HBO nabs rights to Pablo Escobar documentary

Sebastian Marroquin, son of Colombia's late drug lord Pablo Escobar, is photographed before the premiere of the documentary ''Sins of My Father'' in Bogota December 9, 2009.

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - HBO has picked up the U.S. television rights to the feature documentary "Sins of My Father," the inside story of notorious Colombian drug lord Pablo Escobar.

The film will compete in the World Documentary section at the Sundance Film Festival later this month, and is slated to air on the pay cable network this year, possibly in the fall.

"Sins," directed and produced by New York-based Argentinean filmmaker Nicolas Entel, recounts Escobar's life through his son, Sebastian Marroquin, who changed his name and fled Colombia after his father was killed in a 1993 police shootout.

The documentary features interviews with Marroquin and his mother, Maria Victoria, as well as never-before-seen pictures and home movies from the Escobar archive. It also has Marroquin meeting the sons of prominent political figures, including Luis Carlos Galan Sarmiento, killed by Escobar and his men 20 years ago.

"Sins" took four years to make, said Entel, who came to the U.S. in 2001 after graduating from Argentina's top film school. "I don't remember the person I was when I started," Entel quipped.

It took him six months to persuade Marroquin, who had turned down about 50 other movie offers, to participate.

"He even made me write an essay about why I wanted to do this film," Entel said.