Series Mania has wrapped in Lille with new details on Festival winners and figures for a record-setting Forum.
For the Series Mania Festival, the figures are almost in, and it has already topped 108,000 spectators, 10,000 more than last year.
Series Mania Forum welcomed 5,000 professionals, including 500 buyers, from 75 countries, a 20 percent increase on last year.
“We made a selection of works that were very open to the world, and we’re delighted that the prizes reflect these choices by rewarding, among others, an American independent series, an Israeli series, an Algerian series and an Iranian series,” said Laurence Herszberg, founder and general manager of Series Mania. “The two major international prizes also confirm the prominent place of Spanish series in today’s serial landscape.”
The Audience Award went to Empathy (Canada).
In the International Competition, the international jury, chaired by director, writer and actor Pamela Adlon, along with French musician and composer Victor Le Masne, Argentinean-American actor Ignacio Serricchio, British director Minkie Spiro and French actress Karin Viard, awarded four prizes and a mention among the nine series presented in world or international premiere. The Grand Prize went to Querer (Spain). Best writing went to Moshe Zonder and Ronit Weiss Berkowitz for The German (Israel, U.S.). A special mention has been attributed to Jean-Stéphane Bron, Alice Winocour, Eugène Riousse, Stéphane Mitchell, Valentine Monteil and Julien-Guilhem Lacombe for The Deal (Switzerland, France, Belgium, Luxembourg). The best actress nod went to Lili Reinhart for Hal & Harper (U.S.), while best actor went to Luca Marinelli in Mussolini: Son of the Century (France, Italy).
For the French Competition, the jury, made up of international press journalists Ariane Kandilaptis (Belgium), Hector Llanos (Spain), Emil L. Mohr (Norway), Joanna Orzechowska-Bonis (Poland) and Francisco Ferreira (Portugal), awarded four prizes among the six French series presented in a world premiere. Best series was 37 Secondes. Elsa Guedj took home best actress for Le Sens Des Choses. Arthur Dupont won best actor for La Famille Rose. Anthony D’Amario and Edouard Rigaudière won best score for Log Out.
The International Panorama jury, chaired by French writer Lola Lafon, along with Latvian actor Kārlis Arnolds Avots, American programmer Casey Baron, French actress Marie Colomb and English producer Kate Harwood, awarded four prizes and a mention among the ten series presented in French, European and world previews. Celeste (Spain) won best series, with a special mention going to Putain (Belgium). Best directing went to Ida Panahandeh for At the End of the Night (Iran). Best actress was Carmen Machi for Celeste (Spain), with Matthew Gurney as best actor for Reunion (U.K.). A student jury awarded its prize to Requiem For Selina (Norway).
The Short Forms competition jury, chaired by French actress and singer Camelia Jordana, alongside Swedish creator and screenwriter Lisa Ambjörn, French screenwriter, director and actor Julien Gaspar-Oliveri, German actor Aaron Altaras and French TikTok creator Enora Hope, awarded the Prize for Best Short Format Series. One of Us Is Trembling (Denmark) won for best series, with a special mention for El’Sardines (Algeria, France). A student jury awarded its prize to Wingspan (Germany).
