Kiss nightclub series premieres today and CNN spoke with the cast; “To forget is to deny history”

Ten years after the fire at Kiss Nightclub, in the city of Santa Maria, the story is retold in the miniseries “Todo dia A Mesma Noite”, which premieres this Wednesday (25) on Netflix. Five episodes show, in a fictional way, what happened on the night of January 27, 2013. The tragedy took the lives of 242 people and left more than 600 injured.

So far, no one responsible has been arrested. The production is based on a book report by journalist Daniela Arbex, released in 2018.

The plot accompanies the families of the victims in an incessant search for justice. In addition, the production proposes to make a portrait of the judicial system, telling how the stages of the trial and the pain of impunity took place.

“We had this terrible experience to represent, but we also had the experience of the transformation that these people went through, that they were forced to go through. From mourning to fighting, they really saw themselves in a mission that is still there today. These people have been fighting for justice for 10 years,” said actress Bianca Byington in an interview with CNN .

In the series, she plays the mother of a fire victim, who is part of the Association of Families of Victims and Survivors of the Tragédia de Santa Maria.

For Daniela Arbex, this tragedy must not be forgotten. “I always say that pain hurts the most when it is ignored. So, we need to show the country that collective omission breeds barbarism. In this case, and in all other tragedies in Brazil, if we don’t build memory, we repeat it”, she pointed out.

The journalist is also the creative director of the miniseries, and was moved to say: “This miniseries awakens our empathy, so that we put ourselves in the shoes of those people. And, when we are able to put ourselves in the other’s shoes, we change, and we change a country”.

To transform the story that generated national commotion into five 40-minute episodes, screenwriter Gustavo Lipsztein sought a clipping: the search for justice.

“It was important to show that they were individuals, not a statistic. It’s not 242, it’s Mari, it’s Guilherme, it’s Marco, it’s Felipinho. And these stories represent them all, because in individuality you see the collectivity, ”he explained.

The Kiss nightclub fire is among the deadliest in the world and has impacted thousands of people.

“We chose these stories to tell, but it’s not just those who died who went through the trauma. The series itself comes and says: they are all in the hospital, they are all undergoing psychiatric treatment”, analyzed Paulo Gorgulho, actor who plays the father of one of the victims of the tragedy.

The miniseries also marks the debut of digital influencer Paola Antonini as an actress, in the role of one of the survivors of the tragedy.

“I think the whole social role that the series has is very important. They were really exciting months, doing something I had never done, but I always remembered the main thing, which was to tell these stories in the best way, so that something like this never happens again”, recalled Paola.

Watch interviews and excerpts from the series:

“To forget is to deny history”, says author of “Every Day the Same Night” | Popverse CNN