• The third edition of Séries Mania closed its doors this Thursday evening.

  • A "huge success which exceeded all our expectations", welcomes Laurence Herszberg.

  • And a prize list that gives pride of place to series that relate social struggles.

A third edition of Séries Mania in Lille in the form of a reunion after a cancellation in 2020 and two postponements due to the pandemic.

“Everyone was so happy to be there”, rejoices Laurence Herszberg, general manager of the event.

Review of eight intense days of screenings and meetings around more than 50 new series and the series Mania prize list, unveiled this Thursday during a closing ceremony, presented by actor and comedian Alex Vizorek.

"A huge success that exceeded all our expectations"

For accredited professionals, “there was the idea of: 'well, we can talk about series by seeing each other and not through Zoom” ”.

As for the public, "we also felt this enthusiasm to say that this is a bit of the return of the party, of normal life".

The 3rd edition of Séries Mania was “a huge success that exceeded all our expectations,” says Laurence Herszberg.

And to explain: “Our figures speak for themselves: more than 54,000 festival participants, 2,500 professionals at Séries Mania Forum, including 400 accredited online, bringing together a total of 66 nationalities, and 50,000 visits to the Séries Mania platform. Digital ”.

Within its programming, Séries Mania has welcomed more than 20 countries with newcomers such as Serbia, Croatia, Turkey, Colombia and Taiwan.

"Blackport", a social chronicle coupled with a ferocious farce

The jury of the international competition, chaired creator, screenwriter, director, producer and Israeli critic Hagai Levi, to whom we owe in particular

BeTipul,

the Israeli series that inspired

In Therapy

,

The Affair

and the American adaptation for HBO of the Ingmar Bergman's series,

Scenes from a marriage

, entitled

Scenes from a marriage

, due in France on OCS on September 13, awarded the Grand Prix to the Icelandic series

Blackport,

a series soon to be broadcast on Arte.

A series initiated at the Co-Pro Pitching Sessions of Séries Mania Forum, in partnership with the Co-Pro Series of the Berlinale.

“We are also very proud to find two series pitched at the Forum this year.

Series Mania is definitely “where the series begin”!

», Commented Laurence Herszberg.

This UFO tells of the privatization of fishing in Iceland in the 1980s and the strike in the sector.

Under the guise of a boring local and technical issue, this generous social chronicle gradually turns into a ferocious farce on capitalism, at the confluence of the influences of the unclassifiable Aki Kaurismäki and the Cohen brothers.

An unusual fresco on the neoliberal revolution in the West

Marie Reuther was named Best Actress for her impeccable and charismatic performance in the Danish series

Kamikaze

. This adaptation of the novel

Muléum

by Erlend Loe follows the unusual peregrinations of Julie, whose golden youth changes the day she receives a text from her father indicating: “Our plane crashes. Do what you want. I love you. Dad. A powerful dreamlike fantasy ensues around the world, exploring the themes of mourning and suicide, served by a polished staging mixing real shots, animation and stop motion.

The trio of actors Itamar Rothschild, Orr Amrami and Shmuel Vilozni received a collective award for best actor for their performance in

The Echo of your voice

, from a dynasty of singers.

A sensitive musical and family drama from Israel, which is about parentage and personal fulfillment.

"The Last Socialist Artefact" between socialist vestiges and capitalism

The very first jury of Panorama international, chaired by the essayist and great French reporter Florence Aubenas, rewarded for its part, the Croatian series

The Last Socialist Artefact

, a dive into the working-class world of the Balkans, navigating between vestiges of an ideal socialist and capitalism.

The special jury prize goes to

Vida De Colores

, small in budget, large in subject matter.

This luminous Colombian series follows the daily lives of trans and non-binary people, in the colorful little town of Valledupar, in the heart of the Colombian Caribbean, a region of the world still plagued by conservatism.

The student jury voted best series for the crazy British comedy

We Are Lady Parts

, which follows the story of a feminist punk group.

"Jeune et Golri" crowned best French series

The jury for the French competition is made up of journalists from the international press. 

Jeune et Golri

, available on OCS, which brings together several comedians Marie Papillon, Paul Mirabel, Lison Daniel, Nordine Ganso and of course Agnès Hurstel, co-creator and headliner, was crowned best series, while Pierre Leroux won the prize for the best original music.

Ariane Labed's breathtaking and twirling composition as a drifting prima ballerina for L'Opéra, available September 7 on OCS, earned her the award for best actress.

Daniel Njo Lobé wins the prize for best actor for his performance as a lawyer in the judicial series to be discovered soon on France 2, The Code.

"Germinal" wins the public of the North

The high school jury voted best the Australian

Fisk

, who follows the tribulations of a freshly divorced and dismissed fifty-something, forced to take a job at a small shabby firm specializing in wills and probate.

Something Undone

, Canadian horror series in the podcast universe, wins the award for best short series.

It was one of the highly anticipated screenings in the North.

In Wallers-Arenberg, a former mining town in the North, spectators were able to discover a world preview of the Germinal event series, inspired by the novel by Emile Zola, the only French series in international competition, which resuscitates the "black guys" and their social struggles.

Return on the special op orchestrated this morning for @Salto_fr.

With @fusefrance, the platform entrusted @ 20Minutes with a vast street marketing device, on the occasion of the launch of the "#Germinal" series, like street criers 📢


>> https://t.co/ JnI4HJZV5L pic.twitter.com/f95KyuBLVT

- 20minutesmedia (@ 20minutesmedia) September 2, 2021

"It was the meeting between people who suffered greatly during deindustrialisation and the closure of mines, and to whom their dignity is restored through a work of heritage", summarizes Laurence Herszberg.

A memorable session "with old miners, with tears in their eyes", who told the team of the series "You showed us as upright men."

"It was a great emotional moment," says Laurence Herszberg.

An emotion rewarded by the most beautiful prize, that of the public.

Series

Mania series: Florence Aubenas evokes the "back and forth between fiction and reality"

Lille

Lille: We tested the escape game of the Bureau des Légendes during Séries Mania

The winning series available online 

Good news for series fans.

The winning series, with the exception of

Kamikaze

, will be available until Friday at 11:59 p.m. on the festival platform, free and open to all. 

The opportunity also to review the meetings and conferences organized during the festival as well as exclusive interviews with some of the guests (Adrien Brody, Clyde Phillips, Joshua Jackson, Christian Slater ...).

  • OCS

  • Awards

  • France 2

  • Series

  • Mania Series

  • Arte