South African Drama Reyka to Open Monte-Carlo TV Festival

This year’s Monte-Carlo Television Festival, which marks its 60th anniversary, will feature the worldwide premiere of the South African drama Reyka.

The crime thriller stars Kim Engelbrecht (Dominion, The Flash), Iain Glen (Game of Thrones, Downton Abbey) and Thando Thabethe (How to Ruin Christmas: The Wedding). In the series, a flawed but brilliant criminal profiler, haunted by her past, returns to her hometown to solve a string of brutal murders committed by a serial killer among the sugarcane fields of Kwa-Zulu-Natal.

The series’ director is Zwelesizwe Ntuli (Hard to Get) and the producer Serena Cullen (Lady Chatterley’s Lover). Reyka is from Serena Cullen Productions and Quizzical Pictures for M-Net (MultiChoice Africa Group), with global distribution handled by Fremantle.

The Red Carpet Opening Ceremony for the 60th Anniversary edition of the Festival takes place on June 18 at the Grimaldi Forum Monaco. H.S.H. Prince Albert II, Honorary President of the Festival, will officially declare the commencement of the five-day event. The two juries, made up of leading exponents from the worlds of television drama and news, will be officially presented during the Opening Ceremony.

Fiction Jury President is Swedish writer, director and producer Måns Mårlind (The Bridge, Midnight Sun, Shadowplay) will preside over fellow jury members, French actor Arnaud Ducret (Parents mode d’emploi, Mensonges), German producer Moritz Polter (Das Boot, Freud), French actor and singer Joey Starr (Polisse, Mafiosa, Le Remplaçant), British screenwriter and direcror Kay Mellor (The Syndicate, Band of Gold) and Norwegian producer Anders Tangen (Lilyhammer, Home for Christmas).

President of the News Jury, independent filmmaker Evgeny Afineevsky (Winter On Fire: Ukraine’s Fight For Freedom, Cries From Syria) will be joined by the following jury members: Monegasque journalist Leila Ghandi, Italian producer Gisella Marengo, France Télévisions editor Hugo Plagnard and Spanish RTVE international and investigative TV reporter Pilar Requena.

Festival CEO Laurent Puons commented, “We are very pleased to welcome such an eminent line-up of jury members who will screen all competing programs in Monaco during the Festival, with the very difficult task to select the ultimate winners, to be awarded on 22 June during the Golden Nymph Awards Ceremony. It is also my greatest pleasure to open this 60th anniversary with the series Reyka. Beginning the Festival with a South African production has a very special touch, especially in light of the close ties that exist between South Africa and the Principality of Monaco. This dynamic drama looks set to be a global hit and we’re thrilled to be able to kick off our Festival with this worldwide launch.”