Windeck (TV series) explained

Developer:Semba Comunicação
Director:Paulo Brito
Sérgio Graciano
Luís Pamplona
Paulo Rosa
Starring:Tânia Burity
Micaela Reis
Raul Cachombo
Fredy Costa
Celso Roberto
Nádia Silva
Edusa Chindecasse
Country:Angola
Language:Portuguese
Num Seasons:1
Num Episodes:104
Channel:TPA 2

Windeck is an Angolan television telenovela produced by Semba Comunicação and broadcast in Angola on RTP1, between April 8, 2013, and December 31, 2013, with a repeat of the last episode on January 2, 2014. The telenovela was nominated in 2013 for the International Emmy Awards for Best Telenovela with Avenida Brasil and Side by side, both from Rede Globo, and with 30 Vies, from Canada.[1]

Main Plot

Victoria Kajibanga, an ambitious young girl from Mexico, uses her charm to achieve her goals. On the other hand, his older sister, Anna-Maria, is simple and honest. Working at Divo, a major fashion magazine in Angola as a photographer, she has a crush on Kiluanji Voss, one of the heirs of the company.

The plot begins with Victoria's arrival in Luanda. Knowing her seductive nature and jealous of her beauty, Anna-Maria is particularly hostile towards her, and seeks to send her back to Mexico. However, she is not the only one who wants such a thing. Kassia Betancour, Kiluanji's suitor, and her mother Rosa also want to have her outside of Luanda, feeling threatened in the quest for the Voss fortune that they covet.

Thanks to her beauty and her sense of strategy, Victoria conquers the heart of Xavier, the boss of Divo and father of Kiluanji, going so far as to rise to the position of intern at Divo with Kiluanji. She befriends Enda, a magazine journalist who later becomes her faithful accomplice, and moves in with him after Anna-Maria kicks him out of her home. Over time, she tries to sympathize with Kiluanji, shows him the true side of Rosa and Kassia and even helps him find his missing mother. After Anna-Maria moves away from Kiluanji upon learning of Kassia's pregnancy which is actually false, she then takes a chance with him, and ends up becoming his girlfriend. However, Kiluanji still seems to be in love with Anna-Maria. When he learns that she is leaving for China with a new suitor, he seeks to renew ties with her, even if it means breaking those that bind him to Victoria. To win back her love, she orchestrates a car accident targeting Anna-Maria, but ends up becoming the victim by saving her sister at the last minute. Result: Kiluanji and Anna-Maria are indebted to him and realize his dream of marrying Kiluanji.

During Kiluanji's engagement, after shocking revelations made by Izaora, Kiluanji's mother, about Xavier, he is killed. While the wedding is on hold, the idiot who orchestrated Anna-Maria's accident returns to blackmail Victoria. When she cannot give in to his demands, he decides to tell the Voss everything. Result: she is kicked out of the house.

Anna-Maria, who ultimately no longer goes to London, gives in to Kiluanji's advances and marries him. During the wedding, Victoria and Enda rob the Voss safe while taking advantage of the family's absence. After which, they go to tour the world, free from all worries about money.

Secondary Plot

The series addresses other, darker issues in society through secondary characters. We have an employee of a catering agency, Jahir, victim of childhood violence by his mother. There's also Nadir, Divo's gossipy receptionist, who also faces domestic violence while living with her abusive fiancé. By coincidence, the two will end up together.

Kiluanji's aunt, Ofélia, hates middle-class people. Because of a previous affair which led to an early pregnancy, she has a horror of white people, and does not want Luiji, her daughter, to go out with Pedro, Mariza's Portuguese stepson who is none other than the best friend of Ann-Maria and the makeup artist from Divo.

The series also talks about adoption. Yuri, Ofélia's illegitimate son, lives with Samsao and Nazaré, and works as a caterer and sometimes as a model in Divo. Until the end of the show, he will not know who his biological mother is. Furthermore, Xavier Voss also turns out to be adopted, and has usurped the family inheritance from Wilson, the legitimate son. When his ex-wife returns to expose the truth to everyone at their son's engagement, he is accidentally killed by Ofélia, who is furious at having been deceived.

Cast

Main characters

Secondary characters

Sequel

Windeck: Origins follows the show, acting as a prequel to the first season. The story centers on the previous generation, that of the youth of Xavier Voss, his brother Wilson, his wife Isaora and his accomplice and lover, Rosa Betancourt. She is also the narrator of this story, with Grace Mendès voice-over.

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Windeck: novela angolana pela primeira vez na corrida aos Emmy . Redação Lux. 7 October 2013. 2 June 2014. Lux.pt. Portuguese.
  2. Web site: Windeck - O Preço da Ambição . 2 June 2014. rtp.pt. Rádio e Televisão de Portugal. Portuguese.