Brussels is about to host the fifth edition of Are You Series?, the international TV series festival produced by Bozar. This year’s iteration unspools from 14-19 December in the Centre for Fine Arts in Brussels. The festival will be opened with the screening of the German mini-series The Same Sky, a political-romantic thriller set in East Berlin in 1974, written by Paula Milne and directed by Oliver Hirschbiegel.

The event is designed to meet the expectations of fans and professionals alike. The programme, which boasts 15 interesting screenings revolving around the theme of existential crisis, will be enriched by professional talks and debates focused on the increasingly attractive world of TV series.

French actress-director Zabou Breitman is one of the most eagerly awaited guests, and she will be attending the preview of her series Paris etc. The presence of Sofia Helin and Thure Lindhardt, the two lead actors from the Danish-Swedish series The Bridge, the fourth season of which will have its first international screening in Brussels, will surely grab audiences' attention as well.

The event will show a variety of TV series, ranging from Lars Von Trier’s cult 1994 series The Kingdom to the recent US hit The Handmaid’s Tale, as well as new productions such as The Simple Heist (Sweden), Lâcher prise (Canada), Guerrilla (UK/USA) and Salamander – Blood Diamonds (Belgium), which will be enjoying its world premiere. For the first time, there will also be room for younger audiences, notably thanks to the presence of the series Lucas etc. (Belgium), in addition to the school screening of Five2Twelve (Germany) in order to broach the subject of juvenile delinquency, supervised by a mediator.

The professional meetings will be an occasion not only to discuss the art of storytelling, but also to hand out the award of one of the main innovations at this edition, Are You Web Fest?, in which five international web series will be vying for a Grand Prize of €1,000, offered by SACD. The winner will be unveiled during the closing ceremony.

Belgian professionals will present their works to professionals from all over the world. In order for the presentations to be concise and fast-paced, they will use the PechaKucha method, a Japanese way of presenting content in a brief and effective way. Furthermore, the overall situation of the Belgian TV series industry will be analysed in detail during the meetings.