C’è anche un progetto italiano fra i 16 che parteciperanno il prossimo 19 marzo al Co-Pro Pitching Sessions, l’evento cardine del Forum di Series Mania (19-21 marzo), il mercato del Festival della serialize di Lille fondato e diretto da Laurence Herszberg (15-22 marzo).
É il thriller il sei puntate Vatican, che racconta delle indagini che un uomo conduce sulla morte sospetta del figlio, finendo per scoprire che era coinvolto in un giro di prostituzione interno alla chiesa, gestito da vescovi senza scrupoli al fine di controllare la politica vaticana. Prodotto da Nicola De Angelis per Fabula Pictures, e scritto da Flavio Bernard, Ciro Di Maso e Marcello Olivieri.
15 dei 16 progetti (ad eccezione dell’argentino Witness 36, che sarà presentato come parte della partnership con il Berlinale Co-Pro Series ma non sarà in gara) si disputeranno il Best Project Award del valore di €50,000 per sostenere lo sviluppo della serie. A decretare il vincitore, una Giuria Internazionale, presieduta da Nina Lederman (USA), EVP Global Scripted Development & Programming, Sony Pictures Television, e composta da Marco Chimenz (Italia), Group Co-General Manager, Federation Studios; Jennifer Ebell (UK), EVP, EMEA Sales and Acquisitions at FIFTH SEASON; Marianne Furevold-Boland (Norvegia), Head of Drama, NKR; Karin Marelle (UK),VP Program Acquisitions & Co-Productions, Starz
“Quest’anno c’è una significativa crescita dei progetti provenienti dal Sud America, in special modo dal Brasile e dal Messico, e abbiamo notato l’emergere dell’Asia come una new entry, marcata dalla presenza in selezione di ben due progetti giapponesi, – osserva Herszberg.- Inoltre, abbiamo ricevuto un gran numero di storie basate su eventi reali e molti progetti legati a forti IP. Si registra invece un declino dei temi dispotici a favore di progetti più realistici, di thrillers più tradizionali e di un crescente numero di dramedies.
Siamo tutti impazienti di conoscere il vincitore!”
Di seguito, i progetti in selezione:
ANTILIA – 6 x 52′ – France
Produced by Pierre-Emmanuel Fleurantin et Vincent Mouluquet for Ego Productions
Written by Maxime Crupaux & Baptiste Fillon
Directed by Vincent Maël Cardona
Short synopsis: The Hell and Paradise are on the same island.
A TRUE NOVEL – 8 x 60′ – Japan, USA
Genre: Historical drama
Produced by Satoko Ishida and Meri Koyama for Shochiku and Jonathan Kier and Matt Brodlie for Upgrade Productions
Written by Riko Sakaguchi
Short synopsis: While investigating the life of reclusive Japanese industrialist Taro Azuma, a famous novelist begins to uncover a complex puzzle of love and obsession which spans decades.
EUROVISION MURDER MYSTERY – 6 x 52′ – France, Germany
Genre: Murder mystery
Produced by Emmanuelle Guilbart and Agathe de Lorme for APC Stories and Henning Kamm and Johann Buchholz for Friday Film
Written by Fabienne Hurst & Bertrand Soulier
Short synopsis: When you have 72 hours to solve a murder, save EUROVISION and the fate of EUROPE.
FOOD, LOVE, FAITH – 8 x 50′ – Israel
Genre: Drama
Produced by Efrat Shmaya Dror for United Studios IL
Written by Yossi Madmoni
Short synopsis: An ultra-orthodox Jewish mother smuggles her gay son from Jerusalem to London, to save him from being forced into an arranged marriage. In the big city, when he experiences freedom of choice, he becomes torn between who he is and everything he knew before that shaped him.
ISSAK – 6 x 45′ – Japan, Germany
Genre: Historical Drama
Produced by Itaru Mizuno from Nippon TV and Lasse Scharpen from Studio Zentral
Written by Itaru Mizuno and Richard Kropf, based on the manga “Issak” by Shinji Makari and DOUBLE-S, published by KODANSHA LTD.
Short synopsis: 1620: In the chaos of the Thirty Years’ War, 11-year-old orphan Zetta finds companionship in the mysterious Japanese samurai Issak, who fights on the side of the Protestants – carrying a dark secret with him…
JUDGEMENT OF SOLOMON – 6 x 45′ – Bulgaria
Genre: Mystery/Drama
Produced by: Katya Trichkova for Contrast films LTD and Mirrormind LTD
Written by Teodora Markova and Nevena Kertova
Short synopsis: A 6-year-old Bulgarian girl starts recalling moments from her past life, which leads her family to cross paths with a Swedish couple, who have lost their daughter.
KISS MY FEET – 6 x 50′ – Finland, Netherlands
Genre: Drama
Produced by Aleksi Bardy for Helsinki-Filmi Oy and Fleur Winters for Big Blue, Netherlands.
Written by Daan Gielis & Mark Van De Grift
Short synopsis: Max, a successful marketer, finds himself in a spiritual community in Finland, to help his brother Lucas. As he discovers the secrets of the community, Max and his girlfriend Daphne’s view on family drastically changes.
NANGA PARBAT – 6 x 52′ – France
Genre: Drama, Adventure
Produced by Amaury Ovise for Kazak Productions
Written by Caryl Férey
Short synopsis: Elisabeth Revol’s story of survival and tragedy on Pakistan’s “Killer Mountain” and the daring rescue operation that resounded the world over.
THE ART OF MAGDALENE – 6 x 45′ – Poland, Ireland
Genre: Drama
Produced by Wiktor Piatkowski for Bahama Films and Jonathan Farrelly for PIO Media LTD
Written by Wiktor Piatkowski
Short synopsis: A hard-working and religious immigrant is fed up with being used and humiliated. She builds an international art dealing empire based on ignorance, superficiality and greed of rich people. Her financial pyramid grows faster when drug dealers start using it for laundering money.
THE LEFT HAND OF VENUS – 6 x 45′ – Greece
Genre: Historical Comedy
Produced by Ioannis Kostas, development producer Dimitra Barla, for Arcadia Media
Written by Nikos Panayotopoulos, based on the novel by Takis Theodoropoulos
Short synopsis: When French naval officer Olivier Voutier finds the love of his life on the face of the French consul’s wife of Milos Island, his only hope to conquer her is to steal the statue of Venus that has just been discovered on the island, before other suitors beat him to it.
THE ODESA WRESTLERS – 6 x 45′ – Norway
Genre: Drama
Produced by Cathrine Simonsen for Monster AS
Written by Joachim Førsund and Thorbjørn Harr
Short synopsis: In a quaint rural town in Norway, two recently arrived young Ukrainian refugees seize the opportunity to shape a brighter future as they meet a local sports icon – a world champion wrestler with a mission to forge an unstoppable team of champions.
THIRST – 6 x 60′ – Canada
Genre: Thriller, Science fiction
Produced by Julia Ferreira Langlois and Annie Sirois for Trio Orange
Written by Sylvain Neuvel
Short synopsis: What if Quebec’s greatest resource, water, contaminated the entire region in less than a week. Thirst is the story of a woman shadowed by death who chooses to fight to save humanity.
OUR PEOPLE – 6 x 55′ – Slovakia
Genre: Political Drama
Produced by Jakub Viktorín and Tomáš Hrubý for nutprodukcia
Written by Miro Šifra
Directed by Tereza Nvotová
Short synopsis: The murder of a journalist overthrows the balance of power in Slovakia.
VATICAN – 6 x 50′ – Italy
Genre: Drama, Thriller
Produced by Nicola De Angelis for Fabula Pictures
Written by Flavio Bernard, Ciro Di Maso and Marcello Olivieri
Short synopsis: A father investigates the suspicious death of his only son just to discover he was involved in a prostitution ring inside the church used by unscrupulous bishops to control the Vatican policy.
WHITE TIES – 6 x 45′ – Germany
Genre: Drama, Inspired by true events
Produced by Laura Von Portatius for Wüste Film GmbH
Written by Oke Stielow and Uwe Flade
Directed by Viviane Andereggen
Short synopsis: As post-war Berlin is in a state of unrestrained chaos, teenage-gangster Werner Gladow declares himself to become the Al Capone of Berlin – and succeeds. Gladow really existed. He’s a true legend of Berlin – this is his story.
The 16th project, announced on February 20 during the Berlinale’s Co-Pro Series:
WITNESS 36 – 8 x 45’ – Argentina
Genre: Espionage thriller
Produced by Michael Nozik for Oficina Burman (The Mediapro Studio)
Written by Natacha Caravia, Juan Matías Carballo, Daniel Burman
Directed by Daniel Burman
Short synopsis: A female writer specialises in creating fictional identities for an international witness protection programme and becomes entangled in a romance with a mysterious man whose past resembles one of her creations.
