In “Lost in the Jungle,” he teams up with Oscar winner Jimmy Chin and Colombian filmmaker Juan Camilo Cruz in Chai Vasalheli (“Free Solo”) to tell the story of a 40-month old brother, 13, 9, 5 and 11 months old, who stayed alive for 40 days, colliding after colliding after collisions after collisions. Magdalena Mukotoy and the plane pilot.
Premiering last month at the Telluride Film Festival, the film is one of two 2025 Nat Geo documentaries directed by Chin and Vasalheli. They also have “Love + War” about combat photographer Lindsay Adalio, currently screening at Camden INTL. Film festival.
“Lost in the Jungle” is the third feature-length documentary about the miraculous survival stories of his brothers, Soleiny, Tien and Cristin Mucutuy. Last year, Netflix released “The Lost Children” and “Operation Hope – The Children Lost in the Amazon” was released on TVOD. However, “Lost of the Jungle” stands out as Chin, Vasalheli and Cruz secured the rights to the Mukty Brothers’ story. Children not only appear in the Lost of the Jungle, but also interviews.
“It was very important to allow children to tell stories in their own words. That means jumping over a lot of hoops and waiting, bringing together many different interests and different parties,” says Vasarhelyi.
Variety spoke to Vasarhelyi and Cruz about “Lost in the Jungle,” which premiered at National Geographic on September 12th and premiered the stream on Disney+ and Hulu on September 13th.
In addition to Muktuy’s children, the film includes interviews with Colombian military commanders who found local indigenous tribes and children, Colombian President Gustavo Petro and Magdalena Muktuy’s former partners, family and friends. How did you get such extraordinary access?
Vasarhelyi: It was probably the most complicated film I’ve ever made in terms of access.
Cruz: When we were in the story, we were discovering how deeper and deeper the characters and stories have become. That’s why we have such a different voice choir in films. It took a lot of effort, energy and skills to bring it all in.
Was it tough to interview children about one of the most traumatic times of your life?
Cruz: We approached it with extreme respect and full approval from the families and organizations that were caring for our children after the tragic events. (They received psychological support during the interview). We also had our own team. They gave me a lot of information on the best ways to actually do interviews and how to approach children. I think giving them the opportunity to (the kids) have the opportunity to own their stories and they give them a voice they haven’t had that long.
In Doc, it is clear that persistent children and their mothers face significant financial difficulties. You both benefit from their stories. Are children compensated for giving you the rights to their stories?
Vasarhelyi: Yes. of course. Because we set trust for our children and that’s fair. Children tell their stories in their own words, especially for this film.
In addition to talking heads, archival footage and reenactments, we used animations to tell part of the story. Mostly animation was used, and children explained how they spent their days in the jungle. How did you decide to use animation to tell that part of the story?
Vasarhelyi: I think animation is often manipulative, but I thought this idea of these line drawings could be a reminder that the audience would have focused on the actual words that children say, and that these Indigenous children must have had to be in Jungle.
The DOC has several reenactment sequences involving Indigenous rescue teams and Colombian military rescue teams. They didn’t feel like a reenactment sequence. It felt like I was watching the footage from the archives. How did you make it look so realistic?
Cruz: There was the luxury of making real people come back to Amazon. Indigenous people are very accurate in their storytelling. They don’t want to lie, and the military is just as very strict. In fact, all the situations we actually recreated were very, very close to the reality of how it happened. You know from the background, from the actions, and how they were actually placed in a particular situation.
A search team of indigenous peoples in the jungle along with the national flag and the Colombian army.
Indigenous rescue team
