Featured Image Credit: Netflix
Topics: Film and TV, Netflix, World News, Documentaries
Ellie Kemp
An incredible new Netflix documentary examines how four young children beat the odds to survive the depths of the world's largest rainforest.
The documentary follows the tragic story of four siblings who were left stranded in the Amazon jungle following a fatal plane crash on May 1 last year.
It's currently third on the Netflix US movie chart, just behind Margot Robbie and Will Smith's spy-romance Focus and new Christmas flick Hot Frosty.
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The trailer, which you can watch below, shows search-and-rescue personnel crying as they recall finding the children, while the jungle's vast, treacherous conditions are also shown.
Titled The Lost Children, it joined the streaming giant on November 14.
When the children's mom, Magdalena Mucutui Valencia, the pilot, and an indigenous leader were all killed after the light aircraft's engine failed, the four children were left to fend for themselves.
Lesly Jacobombaire Mucutuy, 13, Soleiny Jacobombaire Mucutuy, 9, Tien Ranoque Mucutuy, 4, and 11-month-old Cristin Ranoque Mucutuy found themselves stranded in the Guaviare Rainforest - dubbed 'the gateway' of the Amazon.
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Alone, in of the most remote area of Colombia, an injured Lesly was miraculously able to keep her little siblings safe and alive.
It took 40 days for the children to be found, despite a massive military-led search involving more than a hundred Colombian special forces troops and 70 indigenous scouts.
Lesly relied on jungle survival skills she'd been taught as a child to survive.
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This included building a 'camp' with hair ties, dodging poisonous snakes, and identifying safe jungle fruits to eat.
Colombian special forces officials said the children also lived off farina, a coarse flour often used by indigenous tribes in the Amazon region.
Oscar-winning director Orlando von Einsiedel told Netflix Tudum of the challenges of shooting such a sensitive documentary.
He said: "It’s always crucial to treat stories involving painful human tragedy with the deep respect and sensitivity they deserve. I was drawn to this particular narrative because it was clear that within it were many glimpses of incredible human resilience and strength - not only the children’s battle to survive in the forest alone but also the way in which Indigenous rescuers and the military were able to overcome their mutual mistrust and fear to unite in a dangerous and epic mission to rescue the children."
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The Lost Children is available to stream now on Netflix.