25/03/2026 - Written by Tilek Cherikov and produced by Studio Oymo, the Kyrgyz project was honoured at the close of the pitching sessions, while French series R91 picked up the Buyers Upfront Award

The pitch of Red Pants during the Co-Pro Pitching Sessions (© Chloé Leclercq)

Among the 15 projects selected and presented yesterday in the Co-Pro Pitching Sessions - organised within the festival’s industry arm, the Series Mania Forum (read our article) - the jury chaired by Spaniard Jorge Pezzi (Movistar Plus+) and further composed of France’s Alexandre Piel (Arte France), Germany’s Laura Mae Harding (ZDF), Israeli-US talent Alon Aranya (Paper Plane Productions) and Sweden’s Johanna Gårdare (SVT), singled out the Kyrgyz project, Red Pants, which walked away with the €50,000 prize.

Written by Tilek Cherikov, this series blending drama and action takes us to Soviet Kyrgyzstan in the late 1970s, where Aïsha, the daughter of a military officer, forms the first ever female criminal gang - the notorious "Red Pants" - to avenge her father’s death and defy the oppressive regime...

On the Buyers Upfront side, victory went to the French series R91, which triumphed over the other nine production or post-production titles in contention (news), courtesy of a jury comprising Oliver Jones (Apple TV+), Nick Lee (BBC), Morad Koufane (France Télévisions), Fredrik Luihn (NRK), Margarida Pereira (TVI – Televisao Independente) and Hakura Jorgensen (Wowow Inc.).

An action thriller, R91 (6 x 52 minutes) is set on the Mediterranean Sea where France’s nuclear aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle (R91) has just set sail on a strategic mission. When a crew member is found dead and another goes missing, military investigator Paul Fischer is rushed aboard. With help from the ship’s second-in-command, Helena Duval, he must uncover the truth before the killer strikes again. With 2,000 men and women trapped on board, suspicion spreads and the case risks escalating into a global security crisis…

Last but not least, the SERIESMAKERS programme (in partnership with the Series Mania Institute) awarded victory to the Canadian project Chachachá ! (8 x 30 minutes) by Alison Fairweather Murray.

The winning series are as follows:

Co-Pro Pitching Sessions

Red Pants (Kyrgyzstan) – 10 x 60’
Genre: drama, action
Producer: Erke Dzhumakmatova (Studio Oymo)
Co-producers: Pavel Feldman & Alexander Seliverstov (Human Films)
Written by Tilek Cherikov

Buyers Upfront

R91 (France) – 6 x 52’
Genre: thriller, action
Producer: Next Episode
International sales agent: SND

SERIESMAKERS

Chachachá ! (Canada) – 8 x 30’
Writer/director: Alison Fairweather Murray
Producer: Jennifer Weiss (Nice Picture!)

(Translated from French)