Berlin

In recent years, serial formats have evolved quite impressively and won the favour of audiences around the globe. Story development and production conditions for these series are no longer in any way inferior to those for classic film productions. Indeed, serial narratives have become an essential component of audiovisual culture. The serial market is booming and drama series are now an especially popular genre.

This year, the Berlinale is giving this narrative form more scope and attention in its official programme as well as in the European Film Market and Berlinale Co-Production Market:

Berlinale Special

On the two days of the Berlinale Special Series on February 9 and 10 are premiering new episodes from German, European and American series. They will augment the Berlinale Special programme at the Haus der Berliner Festspiele. These series from around the world explore societal and social realities, and in doing so discover the private in the political.

“The Berlinale is a festival for the public and hence the right place to present our visitors with the best and most exciting series, and give them a chance to experience them within the scope of the festival,” says Festival Director Dieter Kosslick.

Kicking off events will be the Italian series 1992, a political thriller set against the backdrop of the “Mani Pulite” corruption investigations, triggering a political, civil and social earthquake in Italy. From Denmark the creators of Borgen will be presenting their new series, Follow the Money, set in the powerful world of finance. Also the Swedish format Blue Eyes reflects on the mechanisms of politics and society, and focuses on topical issues such as right-wing radicalism and civil justice.

Responsible for the German series in the line-up are two directors who have participated in the Berlinale Competition: Matthias Glasner (The Free Will, Mercy) has set Blochin – The Living and the Dead in Berlin, and puts his title character through a labyrinth of political intrigues and personal secrets. In Deutschland 83, created by Anna and Joerg Winger, a young and inexperienced East German spy ends up on an explosive mission in West Germany of the early 1980s. Episodes 1-5 are directed by Edward Berger (Jack).

From the US will be shown Bloodline, the latest work by KZK (Kessler, Zelman and Kessler), an intense drama about a family, against the deceptively idyllic Florida Keys. With Better Call Saul, the eagerly awaited spin-off of Breaking Bad is having its international premiere in Berlin. This time creators Vince Gilligan and Peter Gould focus on the years that have led up to Saul Goodman becoming a legendary attorney.

Closing the programme is False Flag, the latest thriller by the Israeli Keshet Media Group - the outfit behind Prisoners of War (Hatufim), which was adapted into Showtime's Homeland -, in which five citizens find themselves plunged into a gripping international espionage affair overnight.

Drama Series Days – A New Platform for the Film Industry

This year the European Film Market and Berlinale Co-Production Market give top-quality serial productions a new platform at the Drama Series Days on February 9 and 10. For the first time not only individual films are being traded at the European Film Market but also drama series. New high-quality serial productions will be presented from Germany, Scandinavia, Great Britain and North America. The first two episodes of each series will be shown at market screenings in the Martin-Gropius-Bau. In addition, the EFM Buyers Lounge will serve as a central meeting point for the drama series industry on February 9 and 10.

The official partner of the Drama Series Days at the European Film Market is the Film- and Medienstiftung NRW.

“High production value, a first-rate cast, in combination with complex, intelligently told stories - these features are what distinguish excellent drama series. And it is precisely around such works that the Drama Series Days revolve,” states Matthijs Wouter Knol, director of the EFM.

During the European Film Market, drama series will not only be the focus of screenings but also of discussions. Thus one of the EFM Industry Debates will be devoted to the German drama series market. On February 9, under the title “Ready to Take Off? High-end Drama Series Made in Germany”, the Hollywood Reporter will moderate a debate on the current developments in the world of the German drama series with leading German producers and broadcasters. And for the first time there will be a drama series panel in cooperation with C21: international experts will discuss the opening up of the US market for local productions from Europe, and how - as original series or remakes – their international reception is on the rise.

This year’s Berlinale Co-Production Market is also dedicating an extra half day to the topic of serial works. On February 10, it is inviting those active in the industry to a new CoPro Series pitching event for six serial projects that are seeking international co-production and financing partners. Participating alongside Babylon Berlin, the first German serial project by celebrated director Tom Tykwer (Perfume – Story of a Murderer, Cloud Atlas) will be the Belgium series Tabula Rasa, which is being presented in cooperation with Séries Mania Paris; as well as the projects Behind the Moon at That Time from Israel, The White Rhino Hotel from the USA, Hierro from Spain and Valkyrien from Norway.

On February 9, a case study will be presented on the financing of Jordskott, a drama series which has been successfully co-produced with international partners.

List of the serial formats in Berlinale Special

1992                           

Italy

Creators: Alessandro Fabbri, Ludovica Rampoldi, Stefano Sardo

With Stefano Accorsi, Guido Caprino, Domenico Diele, Miriam Leone, Tea Falco, Alessandro Roja

Broadcaster: Sky Italia

World premiere

Follow the Money (Bedraget)

Denmark

Creators: Jeppe Gjervig Gram, Per Fly

With Thomas Bo Larsen, Natalie Madueño Wolfsberg,  Esben Smed, Nikolaj Lie Kaas, Thomas Hwan, Line Kruse

Broadcaster: Danish Broadcasting Corp.

World premiere

Better Call Saul

USA

Creators: Vince Gilligan, Peter Gould

With Bob Odenkirk, Jonathan Banks, Patrick Fabian, Rhea Seehorn, Michael Mando, Michael McKean

Broadcaster: AMC, Netflix

International premiere

Blochin (Blochin – The Living and the Dead)

Germany

Creator: Matthias Glasner

With Jürgen Vogel,Thomas Heinze, Maja Schöne, Jördis Triebel, Christoph Letkowski, Agnieszka Piwowarska, Jörg Pose, Gisa Flake, Thomas Lawinky, Carol Schuler, Jule Böwe

Broadcaster: ZDF

World premiere

Bloodline

USA

Creators: Todd A. Kessler, Daniel Zelman, Glenn Kessler,

With Kyle Chandler, Sissy Spacek, Sam Shephard, Linda Cardellini, Ben Mendelsohn, Norbert Leo Butz, Jacinda Barrett, Jamie McShane, Enrique Murciano

Broadcaster: Netflix

World premiere

Blå Ögon (Blue Eyes)

Sweden

Creators: Henrik Georgsson, Fredrik Edfeldt

With Louise Peterhoff, Sven Nordin, Daniel Larsson, Marie Richardson, Cecilia Frode, Niklas Hjulström, Linus Wahlgren, Kjell Wilhelmsen, David Lindström, Karin Franz Korlöf

Broadcaster: SVT

International premiere

Deutschland 83

Germany

Creators: Anna Winger, Jörg Winger

With Jonas Nay, Maria Schrader, Ulrich Noethen, Sylvester Groth, Errol T. Harwood, Sonja Gerhardt, Ludwig Trepte, Alexander Beyer, Lisa Tomaschewky, Nikola Kastner, Vladimir Burlakov

Broadcaster: RTL Television

World premiere

False Flag

Israel

Creators: Maria Feldman, Amit Cohen

With Ishai Golan, Ania Bukstein, Magi Azarzar, Angel Bonanni, Orna Salinger, Miki Leon, Igal Naor

Broadcaster: Keshet Broadcasting

World premiere