Series Mania 2019 Lineup Includes Netflix, HBO & Channel4; Uma Thurman, Charlie Brooker, Freddie Highmore Among Speakers
Ever-growing international TV event Series Mania has unveiled an impressive 2019 lineup including new dramas from Netflix, HBO and the UK’s Channel4. Scroll down for the lineups in full.
Taking place in Lille, northern France, this year’s event (March 22-30) will include masterclasses from Uma Thurman, Freddie Highmore, Charlie Brooker and Sharp Objects creator Marti Noxon who will also serve as president of the Official Competition jury. Also on the jury are The Good Wife star Julianna Margulies, French actress Audrey Fleurot (Spiral), French writer Delphine de Vigan and Thomas Lilti, creator-director of Canal + hit Hippocrate.
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Thurman will be in town for the international premiere of Netflix Original Series Chambers, a YA supernatural drama thriller from Stephen Gaghan (Syriana). HBO’s Folklore, an Asian horror anthology, plays in International Competition, as does HBO Europe’s Success, directed by Danis Tanovic (No Man’s Land). Amazon-Arte project Une Ile plays in French Competition while CBS’ Red Line and The Twilight Zone get international premieres in the event’s Best of USA sidebar.
Channel4 dramas in Official Competition include Eden from Deutschland 83’s Edward Berger, Just For Today created by Israel’s Nir Bergman, and Mytho.
Describing this year’s lineup, organizers Laurence Herszberg and Frédéric Lavigne said, “In the face of political and social instability, the trend now is for series that replay history or demonize the future. Our teams have selected 70 series for the event from over 450 screened and – let’s not pretend otherwise – their visions of the world are not exactly joyful! Fortunately, however, fiction uses a wide variety of languages, from dark realism to burlesque comedy to reflect this!
“The first trend of note is an explosion of political series set in the 1980s and 1990s, that resonate with current affairs. Baghdad Central follows a cop who is instructed to collaborate with the Americans prior to the fall of Saddam Hussein. In Chimerica, the author of the infamous photo of a protestor in Tian’anmen Square commits the irredeemable sin of altering a shot of the war in Syria as Donald Trump is elected to the White House 20 years later.
“The theme of migrants is omnipresent across Europe, illustrated by the Franco-German production Eden, and the Israeli thriller Asylum City, named after the Tel Aviv neighborhood where African refugees finish up. Following in the footsteps of Black Mirror, whose creator Charlie Brooker will be honoring us with his presence, dystopic works raise questions about the impact of technology on our lives. Osmosis offers an intimate and disturbing proposition involving an algorithm to find the love of one’s life. Does risk-free love still count?”
The comprehensive festival will include strands such as the industry-oriented Series Mania Forum, which organizers say will attract 2,500 executives from 40 countries, UGC Writers Campus, New Season Premieres, All-Night Marathons, All-Night Comedy Marathon, a Game Of Thrones iconic moments screening event and cult series section.
Series Mania 2019 Official Competition
Baghdad Central (Stephen Butchard, UK)
Chambers (Leah Rachel, USA)
Chimerica (Lucy Kirkwood, UK)
Eden (Edward Berger, Nele Mueller Stöfen, Marianne Wendt, France & Germany)
Identification (Valery Fedorovich, Evgeny Nikishov, Russia)
Just For Today (Nir Bergman, Ram Nehari, Israel)
Lambs of God (Sarah Lambert, Australia)
Mytho (Anne Berest, France)
Twin (Kristoffer Metcalfe, Norway)
The Virtues (Shane Meadows, UK)
French Competition
The Last Wave (Raphaëlle Roudaut, Alexis Le Sec)
Super Jimmy (Camille Pouzol, Stéphane Drouet, Lionel Olenga)
Family Shake (Baya Kasmi)
Osmosis (Audrey Fouché)
Soupçons (Lionel Bailliu, Yann Le Gal)
Une Île (Gaia Guasti, Aurélien Molas)
International Panorama
8 Days (Peter Kocyla, Rafael Parente, Germany)
Asylum City (Eitan Tzur, Uzi Weil, Liad Shoham, Israel)
Blackout (Sergei Ursuliak, Russia)
The Cry (Jacquelin Perske, UK & Australia)
Curfew (Matthew Read, UK)
Exit (Petter Testmann-Koch, Øystein Karlsen, Norway)
Flack (Oliver Lansley, UK)
Folklore (Eric Khoo, Singapore)
The Guest (Seo Jae-won, Gwon So-ra, South Korea)
Hierro (Pepe Coira, Spain & France)
Les Misérables (Andrew Davies, UK)
Monzón (Francisco Varone, Leandro Custo, Gabriel Nicoli, Gabriela Larralde, Jesus
Braceras, Agustin Bossi, Pol Bossi, Argentina)
MotherFatherSon (Tom Rob Smith, UK)
Pros And Cons (Thor Bjørn, Denmark)
Success (Marjan Alčevski, Croatia)
Best of USA
The Red Line
The Twilight Zone
Black Monday
I Am The Night
Manifest
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