With Series Mania 2023 coming to a close, the event’s founder and general director Laurence Herszberg announced the winners of the Series Mania Festival today.
”We would first like to thank the public and the professionals who attended this edition, which brought together more than 85,000 participants for the Festival and 3,800 participants from 64 countries for the Forum. We are delighted to announce our prize list and figures that have far exceeded our expectations,” said Herszberg.
With the rise of streaming across the world, Series Mania has become one of the most attractive events in the global TV calendar. It’s largely looked at as a place where writers, distributors and producers can liase with each other in a less formal setting than compared to a TV sales market. It includes not just the festival, the Forum, key conferences, keynotes, and pitching sessions.
This year the festival screened 54 unreleased series, with 32 world premieres and 10 international premieres.
”We would first like to thank the public and the professionals who attended this edition, which brought together more than 85,000 participants for the Festival and 3,800 participants from 64 countries for the Forum. We are delighted to announce our prize list and figures that have far exceeded our expectations,” said Herszberg.
With the rise of streaming across the world, Series Mania has become one of the most attractive events in the global TV calendar. It’s largely looked at as a place where writers, distributors and producers can liase with each other in a less formal setting than compared to a TV sales market. It includes not just the festival, the Forum, key conferences, keynotes, and pitching sessions.
This year the festival screened 54 unreleased series, with 32 world premieres and 10 international premieres.
- 3/24/2023
- by Tom Tapp
- Deadline Film + TV
The Iranian series The Actor from director Nima Javidi picked up the top Grand Prize jury award at Series Mania, the international TV festival that wrapped in Lille, France on Friday night.
The drama from Iran is led by the Venice best actor winner Navid Mohammadzadeh and follows two down and out actors struggling to make ends meet as they run a derelict theater in Tehran with wealthy Iranians as patrons.
The international jury, led by screenwriter and producer Lisa Joy, also gave its best actor trophy to Michael Sheen for his performance the U.K. series Best Interests, while the best actress prize went to Margot Mancilhon for her star turn in the French series Haven of Grace.
The Series Mania international jury also gave the best writing trophy to John Kâre Raake for The Fortress series from Norway.
In other prize giving, the International Panorama jury, led by French writer Herve Le Tellier,...
The drama from Iran is led by the Venice best actor winner Navid Mohammadzadeh and follows two down and out actors struggling to make ends meet as they run a derelict theater in Tehran with wealthy Iranians as patrons.
The international jury, led by screenwriter and producer Lisa Joy, also gave its best actor trophy to Michael Sheen for his performance the U.K. series Best Interests, while the best actress prize went to Margot Mancilhon for her star turn in the French series Haven of Grace.
The Series Mania international jury also gave the best writing trophy to John Kâre Raake for The Fortress series from Norway.
In other prize giving, the International Panorama jury, led by French writer Herve Le Tellier,...
- 3/24/2023
- by Etan Vlessing
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Lille, France — Headed by a commanding performance from Navid Mohammadzadeh, superbly shot and packing arguably the best opening scene of any series in Series Mania main competition, Navid Javidi’s “The Actor” won the Grand Prize at Series Mania on Friday night.
The top Series Mania award for the “The Actor” also proves vindication for the Festival which this year has broadened its geographical reach in an effort to discover new narrative modes and styles. Consistently subordinating narrative to mood, “The Actor” certainly wins on that score.
Main scribe John Kåre Raake (“The Quake”) and co-scribe Linn-Jeanethe Kyed (“Bø”) scooped best writing for “The Fortress,” a banner upcoming Viaplay title produced by Norway’s Maipo Film and sold by TrustNordisk, which delivers a telling political cautionary tale for our times, a chic isolationist parable thriller set in an alternative Norway which has built a wall to keep foreigners out. When a virus strikes,...
The top Series Mania award for the “The Actor” also proves vindication for the Festival which this year has broadened its geographical reach in an effort to discover new narrative modes and styles. Consistently subordinating narrative to mood, “The Actor” certainly wins on that score.
Main scribe John Kåre Raake (“The Quake”) and co-scribe Linn-Jeanethe Kyed (“Bø”) scooped best writing for “The Fortress,” a banner upcoming Viaplay title produced by Norway’s Maipo Film and sold by TrustNordisk, which delivers a telling political cautionary tale for our times, a chic isolationist parable thriller set in an alternative Norway which has built a wall to keep foreigners out. When a virus strikes,...
- 3/24/2023
- by John Hopewell
- Variety Film + TV
Event wrapped in Lille against backdrop of nationwide unrest in France.
Navid Javidi’s The Actor starring Navid Mohammadzadeh was awarded the International Competition grand prize at 2023 Series Mania in the first year in which content from Iran participated in the event in Lille, France.
Series Mania founder and general director Laurence Herszberg summed up the event as it came to a close, noting that this year’s edition drew more than 85,000 festival participants – representing a significant increase on last year’s 70,000 – and around 3,800 from 64 countries for the industry forum.
Besides Iran, debutant participating countries included Japan, Argentina, UAE, Turkey,...
Navid Javidi’s The Actor starring Navid Mohammadzadeh was awarded the International Competition grand prize at 2023 Series Mania in the first year in which content from Iran participated in the event in Lille, France.
Series Mania founder and general director Laurence Herszberg summed up the event as it came to a close, noting that this year’s edition drew more than 85,000 festival participants – representing a significant increase on last year’s 70,000 – and around 3,800 from 64 countries for the industry forum.
Besides Iran, debutant participating countries included Japan, Argentina, UAE, Turkey,...
- 3/24/2023
- by Screen staff
- ScreenDaily
Israel’s Yaron Shani, best known for his feature debut “Ajami,” nominated for the Best International Feature Oscar in 2010, is presenting his debut television series, “Innermost,” at Series Mania.
Variety is unveiling an exclusive first look at the series, which world premieres March 20 at the prominent television event unspooling in Lille, France over March 17-24.
The six-episode limited series, world premiering in Series Mania’s International Panorama section, follows three characters whose lives intersect. Among them is a police officer, played by Eran Naim, a former cop himself, who first appeared in “Ajami.” The second is an upcoming writer who struggles to recover from a traumatic experience, while the third is a young aspiring musician who chafes against his parents’ wish to do his duty and join the military service, mandatory in Israel.
“ ’Innermost’ dives into a multi-layered reality of violence and grace, storming under the calm blanket of modernity in contemporary Tel Aviv,...
Variety is unveiling an exclusive first look at the series, which world premieres March 20 at the prominent television event unspooling in Lille, France over March 17-24.
The six-episode limited series, world premiering in Series Mania’s International Panorama section, follows three characters whose lives intersect. Among them is a police officer, played by Eran Naim, a former cop himself, who first appeared in “Ajami.” The second is an upcoming writer who struggles to recover from a traumatic experience, while the third is a young aspiring musician who chafes against his parents’ wish to do his duty and join the military service, mandatory in Israel.
“ ’Innermost’ dives into a multi-layered reality of violence and grace, storming under the calm blanket of modernity in contemporary Tel Aviv,...
- 3/14/2023
- by Anna Marie de la Fuente
- Variety Film + TV
Shooting a film with a protagonist as unlikeable as Rashi in “Chained” is and actually making it so captivating, definitely is not an easy task. Yaron Shani, however, has managed just that.
“Chained” is screening at Thessaloniki International Film Festival
The aforementioned Rashi has been a Tel Aviv police officer for 15 years. He is good in his job and his colleagues appreciate him. However, he is also a kind of sociopath who is used to getting his own way in all aspects of his life, both professionally and inside his house. This tendency of his eventually brings him to an intense clash with his step-daughter, who wants to be a model, and his wife, who has been undertaking fertility treatment, despite the latter’s hard efforts to play the intermediary between the two. Furthermore, during a routine police check that goes a bit too far, Rashi finds himself accused of sexual assault,...
“Chained” is screening at Thessaloniki International Film Festival
The aforementioned Rashi has been a Tel Aviv police officer for 15 years. He is good in his job and his colleagues appreciate him. However, he is also a kind of sociopath who is used to getting his own way in all aspects of his life, both professionally and inside his house. This tendency of his eventually brings him to an intense clash with his step-daughter, who wants to be a model, and his wife, who has been undertaking fertility treatment, despite the latter’s hard efforts to play the intermediary between the two. Furthermore, during a routine police check that goes a bit too far, Rashi finds himself accused of sexual assault,...
- 11/6/2019
- by Panos Kotzathanasis
- AsianMoviePulse
Six years in the making, the title had been rejected by all Israeli film funds because of its subject matter.
In its annual ceremony last night, the Israeli Film Academy selected Yaron Zilberman’s Incitement as best picture; it will, therefore, be Israel’s candidate for best international feature at the 2020 Oscars.
The film, which premiered at the Toronto Film Festival, depicts the infamous 1995 assassination of Premier Itzhak Rabin, presented through the worldview of his assassin.
Six years in the making, the title had been rejected by all Israeli film funds because of its subject matter and was finally brought...
In its annual ceremony last night, the Israeli Film Academy selected Yaron Zilberman’s Incitement as best picture; it will, therefore, be Israel’s candidate for best international feature at the 2020 Oscars.
The film, which premiered at the Toronto Film Festival, depicts the infamous 1995 assassination of Premier Itzhak Rabin, presented through the worldview of his assassin.
Six years in the making, the title had been rejected by all Israeli film funds because of its subject matter and was finally brought...
- 9/23/2019
- by Edna Fainaru
- ScreenDaily
Other winners included Ladj Ly’s Les Miserables for best international feature.
At its awards ceremony last night (August 1), Jerusalem Film Festival (Jff) presented Yaron Shani’s Love Trilogy: Chained with the Haggiag award for best Israeli feature while Ladj Ly’s Les Miserables won the Jerusalem Foundation award for best international feature.
Chained follows an Israeli policeman whose marriage and masculinity are threatened after he is accused of sexual assault by two teenage boys. A Berlinale premiere in February, it’s the second film in Shani’s Love Trilogy following Stripped, which first showed in Venice Horizons last September.
At its awards ceremony last night (August 1), Jerusalem Film Festival (Jff) presented Yaron Shani’s Love Trilogy: Chained with the Haggiag award for best Israeli feature while Ladj Ly’s Les Miserables won the Jerusalem Foundation award for best international feature.
Chained follows an Israeli policeman whose marriage and masculinity are threatened after he is accused of sexual assault by two teenage boys. A Berlinale premiere in February, it’s the second film in Shani’s Love Trilogy following Stripped, which first showed in Venice Horizons last September.
- 8/2/2019
- by Edna Fainaru
- ScreenDaily
Judging from the first two installments of Yaron Shani’s “Love” trilogy, it’s safe to say the Israeli director has a fatalistic approach when it comes to matters of the heart. In “Stripped,” he juxtaposed a woman suffering the aftereffects of rape and a teenage boy discovering the social signifiers of masculinity. Now, with “Chained,” he focuses on an abrasive cop with a pathological need to subordinate everyone to his ideas of right and wrong, including his wife and step-daughter. As in the earlier film, Shani workshopped the story for months with non-professional actors who, press notes state, are playing versions of themselves. The result is a powerful, often uncomfortable scrutiny of machismo given free rein through a policeman’s uniform, and a bleak picture of the meaning of love.
With “Stripped,” “Chained” and the upcoming feature “Reborn,” the titles alone are a giveaway to Shani’s conception of “Love.
With “Stripped,” “Chained” and the upcoming feature “Reborn,” the titles alone are a giveaway to Shani’s conception of “Love.
- 2/28/2019
- by Jay Weissberg
- Variety Film + TV
22 films in the Panorama programme so far, with nine directorial debuts.
The first 22 titles from the 2019 Berlin Film Festival (Feb 7-17) Panorama programme have been revealed.
Scroll down for the full line-up
The European premiere of UK director Joanna Hogg’s The Souvenir, starring Tilda Swinton, her daughter Honor Swinton-Byrne and Tom Burke, and the world premiere of Seamus Murphy’s Pj Harvey documentary A Dog Called Money are among the titles confirmed today.
The line-up also includes the directing debuts of actors Jonah Hill (Mid90s) and Alexander Gorchilin (Acid), and Rob Garver’s documentary What She Said: The Art of Pauline Kael,...
The first 22 titles from the 2019 Berlin Film Festival (Feb 7-17) Panorama programme have been revealed.
Scroll down for the full line-up
The European premiere of UK director Joanna Hogg’s The Souvenir, starring Tilda Swinton, her daughter Honor Swinton-Byrne and Tom Burke, and the world premiere of Seamus Murphy’s Pj Harvey documentary A Dog Called Money are among the titles confirmed today.
The line-up also includes the directing debuts of actors Jonah Hill (Mid90s) and Alexander Gorchilin (Acid), and Rob Garver’s documentary What She Said: The Art of Pauline Kael,...
- 12/18/2018
- by Orlando Parfitt
- ScreenDaily
The Berlin Film Festival has revealed a large selection of movies for its Panorama strand. Section head Paz Lázaro and co-curator and programme manager Michael Stütz have revealed 22 titles, 14 of which will be world premieres.
Among highlights are Jonah Hill’s directorial debut Mid90s; Jamie Bell starrer Skin, about the USA’s neo-Nazi scene; Tilda Swinton drama The Souvenir; and What She Said: The Art Of Pauline Kael, about the legendary film critic.
Panorama Films:
37 Seconds – Japan
by Hikari (Mitsuyo Miyazaki)
with Mei Kayama, Misuzu Kanno, Makiko Watanabe, Shunsuke Daitō, Yuka Itaya
World premiere – Debut film
Director Hikari, aka Mitsuyo Miyazaki, tells the story of Yuma, a young Japanese woman who suffers from cerebral palsy. Torn between her obligations towards her family and her dream to become a manga artist, Yuma struggles to lead a self-determined life.
Dafne – Italy
by Federico Bondi
with Carolina Raspanti, Antonio Piovanelli,...
Among highlights are Jonah Hill’s directorial debut Mid90s; Jamie Bell starrer Skin, about the USA’s neo-Nazi scene; Tilda Swinton drama The Souvenir; and What She Said: The Art Of Pauline Kael, about the legendary film critic.
Panorama Films:
37 Seconds – Japan
by Hikari (Mitsuyo Miyazaki)
with Mei Kayama, Misuzu Kanno, Makiko Watanabe, Shunsuke Daitō, Yuka Itaya
World premiere – Debut film
Director Hikari, aka Mitsuyo Miyazaki, tells the story of Yuma, a young Japanese woman who suffers from cerebral palsy. Torn between her obligations towards her family and her dream to become a manga artist, Yuma struggles to lead a self-determined life.
Dafne – Italy
by Federico Bondi
with Carolina Raspanti, Antonio Piovanelli,...
- 12/18/2018
- by Andreas Wiseman
- Deadline Film + TV
Jonah Hill’s directorial debut, “mid90s,” about a 13-year-old skateboarder’s coming of age, and a documentary on influential film critic Pauline Kael are among the works that will screen in the Panorama section of the upcoming Berlin Film Festival.
Films starring Tilda Swinton and Jamie Bell and titles from countries including Israel, Brazil and Japan were also announced in the first batch of 22 Panorama selections unveiled by the Berlinale on Tuesday. Nine of the films are debut works, and 14 will have their world premiere in the German capital. The section is curated by Paz Lázaro and co-curator and program manager Michael Stütz.
“mid90s” follows teenage Stevie as he joins up with four skateboarding punks who take him under their wing. Variety described Hill’s debut film as “a slice of street life made up of skittery moments that achieve a bone-deep reality. And because you believe what you’re seeing,...
Films starring Tilda Swinton and Jamie Bell and titles from countries including Israel, Brazil and Japan were also announced in the first batch of 22 Panorama selections unveiled by the Berlinale on Tuesday. Nine of the films are debut works, and 14 will have their world premiere in the German capital. The section is curated by Paz Lázaro and co-curator and program manager Michael Stütz.
“mid90s” follows teenage Stevie as he joins up with four skateboarding punks who take him under their wing. Variety described Hill’s debut film as “a slice of street life made up of skittery moments that achieve a bone-deep reality. And because you believe what you’re seeing,...
- 12/18/2018
- by Henry Chu
- Variety Film + TV
Ajami (15)
(Scandar Copti, Yaron Shani, 2009, Isr/Ger) Shahir Kabaha, Ibrahim Frege, Eran Naim. 125 mins.
If any situation justifies the multi-angled Crash/Amores Perros-style treatment, it's modern-day Israel. Co-written and directed by an Israeli and a Palestinian, mostly using non-professional actors, this is more hip, streetwise and even-handed than we're used to. Set in a mixed neighbourhood of Tel Aviv, the plot skilfully juggles intertwined stories of feuds, families, drugs and violence involving characters from all faiths.
Trash Humpers (18)
(Harmony Korine, 2009, Us/UK) Brian Kotzue, Travis Nicholson, Rachel Korine. 78 mins.
Korine preserves his enfant terrible reputation with a scrappy, seedy home video following a group of masked delinquents around. It's a vaudeville of depravity (they literally hump dustbins) that manages to be grimy without being explicit.
Wild Grass (12A)
(Alain Resnais, 2009, Fra/Ita) André Dussolier, Sabine Azéma. 104 mins.
Veteran Resnais crafts a silky, genre-hopping middle-aged romance that's full of wonders and mysteries.
(Scandar Copti, Yaron Shani, 2009, Isr/Ger) Shahir Kabaha, Ibrahim Frege, Eran Naim. 125 mins.
If any situation justifies the multi-angled Crash/Amores Perros-style treatment, it's modern-day Israel. Co-written and directed by an Israeli and a Palestinian, mostly using non-professional actors, this is more hip, streetwise and even-handed than we're used to. Set in a mixed neighbourhood of Tel Aviv, the plot skilfully juggles intertwined stories of feuds, families, drugs and violence involving characters from all faiths.
Trash Humpers (18)
(Harmony Korine, 2009, Us/UK) Brian Kotzue, Travis Nicholson, Rachel Korine. 78 mins.
Korine preserves his enfant terrible reputation with a scrappy, seedy home video following a group of masked delinquents around. It's a vaudeville of depravity (they literally hump dustbins) that manages to be grimy without being explicit.
Wild Grass (12A)
(Alain Resnais, 2009, Fra/Ita) André Dussolier, Sabine Azéma. 104 mins.
Veteran Resnais crafts a silky, genre-hopping middle-aged romance that's full of wonders and mysteries.
- 6/18/2010
- by Steve Rose
- The Guardian - Film News
Quickcard Review
Ajami
Directed by: Scandar Copti, Yaron Shani
Cast: Shahir Kabaha, Ibrahim Frege, Eran Naim
Running Time: 2 hrs
Rating: unrated
Complete Coverage – 33rd Portland International Film Festival
Country: Israel
Plot: Palestinians’ and Israelis’ lives intersect, usually in violent ways, in an interracial neighborhood in Tel Aviv, Israel.
Who’S It For? This nominee for the Best Foreign Feature Oscar is Israel’s answer to Pulp Fiction.
Overall
Ajami sort of confounded my expectations. I was expecting a more linear film, which this isn’t. First-time filmmakers Copti and Shani were definitely influenced by Tarantino to create their elliptical narrative. Like Pulp Fiction, the film is divided into chapters that focus on different characters, all of whom ebb and flow into one another’s lives. Also both films deal heavily with drugs and violence and the consequences of messing with either. But from there, the paths diverge as Ajami takes a much more serious turn,...
Ajami
Directed by: Scandar Copti, Yaron Shani
Cast: Shahir Kabaha, Ibrahim Frege, Eran Naim
Running Time: 2 hrs
Rating: unrated
Complete Coverage – 33rd Portland International Film Festival
Country: Israel
Plot: Palestinians’ and Israelis’ lives intersect, usually in violent ways, in an interracial neighborhood in Tel Aviv, Israel.
Who’S It For? This nominee for the Best Foreign Feature Oscar is Israel’s answer to Pulp Fiction.
Overall
Ajami sort of confounded my expectations. I was expecting a more linear film, which this isn’t. First-time filmmakers Copti and Shani were definitely influenced by Tarantino to create their elliptical narrative. Like Pulp Fiction, the film is divided into chapters that focus on different characters, all of whom ebb and flow into one another’s lives. Also both films deal heavily with drugs and violence and the consequences of messing with either. But from there, the paths diverge as Ajami takes a much more serious turn,...
- 2/11/2010
- by Megan Lehar
- The Scorecard Review
Kino International
Reviewed for New York Cool by Harvey Karten
Grade: B
Directed by: Scandar Copti, Yaron Shani
Written By: Scandar Copti, Yaron Shani
Cast: Shahir Kabaha, Ibrahim Frege, Fouad Habash, Youssef Sahwani, Ranin Karim, Eran Naim, Scandar Copti
Screened at: Review 2, NYC, 11/19/09
Opens: February 3, 2010
The word on the street is that Israelis do some great things with technology, but movies are not their forte. Every once in a while, there.s an exception, in this case .Ajami,. a film whose appeal is nonetheless limited by its complexity. To get an idea of the film.s substance, think of Paul Haggis.s .Crash,. which interweaves a collection of characters during a two-day period in L.A., including a police detective with a druggie mother and thieving brother, a racist white veteran cop with an idealistic partner, an Iranian-immigrant father who buys a gun to protect his shop, a Hispanic locksmith...
Reviewed for New York Cool by Harvey Karten
Grade: B
Directed by: Scandar Copti, Yaron Shani
Written By: Scandar Copti, Yaron Shani
Cast: Shahir Kabaha, Ibrahim Frege, Fouad Habash, Youssef Sahwani, Ranin Karim, Eran Naim, Scandar Copti
Screened at: Review 2, NYC, 11/19/09
Opens: February 3, 2010
The word on the street is that Israelis do some great things with technology, but movies are not their forte. Every once in a while, there.s an exception, in this case .Ajami,. a film whose appeal is nonetheless limited by its complexity. To get an idea of the film.s substance, think of Paul Haggis.s .Crash,. which interweaves a collection of characters during a two-day period in L.A., including a police detective with a druggie mother and thieving brother, a racist white veteran cop with an idealistic partner, an Iranian-immigrant father who buys a gun to protect his shop, a Hispanic locksmith...
- 12/2/2009
- Arizona Reporter
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