crash, which, of course, got a lot of attention. But once they actually figured out that four kids were lost in the jungle, it became national, big, big news,” he told On The Red Carpet.
The children wandered the jungle for 40 days, with the eldest, Lesly, doing her best to keep her young siblings safe. And for the first time, we hear from her as she chronicles the days they were lost.
“It was really important to us to include the voices of the children, because that was really the biggest mystery. It was like, how is it possible that a 13-year-old indigenous girl can keep her three siblings, including an infant, alive for 40 days in the jungle,” said Chai Vasarhelyi, who also directed and produced the documentary.
Cruz said he and the team connected with the children in a way that made them feel comfortable enough to tell their story.
“When you meet them, you realize that…they’re very special, you know. And that they had a message to deliver and they’re beautiful, beautiful souls,” he said. “I feel very privileged to have met them.”
The Colombian military special forces searched for the children as well as Indigenous trackers. The two teams, who were not making progress separately, eventually worked together to help find them.
“They’ve got totally different belief systems. They were able to find common ground because they were interested in saving these children,” said Vasarhelyi. “I just hope it’s a reminder of kind of like the strength of the human spirit and also our ability to find common ground despite our differences.”
“Lost in the Jungle” premieres on National Georgraphic September 12 and streams on Disney+ and Hulu the next day.
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