Festival In Focus: How Series Mania Has Grown Into A Key Event In The Global TV Calendar

Anna Marie de la Fuente Israel’s Yaron Shani, best known for his feature debut “Ajami,” nominated for the Best International Feature Oscar in 2010, is presenting his debut television series, “Innermost,” at Series Mania. Variety is unveiling an exclusive first look at the series, which world premieres March 20 at the prominent television event unspooling in Lille, France over March 17-24. The six-episode limited series, world premiering in Series Mania’s International Panorama section, follows three characters whose lives intersect. Among them is a police officer, played by Eran Naim, a former cop himself, who first appeared in “Ajami.” The second is an upcoming writer who struggles to recover from a traumatic experience, while the third is a young aspiring musician who chafes against his parents’ wish to do his duty and join the military service, mandatory in Israel.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent The American French Film Festival, formerly known as COLCOA, has set the dates of its 2023 edition to Oct. 18-22. Organized by the Franco-American Cultural Fund, the festival will host its 27th edition at the Directors Guild of America Theater on Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood. “Created by the Franco-American Cultural Fund, this event is the largest French film festival in North America and the largest festival dedicated to French Films and TV programs in the world,” said Cécile Rap-Veber, CEO of Sacem (the guild for authors, composers and publishers of music) who presides over the Franco-American Cultural Fund.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Aardman Animations’ founder Peter Lord and “Waltz With Bashir” director Ari Folman are set to receive Pulcinella Career Awards at Italy’s Cartoons On The Bay TV animation festival which is broadening its scope. The event launched in 1996 by Italian state broadcaster RAI has now expanded beyond TV toons to comprise video game productions, the comic book world, transmedia storytelling and metaverse animation content. Reflecting its more high-tech horizons, the fest’s 27th edition – which will run May 31-June 4 in the Southern seaside city of Pescara – will also be celebrating “Cuphead,” the hit Canadian video game that’s become a Netflix series, and bestowing its creator Maja Moldenhauer with its new Transmedia Award.

John Hopewell Chief International Correspondent Series Mania, Europe’s biggest TV fest, and German film-TV powerhouse Beta Group has revealed the 10 projects in the first edition of Seriesmakers, unveiling what must be one of the most talent-packed project lineups at any festival, film or TV, in 2023, A mentoring program for filmmakers making their TV creator debut, Series Mania features in development drama series from “Compartment No 6’s” Juho Kuosmanen, ‘Bang Gang’s’ Eva Husson and “Birds of a Passage’s” Ciro Guerra and Cristina Gallego. Also in the mix is “Amigas,” the first TV project of Beatriz Seigner (“Los Silencios”), one of Brazil’s foremost young movie directors, “The Invisible Ink,” teaming Cannes best first feature winner César Díaz (“Our Mothers”)and New Uruguay Cinema founding father Fernando Epstein; and Indian arthouse filmmaker Pushpendra Singh, who scored with Berlin Encounters’ title “The Shepherdess and the Seven Songs.”

Tara Karajica Egyptian director Alaa Dajani’s “The Native Dance,” a documentary that tells the story of Younis Abdallah and his comrades who were among the 300,000 peasants conscripted into the Egyptian Labor Corps in 1917, many of whom were dispatched to Europe to dig trenches for allied defense in World War I, took the top prize in the Pitching Forum of the Thessaloniki Intl. Documentary Festival’s Agora Docs industry program, which wrapped Wednesday. The awards ceremony concluded a session that saw more than 400 professionals taking part both in-person and online in the Agora activities. In “The Native Dance,” which is produced by Kesmat El Sayed and Laura Kloeckner (SEERA Films), the jury found “a film that promises a compelling visual approach combining archive material and animation, telling the story about the British forcing peasants from Egypt to dig trenches in Europe during WWI,” read the jury’s statement.

Dredge, clockwork puzzler Mechinus and Demonschool.The Official Selection was announced today (March 9) and features over 30 games that will be playable during London Games Festival, which will run between March 29 and April 9.The games are spread across five categories: Best Of British, High Energy, Historial Adventure, International Innovators and Pixel Power.You can check out the festival’s Official Selection below.When London Games Festival kicks off, these games will be showcased at the Platform Bar Exhibition.Elsewhere, London Games Festival will also feature partner events with W.A.S.D, the BAFTA Games Awards and Now Play This.

Sir Alex Ferguson is one of the great names of British football, with his name transcending the game to become a recognisable figure across wider sporting culture.

Naman Ramachandran Janchivdorj Sengedorj’s “The Sales Girl” (Mongolia), Asif Rustamov’s “Cold As Marble” (Azerbaijan), Ken Kwek’s “#LookAtMe” (Singapore) and Nader Saeivar’s “No End” (Iran) were among the winners at the  Vesoul International Film Festival of Asian Cinema on Tuesday. “The Sales Girl,” which played at Busan and won awards at the New York and Osaka Asian film festivals, won the Golden Cyclo, the festival’s top honor awarded by the international jury. “Cold as Marble,” which has played at Talinn Black Nights and the Goa festivals, took home three awards, including the grand jury prize and the Marc Haaz and Netpac jury prizes.

The Only Way Is Essex favourite Courtney Green has been labelled an "incredible beauty" as she delivered a stunning new beach snap for fans on Instagram.The reality TV star is currently in Phuket, Thailand to film the latest series of the show, where the beaches are golden and sandy, and the waters shimmer with a turquoise blue. But the brunette beauty stole the show in her latest swimsuit offering as she posed next to what appeared to be driftwood on the shore.

The stars are stepping out for the Chloé Fashion Show!

Lorde, Christine And The Queens and Pusha T have been added to the line-up at this year’s Flow Festival.The event is due to take place in Helsinki, Finland between August 11 and August 13.Organisers confirmed in December that acts including FKA Twigs, Caroline Polachek, Suede and Devo would perform over the weekend before they announced Blur and Wizkid would join the bill in January.The latest announcement will see Lorde make her debut at the festival on August 12 while Christine And The Queens will be making her first appearance on the closing night. Pusha T will also perform on August 12.Superstar Lorde announced for Flow Festival 2023! ✨ In addition, celebrated French artist Christine and the Queens, praised rapper Pusha T, High Vis, pehmoaino, Kube, MELO, Sofa, and Ne Galaktiset have also been added to Flow’s lineup.

Cannes Film Festival chief Thierry Frémaux has barely gotten over his jet lag after a whirlwind trip to Los Angeles this month, but he’s already planning a return visit as he attempts to pull together one of the most formidable lineups in the 76-year history of the event. He’s made it clear to studio executives that he would love to highlight both their blockbusters and their awards contenders, and though formal offers have not been made or accepted, this year’s Cannes has the potential to match or even surpass the 2022 edition — which played host to Tom Cruise and “Top Gun: Maverick” and Austin Butler and Tom Hanks with “Elvis” — in movie star moments. 

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent After securing major distribution deals at the EFM, Luc Besson’s next film “Dogman” starring Caleb Landry Jones, is now eyeing a launch in the festival circuit this fall, Variety has learned. The movie’s French release, initially planned for April 19, has been pushed to the fall to allow distributors to prepare a coordinated global release after a launch at an A-category festival. It would mark the first Besson-directed movie to open at a festival in decades. His wild space opera movie “The Fifth Element” was the opening night movie of the 50th edition of the Cannes Film Festival in 1997. Besson’s first film since his 2019 actioner “Anna,” “Dogman” is rumored to mark a return to form for the French director. Based on the trailer which we saw before the Berlinale, the film will be closer to some of his early work, notably “Subway,” “Nikita” and “The Professional” which were character-driven movies with a darker edge.

Christopher Vourlias The Thessaloniki Documentary Festival kicks off its 25th edition Thursday at a time when the nonfiction genre has arguably reached unprecedented heights. This year’s festival, which takes place March 2 – 12 in the seaside Mediterranean city, unfolds just days after veteran French docmaker Nicolas Philibert won the Golden Bear in Berlin for his documentary about a Paris mental health care facility, “On the Adamant.” The award capped a fortnight in which Sean Penn’s gonzo doc about Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy, “Superpower,” also generated plenty of buzz (albeit lukewarm reviews). Meanwhile, Cameroon’s Cyrielle Raingou took home Rotterdam’s Tiger Award just a few weeks earlier for “Le Spectre de Boko Haram,” a riveting view of terrorism seen through children’s eyes. And one summer ago, Laura Poitras triumphed on the Lido with “All the Beauty and the Bloodshed,” her docu-portrait of the photographer and activist Nan Goldin, which won the Venice Film Festival’s Golden Lion award.

The competition winners of the 73rd Berlinale are about to start rolling in as the festival draws to a close Saturday evening.

I now this doesn’t happen to people like Harry Styles very often, but Harry Styles has been presented with the International Federation Of The Phonographic Industry’s Global Single Award for 2022, because he had the most successful track across all the digital platforms worldwide last year with ‘As It Was’.And this really doesn’t happen to people like Harry Styles very often. By, which I mean people who are Harry Styles.

John Hopewell Chief International Correspondent Casey Bloys, chairman and CEO, HBO and HBO Max Content will deliver a keynote at Series Mania’s Lille Dialogues whose one-day summit looks set to take the pulse on a global content industry as content investment flattens and ask how to build a more responsible industry in the future. Marking an early opportunity to hear from streaming platforms after both Warner Bros. Discovery and Disney have announced multi-billion dollar cuts in content investment, the Lille Dialogues also count on a keynote from James Farrell, head of local originals, Prime Video. Further keynotes will be delivered by top execs at France’s biggest free-to-air service, TF1, as well as its energetic public broadcaster France Télévisions and Europe’s biggest pay TV operator, Sky. Jan Mojto, CEO, Beta Film, can be expected to deliver a wide-angled vision of how stories made in Europe can find a market worldwide.

Martin Scorsese’s Killers of the Flower Moon is weighing a potential Cannes 2023 world premiere, as previously tipped in Deadline’s The Dish in July of last year, we can confirm.

Martin Scorsese’s “Killers of the Flower Moon,” starring Leonardo DiCaprio, is eyeing a world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival, potentially giving the annual celebration of cinema one of the glitziest red carpet bows of its eight-decade history. The Apple movie, which was pursued by both Venice and Cannes toppers, may ultimately be unveiled in the South of France. Of course, there could still be a last minute change of plans by the time the lineup is unveiled in April, but it’s looking promising enough that Scorsese is even rumored to have reserved a suite at one of the posh hotels along the Croisette. Thierry Fremaux, Cannes’ director, is preparing a massive 2023 edition and traveled to L.A. earlier this month to screen Scorsese’s movie and discuss other potential Hollywood titles. Alberto Barbera, Venice’s artistic director, was in town at the same time taking meetings with studio bosses, which led to an awkward situation even though they didn’t bump into each other, according to an industry insider.

The International Federation Of The Phonographic Industry has announced Taylor Swift as the recipient of its 2022 Global Recording Artist Of The Year Award – the third time she has been presented with the annual prize.“It is a great pleasure to award the IFPI Global Recording Artist Award to Taylor Swift for an unprecedented third time”, says IFPI chief exec Frances Moore. “Taylor is a truly magnificent international star, who continues to grow and evolve as an artist whilst maintaining an incredibly strong connection with her fans around the world”.The prize is handed to the artist who has the highest number of worldwide streams and sales of their music each year. As well as revealing Swift as the overall winner, the IFPI also revealed the top 20 most successful acts in 2022, which includes BTS, Bad Bunny, The Weeknd, Harry Styles, Ed Sheeran, Juice Wrld and young upstarts The Beatles.“It is exciting to see this year’s Global Recording Artist Chart reflect the increasingly diverse spectrum of music available to music fans today, with superstars from Latin America, Taiwan and South Korea as well as the US, UK and Canada represented”, says Moore.