The eighth edition of the Czech Republic’s Serial Killer festival (23-28 September, Brno) continues to spotlight the best television and web series from Central and Eastern Europe, complemented by a selection of intriguing European shows. “Our ambition is to present both audiences and TV professionals with the most essential works emerging in contemporary domestic, European and global series production. This year’s edition is exceptional, as it brings several major domestic premieres with huge audience potential,” says Kamila Zlatušková, the festival’s founder and director. For the first time, the festival extends to the neighbouring country of Slovakia, where part of the series premieres as well as an industry programme will take place in Bratislava on 23 September.

The Primetime Killer competition brings together titles from across the region, with Czech series taking centre stage. Marek Najbrt’s Making Your Own Luck, inspired by football scandals and Czech popular culture, premieres as a potentially cult comedy-drama. Caravan [+lee también:
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entrevista: Zuzana Kirchnerová
ficha de la película] director Zuzana Kirchnerová’s Monyová revisits the meteoric rise and tragic fall of bestselling author Simona Monyová, aiming to capture both her creative development and the darker aspects of her personal life. Meanwhile, Michal Blaško’s The Offspring, from Czech Television, places Aňa Geislerová and Stanislav Majer at the heart of a story about mental health, drugs and intergenerational tensions in a small-town community. In addition, the main competition includes Estonia’s My Dear Mother by Doris Tääker, which premiered at the Berlinale and layers a generational love story with questions of institutional trust; Nemanja Ćeranić’s The Will of the Son, which marks a bold Serbian foray into post-apocalyptic world building, dubbed the “Serbian Mad Max” for its folkloric spin on survivalist tropes; and Poland’s Breslau by Leszek Dawid, which combines a pre-war detective thriller with meticulous historical detail.

The International Panorama expands the scope with works from across Europe and has programmed A Better Man (Norway/Lithuania) by Thomas Torjussen and Gjyljeta Berisha, which tackles gender politics and online toxicity with biting humour, while Portugal’s Finisterra fuses historical drama and folk horror, set against the backdrop of World War II. Elena Trapé’s Celeste [+lee también:
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entrevista: Diego San José
ficha de la serie] (Spain) offers an unexpected comedy about a tax inspector in pursuit of a Shakira-like pop star, and Joe Wright’s Mussolini: Son of the Century [+lee también:
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entrevista: Joe Wright
ficha de la serie] (Italy/France) paints a burlesque portrait of the titular dictator’s rise to power. Alauda Ruiz de Azúa’s Querer [+lee también:
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entrevista: Alauda Ruiz de Azúa
ficha de la serie] is a stark depiction of domestic violence and truth-seeking within a Basque family, while Sweden’s Pressure Point revisits the controversies of Lars Norén’s theatre work through a satirical lens. The Crazy Bitches showcase leans into female-driven, offbeat stories, with Janicza Bravo’s The Listeners (UK), Benedikt Erlingsson’s Franco-Icelandic comedy The Danish Woman [+lee también:
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entrevista: Benedikt Erlingsson y Ólaf…
ficha de la serie] and Tiina Lymi’s Helsinki-set Queen of Fucking Everything. This year also shines a spotlight on Danish drama. Thomas Vinterberg’s Families Like Ours [+lee también:
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entrevista: Thomas Vinterberg
ficha de la serie] imagines a Denmark forced into exile by rising sea levels, while Milad Alami’s biker-gang saga Bullshit and the intergenerational dark comedy Generations by Thomas Daneskov, Ville Gideon Sörman and Anna Emma Haudal underline the breadth of contemporary Danish storytelling.

Alongside screenings, the TV Days industry programme (24-26 September) includes Killer Showcase presentations from broadcasters such as Prima, Nova & OnePlay, Starlight Media and Disney+ as well as case studies from ARAS (the Czech Association of Film Directors, Screenwriters and Script Editors). Panels will explore Spanish, Ukrainian and Serbian productions, as well as themes of gender representation, audience habits and international co-productions. The Pilot Programme for Series Co-Productions promotes high-quality projects aiming for international partnerships, while K7 Media will deliver its annual global trend briefing. Meanwhile, master classes cover everything from British drama to audiovisual creativity with speakers such as producer and director Charles McDougall, former head of drama at Channel 4 Gub Neal and EVP of AMC Network Levente Málnay, among others, plus there will be debates tackling the challenges of streaming, AVoD strategies and new marketing approaches.

The full programme of the Serial Killer festival of television and web series is available to view here, while the industry programme can be found here.