TVF International Sets MIPCOM 2024 Slate

TVF International is bringing over 130 hours of new factual programming to MIPCOM, including a second season of Untold Arctic Wars.

While season one addressed the role of the Arctic in World War II, season two will cover the region’s role in the Cold War, revealing how Nordic nations were forced into a delicate game between East and West. The series is co-commissioned by Yle, SVT, NRK, DR and RÚV.

A second season is also available for Wings of the Great War, produced by Gullwing Productions for COSMOTE. The new season of the World War I history series will continue to use unseen archive to profile pioneering aerial warfare.

TVF International also has two World War II docs on the slate: How the Second World War Became a Global War and Who Paid for World War II? Both come from Odyssey Films.

Free at Last: The Secrets of Apartheid, co-commissioned by ZDF and ARTE, retells the history of apartheid in South Africa and details how its legacy still affects the nation today.

In biographies, TVF is presenting Keynes: His Life and Work from Odyssey Films, Maria Callas: The Unsung Years from Escape and the Greek National Opera and Theodor Herzl: The Man Who Made Israel from Generation Films.

The world affairs category features 25 new hours. Arming the Arctic explores a conflict in waiting as climate change uncovers valuable natural resources in the Arctic, as yet ungoverned by international treaties. For the Culture with Amanda Parris faces the issues affecting Black communities across the world head on, covering the debate around reparations and unequal access to healthcare, education and positions of leadership. The Psychedelic Frontier bears witness to controversial psilocybin treatments promising to transform trauma therapy. My Dad the Sex Tourist, meanwhile, sees a world-first DNA experiment from inside the Philippines’ $400 million sex tourism industry aim to reunite children born as a result of sex tourism with their fathers. Stalking: State of Fear uses intimate access to expose the systemic failures of police and the justice system to take women’s fears seriously.

A number of titles from Mediacorp are on TVF International’s MIPCOM slate, including China’s Abandoned Daughters, about babies abandoned during China’s one-child policy; India Rising: Young Bloods in a New Superpower, about the challenges and opportunities facing India’s youth; and The Peacemakers, which goes inside the secret world of peacemaking negotiations. Other titles from Mediacorp on the slate are When Titans Clash: China’s Plan to Rescue its Economy, When Titans Clash: Knives Out in the South China Sea and The Waves that Changed Us: The Indian Ocean Tsunami 20 Years On.

In the wildlife category, the TVF International offering includes Rewilding Sharks, following the world’s first-ever shark rewinding project; Japan’s Wild Side, uncovering the secret lives of Japan’s most iconic animals; Père David’s Deer: Return to the Wild, following the recovery of China’s ancient species Père David’s Deer from the brink of extinction; and Saudi Arabia’s Animal Kingdom, showcasing the natural wonders of Saudi Arabia.

Three arts docs on the slate are Van Gogh by Vincent, telling the story of Van Gogh through the lens of his self-portraits; Welcome to Babel: Painting Communism, following Chinese-Australian artist Jiawei Shen as he paints a 10-meter mural history of communism; and Golden Opulence, exploring the legacy of fashion, design, art and architecture on Anatolia.

Lifestyle programs include Paula McIntyre’s Hamely Kitchen USA, Have You Eaten Yet? Tasting Taiwan, Europe by Train and No Luggage.

“The TVF acquisitions team have done an immense job, sourcing some of the most exciting and topical factual titles that we are buzzing to launch at MIPCOM,” said Poppy McAlister, head of TVF International. “From top-quality, zeitgeist documentaries to high-volume series, we are representing producers from Africa, Asia, Oceania, Europe and the Americas. Our slate is truly international in scope and there is something for everyone. Our ten-strong sales team are raring to hit the Croisette next week, with one of our most impressive MIPCOM slates to date.”