Rhaeto-Romanic is the fourth official language in Switzerland, along with German, French and Italian, and is currently spoken by about 60,000 people in the eastern and south-eastern parts of the country. The overarching Swiss television company, SRG SSR, has four departments, each focusing on one of the four languages and the cultural aspects of the various affiliated regions.

For the last couple of years, Swiss television has been producing a considerable number of series. Some of them have proven particularly successful, such as the crime show Wilder, four seasons of which have been produced so far; the family saga Neumatt [+lee también:
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ficha de la serie]; the comedy-crime series Der Bestatter (lit. “The Undertaker”); and the historical series Frieden (lit. “Peace”). The most active and biggest branches of SRG SSR are the German and French ones. The latter, named RTS, successfully produced the series Sacha [+lee también:
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ficha de la serie] and Hors saison. Further shows are in the pipeline, as are the third and fourth seasons of Tschugger. The Italian branch, RSI, is shooting a series at the moment as well, called Alter Ego [+lee también:
crítica
ficha de la serie]. And after the release of its first webseries, the comedy-crime show Metta da fein, the RTR, the Rhaeto-Romanic branch, is now launching its second series, L'ultim Rumantsch.

Filming for L'ultim Rumantsch will take place from May to July 2023 in several locations in Switzerland, most notably in the city of Chur and other places in the region of the Grisons, as well as in parts of Zurich. RTR editor-in-chief Flavio Bundi is already looking forward to this second fictional series: “L'ultim Rumantsch focuses and reflects on the current debate around the cultural identity of communities. Even though the series is set in the Grisons, it could equally take place anywhere in the world in this or a similar way. Viewers get something for the head, the stomach and the heart with the series.”

The plot tells the story of a family that owns the largest media house in the region. The founder was Gion-Peder Durisch, and decades later, it is his son Gion who takes over, but he needs to find a way to save the business, which has not been particularly successful lately. One strategy could be to halt the publication of Posta, an unprofitable Rhaeto-Romanic newspaper. But this gets him in trouble with his father, since Posta is very dear to him: as well as being the first newspaper he founded, it is also the last remaining Rhaeto-Romanic newspaper in Switzerland. The two men become alienated from one another. When the father dies, Gion finds out that a share in the business will go to his daughter Ladina, who has very different ideas about how to run the company. Idealism meets frightening reality, and profit-driven greed meets tradition. Idyllic mountain landscapes clash with cold, urban calculation as Rhaeto-Romanic culture is cornered. And in the middle of it all is a young woman who is more vulnerable than she actually wants to be.

The script for the series has been written by Adrian Perez, Jen Ries and Simon Nagel. Perez will also serve as the director, and Aaron Markus Graf as the cinematographer.

L'ultim Rumantsch is a production by Shining Film and RTR. The series is scheduled to air in spring 2024.