Oscar Emmywinning director Daniel Junge boards Benaim doc
Oscar Emmywinning director Daniel Junge is executive producing Panama filmmaker Abner Benaim's untitled documentary on Jaime Alemán, a lawyer and traveler who has visited all 193 UN countries, reached both poles, and became the first Panamanian in space aboard Blue Origin's New Shepard NS-32. Apertura Films is producing the expedition-meets-character-study project.
The pairing brings fresh heat to the global nonfiction pipeline tracked in our Streaming & TV Alerts coverage, linking an Oscar- and Emmy-winning U.S. voice to a Panamanian filmmaker who has represented his country three times at the Academy Awards.
Key Takeaways
- Daniel Junge (Saving Face) is executive producing Abner Benaim's latest documentary.
- The still-untitled film follows Jaime Alemán, who has hit all 193 UN countries, both poles, and space.
- Junge previously collaborated with Benaim on Tropical Paradise, which won the Panama Film Festival Audience Award.
- Benaim's Apertura Films is producing; shoots already include Azores, Brazil, Toronto, and Panama.
- Upcoming filming includes Bangkok, Bhutan, Pakistan, and a planned Tristan da Cunha trip in April next year.
Who is Oscar Emmywinning director Daniel Junge joining on this film?
According to Variety, Oscar- and Emmy-winning U.S. director Daniel Junge is boarding Benaim's new project as executive producer. Benaim, known for Invasion and Plaza Catedral, has represented Panama three times at the Oscars.
Junge last worked with Benaim on the 2026 documentary Tropical Paradise. That film won the Audience Award at the Panama Film Festival last April. Junge said Alemán is a larger-than-life character whose journey shows what happens when a passion for exploring the world—and beyond—is taken to its ultimate extreme.
What is Abner Benaim's documentary about?
The film centers on Panamanian Jaime Alemán, a lawyer, diplomat, and businessman who is now 72 and has been traveling since he was 18. He has visited every United Nations–recognized country, reached the North and South Poles, and became the first Panamanian to travel into space on Blue Origin's New Shepard NS-32 suborbital mission last year.
Benaim frames the travel feats as a vehicle for an inward portrait. He told Variety the real journey is about Alemán's psyche, vulnerability, fears, and what drives someone to keep moving. Because the story is still unfolding, the filmmaking itself becomes part of that search—and a universal question about what gives a life purpose.
In parallel, Alemán's daughter Sofi is chasing the same 193 countries, with Jaime supporting her. Benaim said that when she finishes, they will be the first father-daughter team in history to have visited all 193 countries.
Where will the crew shoot next, and why does it matter?
Benaim and his crew will follow Alemán toward Tristan da Cunha, one of Earth's most remote uninhabited places, reachable by a five-day voyage over rough seas about 1,500 miles west of Cape Town, South Africa. That trip is slated for April next year.
They have already shot in the Azores, Brazil, Toronto, and Panama, and will shoot shortly in Bangkok, Bhutan, and Pakistan. Alemán is also aiming for Oymyakon and Death Valley—the coldest and hottest places on Earth, respectively.
Produced by Benaim's Apertura Films, the documentary aims to combine large-scale expedition filmmaking with intimate access, offering both a visually ambitious adventure and a philosophical portrait of a man who refuses to believe any journey is ever truly complete.