Spanish series Querer triumphs at Series Mania

by Fabien Lemercier

31/03/2025 - Europe also dazzled, with Italy’s Luca Marinelli named Best Actor and The Deal rewarded for its screenplay, while Spain dominated the International Panorama too, thanks to Celeste

Spanish series Querer triumphs at Series Mania

Miguel Bernardeau and Loreto Mauleón, who star in Querer which won the Series Mania Grand Prize (© Séries Mania)

Editions come and go and records are coming thick and fast for the Series Mania Festival, which closed having attracted over 108,000 participants on the festival side (10,000 more than last year) and 5,000 attendees (up 20%) from 75 countries at the professional Forum sidebar, and which has now unveiled its winners, following the example of Buyers’ Upfront (news), the Co-Pro Pitching Sessions (news) and SERIESMAKERS (article).

Spain has confirmed its locomotive status in the series world, with the International Competition’s Grand Prize awarded to Querer [+see also:
series review
trailer
interview: Alauda Ruiz de Azúa
series profile] (discovered out of competition in San Sebastián, created and scripted by Alauda Ruiz de Azúa, Eduard Sola and Júlia de Paz, with the latter also responsible for directing the work), the International Panorama trophy scooped by Celeste [+see also:
series review
trailer
interview: Diego San José
series profile] (created by Diego San José, who also wrote the screenplay alongside Daniel Castro and Oriol Puig, with Elena Trapé directing) and Best Female Performance entrusted to Carmen Machi.

Presided over by Pamela Adlon (and further composed of Victor Le Masne, Ignacio Serricchio, Minkie Spiro and Karin Viard), the International Competition jury awarded its Best Actor prize to Italian talent Luca Marinelli for his performance in Mussolini: Son of the Century [+see also:
interview: Joe Wright
series profile] (unveiled out of competition in Venice), as well as a Special Mention to the screenwriters behind The Deal [+see also:
series review
series profile] (created by Jean-Stéphane Bron and Alice Winocour and co-produced by Switzerland, France, Luxembourg and Belgium).

Equally noteworthy in the International Panorama line-up was the Special Mention won by Belgian series Putain [+see also:
interview: Frederik Daem, Deben Van Dam
series profile] (created by Zwangere Guy and Frederik Daem) and the Best Actor title nabbed by English talent Matthew Gurney for his work in Reunion, while the French Competition saw 37 Seconds (created and scripted by Anne Landois and Sophie Kovess-Brun) reign supreme.

The winners are as follows:

International Competition

Grand Prize
Querer [+see also:
series review
trailer
interview: Alauda Ruiz de Azúa
series profile] (Spain - Movistar Plus+, Arte)

Best Screenplay
Moshe Zonder and Ronit Weiss Berkowitz - The German (Israel/USA - Yes TV)
Special Mention
Jean-Stéphane Bron, Alice Winocour, Eugène Riousse, Stéphane Mitchell, Valentine Monteil and Julien-Guilhem Lacombe - The Deal [+see also:
series review
series profile] (Switzerland/France/Luxembourg/Belgium - RTS, Arte)