The ninth edition of Co-Pro Series is inviting ten promising projects from Europe, Argentina and Canada to be presented to an audience comprising producers, editors, distributors and other series financiers, during a renowned pitching event that will run from 21-22 February at the CinemaxX on Potsdamer Platz. After the pitch, the creators and producers will meet with interested partners in the Gropius Bau.

Martina Bleis, head of the Berlinale Co-Production Market and curator of Co-Pro Series, stated: “Family relationships, corruption, inclusion, climate change, belonging and drug experiments are all among the varied themes of this year’s series. Thrillers are represented in large numbers, some playing out in breathtaking settings. But dramas are not neglected either. The time periods covered in the series are quite contemporary this time – they range from the 1960s to the future, which we look forward to seeing.” The session is being curated by the Berlinale Co-Production Market and is part of the Berlinale Series Market programme, which runs from 20-22 February (see the news).

The host country, Germany, has two projects. My First Family explores the challenges of a parenting suitability check in an alternate world, created by Ori Sivan (In Treatment) and Maya Zaydman, and directed by Randa Chahoud (Deutschland 89, Legal Affairs). Meanwhile, Earthbound follows a teenage boy who is found on a space station and brought back to Earth. He then becomes the focus of scientists, journalists and everyone around him attempting to clarify his origin and intentions.

The Nordic region is in the spotlight with three projects. Tipping Point, a Finnish-Norwegian co-production, is a thriller in which a rogue energy mogul and his activist daughter battle a conspiracy in the far north, where Cold War and climate change collide. The Danish series The Acid Clinic is based on a true case where a young doctor tries to stop LSD experiments on patients during the Cold War of the 1960s, only to be targeted by international secret services. The other Danish series, Family Stories: A Boy Disappears, created by Julie Budtz Sørensen and produced by Nimbus Film, is being presented in cooperation with the Series Mania Forum in Lille, where it was first pitched in 2022.

The Italian series Totonero is set in the 1980s and, in a rousing tour de force, recounts the rise and fall of two masterminds in the first major betting scandal in Italian football, produced by Fandango (Gomorrah, My Brilliant Friend [+lire aussi :
critique
fiche série]). Another series set in the same decade, The Chauffeur's Son, is about a power-obsessed media creator in Catalonia, and comes courtesy of the team around director/creator Isaki Lacuesta (One Year, One Night [+lire aussi :
critique
bande-annonce
interview : Isaki Lacuesta
fiche film]).

Export Only, the first series project by Romanian producer Ada Solomon (Bad Luck Banging or Loony Porn [+lire aussi :
critique
bande-annonce
interview : Radu Jude
fiche film]) and her company microFILM, is about a shawarma vendor in a backwater town who struggles to stay close to her daughter in order to protect her from her toxic friends and drug-related crime in the border area. The selection is rounded off by The Island, a contemporary family thriller set in Scotland, and the Argentinian thriller series Decibel, to be directed by Pablo Agüero (Akelarre [+lire aussi :
critique
bande-annonce
interview : Pablo Agüero
fiche film]).

The projects selected for Co-Pro Series 2023 are as follows:

The Acid Clinic
Creator: Jens Dahl
Writers: Jens Dahl, Dorte Warnøe Høgh, Adam August
Producers: SAM Productions, Asta Film (Denmark)

The Chauffeur’s Son
Creators: Isaki Lacuesta, Isabel Campo, Cristóbal Garrido
Director: Isaki Lacuesta
Producer: Zeta Studios (Spain)

Decibel
Creator/writer: Nicolás Britos
Director: Pablo Agüero
Producer: Mil Monos (Argentina)

Earthbound
Writer: Harris Goldberg
Producers: Pixcom, ZDF Studios (Canada/Germany)

Export Only
Creator/director: Cristina Iliescu
Producer: microFILM (Romania)

Family Stories: A Boy Disappears - in partnership with Series Mania Forum
Creator: Julie Budtz Sørensen
Producer: Nimbus Film (Denmark)

My First Family
Creators/head writers: Maya Zaydman, Ori Sivan
Director: Randa Chahoud
Producer: Razor Film Produktion (Germany)

The Island
Writer: Nick Osborne
Producers: Black Camel Pictures, All3Media International (UK)

Tipping Point
Head writer: Brendan Foley
Director: AJ Annila
Producers: ReelMedia, Maipo Film (Finland/Norway)

Totonero
Creator/director: Emanuele Scaringi
Producer: Fandango (Italy)