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ASTANA – “La Tregua” (The Truce), an upcoming Kazakh-Spanish film, seeks to bring out the light within people during times of war and conflict, the film’s director Miguel Ángel Vivas told The Astana Times.
The Comic Con Astana 2025 audience was treated to an exclusive first look at “La Tregua” – a joint Kazakh-Spanish production. Photo credit: Comic Con Astana press service.
The story of “La Tregua” unfolds during 1937-1945 in Karlag, one of the largest Soviet labor camps in Kazakhstan, part of the Gulag system. In the film, Vivas explores the coexistence of two Spaniards who found themselves on opposite sides of the civil war, and a Kazakh intellectual striving to preserve his humanity in inhuman conditions.
“It’s a movie about consolation between people. Sadly, we live in a war. Everyone is fighting with everyone. Everyone hates everyone because of religion, the country, or your thoughts, and this has not changed,” said Vivas.
Film director Miguel Ángel Vivas. Photo credit: Comic Con Astana press service.
Vivas is known for his work on the “Money Heist” (“La Casa de Papel”) series, the post-apocalyptic thriller “Extinction” starring Matthew Fox, and the “Inside” horror film.
“The idea was to do a journey from the dark to the light. We can see the real story about these camps and what happened in there, but in one moment, when they do the truce, the movie changes. We’re going to open the light, open the camera, and the lens. It’s a tough movie, but at the end, it’s a lightening movie, and we wanted the audience to cry at the end of the movie,” said Vivas.
“When you don’t see the ideologies of the person you have in front of you, you start seeing the real person. The movie is about empathy—about saying ‘please stop hating each other,’” he added.
On July 12, the Comic Con Astana 2025 audience was treated to the first screening of “La Tregua.” The film is set to premiere on Netflix in late fall or winter. It will be the first Kazakh production to be distributed worldwide on Netflix’s global streaming service.
“Netflix was interested because our Spanish partners already had an established relationship with them. So when they pitched another project, it piqued their interest,” said Erlan Bekhozhin, the project’s creative executive producer.
While the characters portrayed in the film are fictional, the setting of the camp and its context are grounded in actual events.
“Until 1980, the fact that Spaniards were held in Karlag was kept secret. After 1980, when Kazakhstan made a gesture of goodwill, the Kazakh authorities handed the lists of Spanish detainees to the King of Spain. This prompted a Spanish documentary filmmaker to create the “Forgotten in Karagandy” film. The film caused a sensation and shocked the Spanish audience, and after that, the idea to make a feature film was born —and that’s the film we’ve brought to life today,” said Bekhozhin.
The film features Miguel Herrán, known for his role in “Money Heist,” and Aron Piper, who starred in “Élite.” Kazakh actors participating in the project include Dina Tasbulatova, Sergey Ufimtsev, Altynay Nogerbek, and Farabi Akkozov.
Reflecting on her experience working with the Spanish team, Tasbulatova, who plays the lead female role, Aisulu, said it was a truly comfortable collaboration.
“It was really easy working with them—they’re very open. They gave us a lot of creative freedom, and it felt natural to share our own ideas. They were always receptive and supportive,” she said.
Tasbulatova said her experience working on the historical series “Alzhir,” about the wives and mothers of “traitors of the motherland” imprisoned at the Akmola camp, was both valuable and impactful—especially in preparing to portray a strong character like Aisulu.
“This film is largely a masculine story, but as the main female character, she brings an emotional core to it. There’s also a love story between my character and Miguel Herrán’s. She’s a strong, independent woman—not just a victim of the times. She has a powerful spirit and a clear sense of what she wants from life, and she goes after it,” said Tasbulatova.
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