Diksha Sundriyal
Starring Wagner Moura of ‘Narcos’ in the lead role, Netflix’s ‘Sergio’ follows the story of a man who spent all his life trying to make the world a better place. Before his tragic death in Iraq, Sergio Vieira de Mello had built such a reputation for himself that he was the most likely choice to be the next Secretary-General for the UN after Kofi Annan. However, events take place differently than he had hoped.
The film focuses on the most important missions of his life, giving us a mere glimpse into what had been an exceptional journey of an extraordinary man. It takes us from one part of the world to another, and we witness all sides of Sergio’s story. From the debris of the Canal Hotel to the warm sun of his hometown, the film captures various moments of his life with tenderness. If you’ve been wondering how the story was put together with so many locations, here’s the answer. Here are all the places where ‘Sergio’ was filmed.
Sergio Filming Locations
Over the course of his career, Sergio served in various places all over the world, helping bring the conflicts to an end. His work took him from Bangladesh to Sudan and from Cyprus to Mozambique. While making the film, covering every mission of his life would have been impossible. This is why the director focused only on the ones that had the most resounding impact on his life. However, even in covering these missions, the challenge was to find a suitable place that would help them recreate the circumstances that Sergio and his team went through. The production covered all filming in three different parts of the world. Thailand, Jordan, and Brazil serve as the various filming locations.
Thailand
The film begins with Sergio in Iraq. He is there to see a peaceful transition of power in the country that had recently been liberated from the tyranny of Saddam Hussein. He meant to take strict actions for the good of the people, but before that, the blast brought everything crashing down on him. He is stuck under the rubble for quite some time, along with a couple of his colleagues. The filming of these scenes took place in Chanthaburi, Thailand. A soundstage was built carefully to keep the claustrophobia of such a situation while also giving the actors enough room to breathe and act. All the scenes were filmed in seven days. The scenes concerning East Timor were filmed in Bo Rai.
Jordan
The last project of his life takes Sergio to Iraq. As soon as he lands, he finds the country in a different state than the one that America had briefed the UN about. He sees people starving; there are protests and riots on the streets. The team established their office in the Canal Hotel, where the bomb blast took place. All of these scenes took place in Amman. The sets were designed to make it resemble Iraq as closely as possible. To make it look more authentic, the film employed a local crew, most of whom were refugees from Syria and Iraq.
Rio de Janerio, Brazil
While most of Sergio’s life is spent in countries facing different kinds of turmoil, he also spends some time in peace in his home in Rio de Janeiro. While stuck inside the rubble, he thinks about the sea and the beach as the happy memories come back to him. This also helps bring out the stark contrast between his current situation in the rubble and the place where he actually wanted to be with Carolina. The filming of all these scenes took place in real locations in Rio de Janeiro. Some of the scenes were also filmed in Arpoador, Ipanema and Copacabana.
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