14/02/2025 - The biggest series-based event in the world will unspool in Lille between 21 and 28 March with a selection including 26 world premieres

Series ranging from geopolitical to intimate, offering up conflict zones, family-focused huis clos reflecting pressing societal questions and self-assured heroines: these are the major thematic trends underpinning the selection in the 8th Series Mania which is unspooling in Lille between 21 and 28 March.

This year, the Series Mania team steered by general director Laurence Herszberg and artistic director Frédéric Lavigne have selected 48 series (40 of which have never been seen) hailing from 19 countries (out of 418 series submitted from 56 countries), 26 of which are set to screen in world premieres and 12 in international premieres in the northern French city.

The International Competition jury (presided over by US creator, screenwriter and actress Pamela Adlon, who’s joined by French composer Victor Le Masne, Argentine-US actor Ignacio Serricchio, British director Minkie Spiro and French actress Karin Viard) will find themselves weighing up nine series (five of which screening in world premieres and two in international premieres). Stealing focus amongst these are The Deal [+see also:
series review
series profile] (created and co-scripted by Jean-Stéphane Bron and Alice Winocour, and starring Veerle Baetens in its cast), Kaboul (created by Olivier Demangel and Thomas Finkielkraut, and produced by France, Germany, Italy, Belgium and Greece), Danish series Generations, Spain’s Querer [+see also:
series review
trailer
interview: Alauda Ruiz de Azúa
series profile] (discovered out of competition in San Sebastian) and the Italian-French title Mussolini: Son of the Century [+see also:
interview: Joe Wright
series profile] (unveiled out of competition in Venice – read our interview with director Joe Wright – and starring Luca Marinelli in the titular role). Rounding off the line-up is one Canadian series, two Americans and one Israeli-US offering.

The French Competition, for its part, will consist of six series, while 10 will be battling it out in the Panorama International Competition (whose jury will be led by French writer Lola Lafon, in the company of French actress Marie Colomb, Latvian actor Kārlis Arnolds Avots, American programmer Casey Baron and English producer Kate Harwood), including the Icelandic series The Danish Woman [+see also:
series review
interview: Benedikt Erlingsson, Ólafur…
series profile] (created, directed and co-scripted by Benedikt Erlingsson and starring Trine Dyrholm in the lead role), Sweden’s A Life’s Worth (read our news), Norway’s Requiem For Selina, Belgium’s Putain [+see also:
interview: Frederik Daem, Deben Van Dam
series profile], Spain’s Celeste [+see also:
series review
trailer
interview: Diego San José
series profile] (toplined by Carmen Machi and directed by Elena Trapé) and British work What It Feels Like For A Girl.

Likewise deserving of a mention among other attractions on the festival’s jam-packed agenda is a Short Format Competition, special screenings, masterclasses, conferences, a multitude of guests, etc, all without forgetting Series Mania’s professional sidebar (with this year’s Forum and Lille Dialogues addressing the topic of: "Post Peak TV: a challenging time. AI, funding, audiences..."), which Cineuropa will cover in greater detail at a later date.

Here is the full selection of series:

Opening Film

Carême (France - Apple TV+)

Closing Film

HPI (High Intellectual Potential), Season 5 (France – TF1)

Exceptional Premiere (Gala Screening)

Asterix & Obelix: The Big Fight (France - Netflix)

International Competition

Empathy (Canada - Crave)
Generations (Denmark - DR)
Hal & Harper (USA)
Kabul (France/Germany/Italy/Belgium/Greece - News8, France Télévisions)
Long Bright River (USA - Peacock)
Mussolini: Son of the Century [+see also:
interview: Joe Wright
series profile] (Italy/France - Sky)
Querer [+see also:
series review
trailer
interview: Alauda Ruiz de Azúa
series profile] (Spain - Movistar Plus+, ARTE)
The Deal [+see also:
series review
series profile] (Switzerland/France/Luxembourg/Belgium - RTS, ARTE)
The German (Israel/USA - Yes)

French Competition

37 seconds (ARTE)
Annwyn - The Otherworld (Prime Video - France Télévisions)
Clean (M6)
The Rose Family (Ciné+/OCS)
Reformed (Max)
Log-out (Switzerland/France - RTS, TF1)

International Panorama

A Life’s Worth (Sweden/France - Viaplay, ARTE)
At The End Of The Night (Iran - Filmnet)
Celeste [+see also:
series review
trailer
interview: Diego San José
series profile] (Spain - Movistar Plus+)
Family Matters (South Korea - Coupang Play)
Putain [+see also:
interview: Frederik Daem, Deben Van Dam
series profile] (Belgium - Streamz, Videoland)
Raul Seixas: Let Me Sing (Brazil - Globoplay)
Requiem For Selina (Norway - NRK)
Reunion (UK - BBC)
The Danish Woman [+see also:
series review
interview: Benedikt Erlingsson, Ólafur…
series profile] (Iceland/France - RÙV)
What It Feels Like For A Girl - UK – BBC)

Short Format Competition

Au fond du trou (France - arte.tv)
Chef d’orchestre (Canada - Tou.TV Extra)
El’Sardines (France/Algeria - ARTE)
Friendcast (France – YouTube)
Moonbird (Australia – SBS)
One Of Us Is Trembling (Denmark)
T-REX (Canada - Télé-Québec)
Wingspan (Germany)

Out of Competition Screenings

Special Screenings

Ghosts: fantômes en héritage (France - Disney+, TF1)
The New Years [+see also:
series review
trailer
series profile] (Spain/France - Movistar Plus+, ARTE)
Mariliendre (Spain - atresplayer)
State of Alert (France - TF1)
Parlement [+see also:
interview: Benjamin Elalouf
series profile], Season 4 (France/Germany - France Télévisions)

Documentaries

Fighter (Norway - TV2 Norway)
Le siècle de Costa Gavras (France)

(Translated from French)