Canneseries Unveils Official Selection, Program & Juries

The official selection for the third consecutive edition of Canneseries, which is slated to kick off on March 27, has been revealed.

At this year’s event, there will be ten series in the official competition and ten series in the short-format competition. Hollywood producer Gale Ann Hurd (The Walking Dead, Aliens, Terminator) will preside over the international jury while Battlestar Galactica‘s Jamie Bamber will preside over the short-form competition jury. David Hasselhoff will be the guest of honor at the festival, where actors Judith Light and Sydney Sweeney will receive career awards.

The official selection for Canneseries 2020 includes 257 Reasons to Live (Russia), Atlantic Crossing (Norway), Dignity (Chile/Germany), Kidnapping (Denmark/France), Losing Alice (Israel), Man in Room 301 (Finland), Partisan (Sweden), The Grave (Israel), Top Dog (Sweden) and Trying (U.K.). The short-form selections are to be announced on February 27.

Director and screenwriter Tawfik Abu Wael (Our Boys), musician and composer Stewart Copeland (The Police), actress Camille Cottin (Call My Agent), actor Ncuti Gatwa (Sex Education) and actress Katja Herbers (Westworld, Evil) join Hurd on the international jury, while actor Erin Moriarty (The Boys, True Detective) and screenwriter Timothee Hochet (Calls) round out the short-form competition jury.

Among the series to screen out of competition are The Walking Dead: World Beyond (U.S.), Upload (U.S.) and All the Way Up (France). The Mandalorian (U.S.) is the festival’s opening series, while The Bureau (France) will serve as its closing series.

Canneseries’ agenda will include a Rendez-vous program featuring philosopher and journalist Raphaël Enthoven discussing The Walking Dead and Alix Poisson opening up about her work as an actor. There will also be a meeting point for and about series writers, including a slate of talks with such scribes as Eric Rochant and Fanny Herrero.

Canneseries will run from March 27 to April 1, when the awards ceremony will take place.