When it comes to series, Series Mania is the place to be this spring! Taking place from March 18 to 25, 2022, in Lille, France, this European series festival is accompanied by its industry forum, from March 22 to 24.
And you guessed it: We’ve got awesome Canadian talent, content, and activities in the mix, including two projects in official competition; one project selected for the forum’s anticipated Co-Pro Pitching Sessions; three projects in the Writers Campus; plus loads of great networking activities to support our delegation of more than 60 Canadians who will be attending. Oh, and did we mention an esteemed Canadian filmmaker is on the International Panorama jury? Read on for more.
SERIES MANIA FESTIVAL
- International Panorama
Big news: Canadian filmmaker Sophie Desrape will be part of the official jury of Panorama International! At last year’s Series Mania, her six-episode dramatic series Dark Soul (Bête noire) was part of the fest’s official selection in this very same programming section In 2021, she was named to the Compagne de l’Ordre des arts et des lettres du Québec. And of course, the director turned heads worldwide in 2019, when her acclaimed feature Antigone was Canada’s official submission to the 92nd Oscars in the category of Best International Feature Film! - Festival Selection – Philippe Falardeau’s Last Summers of the Raspberries (Le temps des framboises)
Directed by Oscar-nominated Canadian filmmaker Philippe Faladeau in his very first episodic project, this dark comedic series is fresh off its world premiere at the Berlin International Film Festival, where it made waves in Berlinale Series section. Produced by Trio Orange / CLUB ILLICO and penned by Florence Longpré and Suzie Bouchard, the 10-episode narrative follows the adventures of a woman and her family, who after losing her husband, takes over their farm… and all that entails. - Short Forms Competition – Mélanie Charbonneau’s Welcome to Soulshine (Je ne suis pas un robot)
Produced by Echo Media / TÉLÉ-QUÉBEC, this psychological thriller is a dip into the dark side of social networks, specifically, content moderation. The six-episode short-form series follows the filmmakers 2019 debut feature Fabulous (Les fabuleuses) which won big at the Busan Film Festival, among other accolades, and also addressed social media-related themes. (P.S. You can watch it on the Télé-Québec (telequebec.tv) website.)
SERIES MANIA FORUM
- Co-Pro Pitching Sessions: The Cuckoo Treatment
A Canadian series is one of the 15 projects in development selected to partake in the always-exciting Co-Pro Pitching Sessions, which are a Series Mania highlight that offers one winner a 50,000€ prize! Out of this year’s 330 submissions from 56 countries around the world, among the contenders is Canada’s The Cuckoo Treatment, an eight-episode series created and written by Kris Bertin and Naben Ruthnum.The series is produced by Jennifer Kawaja of Sienna Films, whose project You Are Obsolete was selected to participate in this year‘s Co-Pro Series Pitch at the Berlinale Series Market this February. The Co-Pro Pitching Sessions showcases pitches by producers, who present to the competition jury and also individually through meetings with possible business partners and funders. - Writers Campus 2022
After participating in workshops and being trained and mentored by the program’s esteemed and experienced tutors for a week, the Writers Campus session’s 20 selected scribes have the chance to actually pitch their projects to industry pros at the Forum! Here’s your sneak peek at our Canadian projects:- Corpus Christi (Canada-United States)
- Diaspora (Canada-Hong Kong)
- The Chosen One (Canada-Pakistan)
CANADA’S NETWORKING ACTIVITIES
- Canada/Creative Europe
This invitation-only networking event between European and Canadian producers is being held by Creative Europe MEDIA desks, Telefilm Canada, and the Canadian Trade Commissioner Service in Paris takes place Tuesday, March 22nd, from 2:30 pm to 4:30 pm at Lille Grand Palais (Creative Europe MEDIA stand).
- Canada Breakfast
Three producers from the APFC will present their projects at the exclusive Canada Breakfast with Telefilm Canada in collaboration with the Alliance des producteurs francophones du Canada (APFC), the Canadian Trade Commissioner Service in Paris, and SODEC!
