In a landscape and a sector squeezed by financial pressure, resulting in fewer productions and tighter formats but also greater focus on precision and harder hitting subjects which reflect modern-day turbulence more accurately, the Series Mania festival remains both an unmissable global gathering for industry professionals and a huge event for the wider public (boasting 108,000 admissions last year). Its 9th Lille-based edition, which is running from 20 to 27 March and has just unveiled its line-up, will prove the festival’s significance once again.

With series acting as seismographs for current affairs — featuring authoritarian and fascistic systems, intimate political violence, the deconstruction of masculinity and struggling heroines — a sense of gravity pervades much of the Series Mania selection, but the programme doesn’t shy away from genre or humour either, showcasing burlesque westerns, Japanese sci-fi, off-the-wall comedies, and much more. This year, the Series Mania team led by general director Laurence Herszberg and artistic director Frédéric Lavigne has selected 51 series (42 of which screening in premieres) hailing from 19 countries (from among 375 submissions from 64 countries), with 24 world premieres and 10 international premieres scheduled to showcase in the northern city. And Europe is asserting itself as the epicentre of creativity — notably the United Kingdom, the Nordic countries, Belgium and Poland (boasting two series in the Official Selection for the very first time) — thanks to cross-border production synergies and the arrival of US platforms producing locally.

The International Competition (whose jury will be announced at a later date) will pit nine series against one another, five of which screening in world premieres and one in an international premiere. Standing out among them is Poland’s Love Is Enough (working title), French title Paolo (created by Sébastien Marnier), British works Major Players and Waiting For The Out, Spanish offering The Anatomy of A Moment [+lee también:
crítica
ficha de la serie] (screened last year in San Sebastián) and the Nordic series My Brother (co-produced by Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Finland and Iceland). A US, Australian and a Colombian series will round off the line-up.

The French Competition will comprise six series (notably by the duo Marie Monge – Vladimir de Fontenay and with casts starring Karim Leklou, Melvil Poupaud, Catherine Frot, Jérémie Renier and Olivier Gourmet, among others), while 12 titles will battle it out in the International Panorama line-up (whose jury will be chaired by French graphic novelist Pénélope Bagieu, alongside fellow French filmmaker-actor Thomas Ngijol, Italian director Enrico Maria Artale, Norwegian producer Synnøve Hørsdal and her Czech counterpart Kamila Zlatusková), including three Belgian series (Breendonk, Ethernal and The Best Immigrant), three British series (Babies, Prisoner 951 and Small Prophets), Germany’s The Flaws, Ireland’s These Sacred Vows and Poland’s Variola Vera.

Likewise on the agenda (among other events) is the Short Format Competition, alongside special screenings, masterclasses (Russell T. Davies, Maxime Chattam, Jean-Pascal Zadi, Pénélope Bagieu, Thomas Ngijol), panels (including “prison in series” and “haute couture and series”), a script reading (led by Laetitia Dosch) and a multitude of guests. Not forgetting, of course, Series Mania’s professional strand (comprising the Forum and the Lille Dialogues), which Cineuropa will cover in more detail at a later date.

The selection:

Opening Series

The Testaments – USA (Disney+) – 10x(38’/59’)

Closing Series

The Glass House - Canada (Prime Video) - 6x32’

International Competition

Dear Killer Nannies (Colombia – Disney+, Hulu) - 8x35’
Dustfall (Australia – ABC TV, BBC, ZDF) - 6x50’
The Anatomy of a Moment [+lee también:
crítica
ficha de la serie] (Spain – Movistar Plus+, ARTE) - 4x50’
Love is Enough (working title) (Poland – HBO Max) - 8x35’
Major Players (United Kingdom – Channel 4) - 6x30’
My Brother (Jag for ner till bror) (Sweden/Denmark/Norway/Finland/Iceland – Sveriges Television, DR, NRK, YLE, RÚV) - 4x45’
Paolo (France – HBO Max) - 7x52’
The Audacity (USA – AMC, AMC+) - 8x45’
Waiting For The Out (UK – BBC) - 6x45’

French Competition

Camarades (France – ARTE) - 8x30’
Eldorado (France/Belgium – ARTE, RTBF) - 6x45’
Unchained (France – France Télévisions) - 6x52’
All Shapes of Us (France – TF1) - 6x52’
Summer of ’36 (France – TF1) - 6x52’
Privilèges (France – HBO Max) - 6x52’

International Panorama

Babies (UK – BBC) - 6x60’
Welcome to Kingston-Falls (Canada – ICI Radio-Canada) - 6x43’
Breendonk (Belgium – VRT, Streamz, New8) - 6x55’
Burden of Justice (Hundarna) (Sweden – SVT) - 8x45’
Ethernal (Belgium – RTBF, Proximus) - 6x45’
Prisoner 951 (UK – BBC One, BBC iPlayer) - 5x55’
Queen of Mars (Japan – NHK) - 6x49’
Small Prophets (UK – BBC) - 6x30’
The Best Immigrant (Belgium – Streamz) - 5x45’
The Flaws (Das Manko) (Germany – ZDF) - 4x25’
These Sacred Vows (Ireland – RTE One) - 6x52’
Variola vera (Poland – TVP) - 7x45’

Special Screenings

Etty [+lee también:
crítica
ficha de la serie] (France/Germany/Netherlands – ARTE) - 6x45’
Lucky Luke (France – Disney+, France Télévisions) - 8x35’)
Flunked (France – Netflix) - 8x30’

Out of Competition

Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man (UK – Netflix)
The Legend of Kitchen Soldier (South Korea – TVING) - 12x50’
Ankama screening celebrates its 25th anniversary!