A creative collaboration is actively taking shape with producers Nataly Kudiabor and Sophie von der Leyen on Who’s Burning Now?, a German-Swiss mystery series blending supernatural drama with Alpine folklore, Cineuropa has learnt. The 8x45-minute project will be pitched to international buyers and commissioners at the upcoming Seriesly Berlin (15-18 September - see the news).

Who’s Burning Now? revolves around Luzia, an 18-year-old girl who is forced back to her grandmother’s decrepit house in Switzerland. There, she unearths a cursed family legacy entwined with centuries of folklore, superstition and persecution. After being expelled from school in Munich, Luzia returns to Zürich, where she uncovers her witch bloodline, tied to an infamous German book that fuelled real witch burnings until 1782. Under her grandmother’s roof, she starts a new life caught in a dangerous love triangle, travelling on Swiss trains to a hidden witchcraft school where monsters from local folklore and her divided heritage threaten to be her undoing. Will she stop history from repeating itself?

According to the creative team, the series promises to weave “coming-of-age, mystery and folklore into a bold narrative”. Set in Munich and Zurich, it reimagines local figures such as the Ritter Unholden, Tschäggättä and the Sennentuntschi – long cast as antagonists – as symbols of generational trauma and buried female power. “Visually, Who’s Burning Now? offers realism infused with supernatural entertainment while reclaiming a cultural narrative that has often been ignored,” explain the creators.

Behind the project is a trio of emerging voices. Wero Rodowicz is a Swiss-based Polish-French director and series creator working across Europe and India. A former creative producer of the Canneseries-winning The Zweiflers, she has worked on projects with Turbokultur and Shining Nice. Her short Transit was recently selected for Cannes’ T-Port showcase. Her ZHdK MA in Film Directing graduation feature, A Simple Drama, was part of Swiss Films’ Coming Soon Line-up at this year’s Cannes Film Festival. Known for transmedia storytelling that amplifies marginalised perspectives, Rodowicz is currently shooting another series in Switzerland and is also developing two features where she will direct, including one penned by Vincent Żuławski.

Marshall Rahel Maihofer Demirovic is a Basel- and Berlin-based writer and scholar with a background in law. His work spans poetry, short stories and performance, presented at festivals including BuchBasel and Solothurn Literature Days. He is currently developing two literary projects: Tale of the Reluctant One and Saga of the Zealots.

Maria Neheimer is a Berlin-based writer-director and graduate of the Hamburg Media School. Her shorts have screened internationally, with Dark Hearts winning awards at Montreal and London. She has developed series for Studio Zentral, Odeon Fiction and Goldstoff Filme, and worked as second unit director on RTL+’s Der König von Palma 2. Her earlier short Vitches premiered at the Max Ophüls Prize Festival.

The show’s story world and its protagonists’ journeys were shaped by Rodowicz’s ten years of research into Swiss witch history, folklore and archival material. Drawing on this deep knowledge and blending it with Maihofer Demirovic and Neheimer’s protagonists, she created the series’ “high-concept mythology, complex characters, and the narrative backbone that propels the story”.

According to the project’s pitch deck, its USP lies in merging “the global demand for supernatural dramas with the untapped emotional and historical depth of Swiss folklore”. The show “reclaims mythical Swiss figures not just as antagonists, but as symbols of generational trauma, political resistance and buried female power. These real locations aren’t just sets, and the witch-hunt book is not just a high concept; they’re cultural IPs, reimagined through gripping narrative arcs, character-driven storytelling and atmospheric world-building.”

Currently in development, Who’s Burning Now? is seeking international streaming partners at Seriesly Berlin, where the creative team will present the project to the global marketplace for the first time. The team is currently in creative talks with UFA.