28/03/2022 - The French series steered by Katell Quillévéré and Hélier Cisterne triumphed in the festival’s International Competition, while Swedish work The Dark Heart dominated the International Panorama line-up

A group photo of the festival team and the winners at the awards ceremony (© Gaël Leitao)

The Series Mania Festival has unveiled its champions (three days after the unfolding of the ceremony dedicated to the Series Mania Forum’s Co-Pro Pitching Sessions – read our news) at the close of an edition whose success can be easily gleaned from a telling statistical report (70,000 festival participants, 3,300 accredited participants from 64 countries attending the Forum in person, 260,000 views of the Series Mania Website and the Series Mania Digital Platform).

Within the International Competition, the Grand Prize was awarded to French production Reign Supreme [+see also:
series review
interview: Olivier Wotling
series profile], created by Katell Quillévéré, Hélier Cisterne, Vincent Poymiro and David Elkaïm, in collaboration with Laurent Rigoulet. Directed by the former two (who are likewise credited with the original idea for the series) and notably starring Anthony Bajon, Melvin Boomer, Andranic Manet and Laïka Blanc-Francard, this 6 x 52’ series takes us back to the 1980s, charting the cultural transformation of hip-hop, the genesis of rap group NTM and the misadventures of Dee Nasty. Produced by Les Films du Bélier in co-production with Arte France and Perpetual Soup, and in association with Netflix, Reign Supreme will arrive on Arte in the autumn before dropping on Netflix at a later date.

The International Competition also crowned Michelle de Swarte Best Actress for her part in British series The Baby (an 8 x 30’ work produced by Sister and Proverbial Pictures), while Yehuda Levi walked away with the Best Actor title for his performance in Israeli production Fire Dance.

In the International Panorama line-up, the award for Best Series went to The Dark Heart, whose story revolves around a young woman who falls in love with the son of her father’s sworn enemy as she tries to take back control of their logging business. Created by Sweden’s Oskar Söderlund and Denmark’s Gustav Möller (the former also responsible for the screenplay and the latter the series’ direction), this 5 x 45’ work is produced by Swedish firm FLX and sold by Reinvent International Sales. Also worth a mention is the Special Jury Prize, which went to German series Sunshine Eyes, created, scripted and directed by Maria Von Heland (a 10 x 38’ work produced by Maze Pictures, Red Balloon Film GMBH and Tindra Film).

In the French competition, victory went to Chair tendre [+see also:
series review
series profile], a 10 x 26’ series created and scripted by Yaël Langmann who was also responsible for co-direction alongside Jérémy Mainguy (a Jerico TV production co-produced by Big Band Story and Famela, and sold by France TV Distribution). The title of Best Actress was won by Inès Ouchaaou, Charlie Loiselier and Assa Sylla for their roles in Reusss [+see also:
series review
series profile] (a Lizland Films production), Best Actor went to Axel Granberger for Les papillons noirs [+see also:
trailer
interview: Olivier Wotling
series profile] (produced by GMT Productions, Jack N’a Qu’un Oeil, Arte France and Pictanovo) and Best Soundtrack was nabbed by Clément Doumic, Antoine Wilson and Sébastien Wolf (of the pop band Feu! Chatterton) for Toutouyoutou (an Ex Nihilo production).

Last but not least, British series The Birth of Daniel F. Harris (an 8 x 30’ work created and scripted by Pete Jackson and sold by BBC Studios) walked away with the Audience Award.

The full list of winners is as follows:

Grand Prize
Reign Supreme [+see also:
series review
interview: Olivier Wotling
series profile] (France)
Creators: Katell Quillévéré, Hélier Cisterne, Vincent Poymiro and David Elkaïm, in collaboration with Laurent Rigoulet

Best Actress
Michelle de Swarte - The Baby (UK)
Creators: Siân Robins-Grace, Lucy Gaymer

Best Actor
Yehuda Levi - Fire Dance (Israel)
Creator: Rama Burshtein-Shai

International Panorama

Best Series
The Dark Heart (Sweden)
Creators: Oskar Söderlund, Gustav Möller

Special Jury Prize
Sunshine Eyes (Germany)
Creator: Maria Von Heland

Student Jury’s Best Series
Funeral for a Dog (Germany)
Creators: Hanno Hackfort, Bob Konrad, Thomas Pletzinger

Special Mention
The Responder (UK)
Creator: Tony Schumacher

French Competition

Best Series
Chair tendre [+see also:
series review
series profile] (France)
Creator: Yaël Langmann

Best Actress
Inès Ouchaaou, Charlie Loiselier, Assa Sylla - Reusss [+see also:
series review
series profile] (France)
Creators: Jérôme Larcher, Catherine Regula

Best Actor
Axel Granberger - Les papillons noirs [+see also:
trailer
interview: Olivier Wotling
series profile] (France)
Creators: Bruno Merle, Olivier Abbou

Best Original Soundtrack
Clément Doumic, Antoine Wilson, Sébastien Wolf of pop band Feu! Chatterton – Toutouyoutou
Creators: Géraldine de Margerie, Maxime Donzel, David Coujard

Comedies Competition

High School Jury’s Best Series
Bloody Murray (Israel)
Creator: Stav Idisis

Special Mention
Visitors (France)
Creator: Simon Astier

Best Series
Float (UK)
Creator: Stef Smith

Special Mention
18H30 – Nouvelle Saison (France)
Creators: Maxime Chamoux, Sylvain Gouverneur

Audience Award
The Birth of Daniel F. Harris (UK)
Creator: Pete Jackson

(Translated from French)