Earning their place in history: 'Women in Blue' tells story of Mexico's first female police force

Prior to starting a project, Fernando Rovzar takes his time.

“I always ask, ‘Does this material trigger a conversation?’ ” Rovzar said. “And the story of ‘Women in Blue’ does start a conversation because it’s wholly original and touches on some uncomfortable realities of politics in our country that are as true today as they were back in 1971.”

“Women in Blue,” is an upcoming 10-episode Spanish-language crime drama featuring an entirely Hispanic cast and crew led by Bárbara Mori.

Earning their place in history: 'Women in Blue' tells story of Mexico's first female police force

Set in 1970 and inspired by true events, “Women in Blue” tells the story of four women who defy the ultraconservative norms of the time and join Mexico’s first female police force, only to discover that their squad is a publicity stunt to distract the media from a brutal serial killer.

As the body count grows, María, played by Mori, whose determination to catch the killer becomes an obsession; Gabina, played by Amorita Rasgado, whose father is a renowned cop; Ángeles, played by Ximena Sariñana, a brilliant fingerprint analyst; and Valentina, played by Natalia Téllez, a young rebel; set up a secret investigation to achieve what no male officer has been able to do and bring the serial killer to justice.

The series, created by Rovzar and Pablo Aramendi, will premiere on July 31, with two episodes and then one episode weekly through Sept. 25, on Apple TV+.

In the series, the women find themselves treated differently than their male counterparts.

There are 16 cadets and not one of them is issued a gun. If they witness something illegal taking place or someone in trouble, they are instructed to blow a whistle and find a payphone to call their bosses.

Rovzar said he and Aramendi decided to take a chance on the little known story of Mexico City becoming the first city in the world to hire women on a police force in the 1930s.

“The idea was way ahead of its time and lasted no more than a month or two as society wasn’t ready for that idea,” Aramendi said. “It wasn’t until the late ’60s that the idea took hold again.”

Aramendi soon pitched to Rovzar and his production company Lemon Studios and they initially considered making it as a movie.

However, Aramendi and Rovzar quickly realized that a series would provide the opportunity to do a deeper dive into politics and the deeply embedded sexism and misogyny that was occurring in the midst of burgeoning protests from women and students.

“Most of all, we wanted to tell a story that would not resemble anything ever made in Latin America,” Rovzar said.

The “Women in Blue” creators first had to give themselves a satisfactory answer about what would motivate these four women to remain part of the police force when the rank and file clearly didn’t want them there.

“There are a couple of things in play,” Rovzar said. “One of the greatest virtues a policeman must have is empathy and the Mexican police in this era were entirely lacking in it. The victims of the serial killer were merely statistics to the police because they investigated without empathy. When María discovers one of the victims, she and the female peers are stunned to see death and injustice up close. That corpse becomes the most important thing they have ever faced and they are motivated by empathy. They find their purpose in being part of the police.”

The other factor the pair took into consideration was just how much these women were risking. Their relationships with their families and their home life were put on the line to enter an unwelcoming workplace. To return home defeated with their heads down was something they were not willing to do.

“There’s a strong energy pulling them to investigate under the noses of their superiors, but there’s also a feeling they are unwilling to admit: that the men in their lives were right and this was a mistake,” Rovzar said. “So, there is a dual motivation at play and it ends up being for the benefit of the whole country that they stay.”

Rovzar says the four women each bring a necessary skill set to the table.

He says María is underestimated because of her beauty and ladylike behavior; her sister, Valentina, is a rebel and filled with swagger; Ángeles is a brilliant and unemotional fingerprint analyst, and Gabina, because of her family’s history in the police force, has the physical and tactical skills she’s unwittingly gained throughout her life. As a whole, they’re the ideal detectives to track down the serial killer with the moniker, “The Undresser.”

“They end up contributing in a way that nobody ever thought they would, and end up earning their place not only in the police force, but in history,” Rovzar continued.

Finding the right actresses to portray these complex, fearless and courageous women was always going to be pivotal to the success of the series.

“The selection of Bárbara, Natalia, Amorita and Ximena, was a difficult process because they had to embody such distinct and vivid characters,” Rovzar explained. “But then I realized, I had to write to fit them because the story had to be the size of the talent that the four of them have. That’s not an easy thing to ask of a writer or a group of writers, to fill the shoes of tremendous actresses like them. Each became a soloist on her own instrument. To come to a set where the casting was so inspired was such a gift. This series is a string quartet and the quartet is these four women who every day left me speechless with the dedication they had and to the responsibility for telling the world this story.”