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BERLINALE 2021 EFM

Berlinale Series Market & Conference unveils its selection

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- The new Berlinale Series Market Selects label will highlight the series of high commercial potential that are being screened at the market

Berlinale Series Market & Conference unveils its selection
Henriette Steenstrup, whose project Suck It Up is part of Series Market Selects 2021

The seventh edition of the revamped and expanded Berlinale Series Market & Conference will unfold digitally as part of the European Film Market (EFM) from 2-5 March. A series of conferences has been announced, along with a curated selection of promising series, upcoming projects that are looking for international partners at Co-Pro Series (read the news), and the newly created label Berlinale Series Market Selects which will include market screenings.

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Dennis Ruh, EFM director, stated: “We’ve again created a ‘market within the market’ where everything revolves around high-quality series content. Series professionals, industry experts and buyers will find numerous opportunities to learn about current trends and trendsetting developments, to discover commercially promising series recommendations, and to see the first images from 2021’s most important series from Germany and other countries. All of it concentrated and located in one place - the EFM website.”

As for the conference programme, the focus will be on impact storytelling and narrative trends. In his opening keynote speech, British series creator Russell T Davies (Doctor Who) will discuss his intentions to address complex subjects and make them accessible to a large audience, and will present his new series It’s a Sin. Maurício Mota (Wise Entertainment) wil deliver a masterclass on “Social Impact Storytelling” and the power of stories to change hardened perceptions, while analyst Guy Bisson (Ampere Analytics) will present global narrative trends and current facts.

Regarding the series showcases, new productions from all over the world will be included, while the “Upcoming Series from Germany” selection will offer insight into the newest German series.

Moreover, a new label created this year — “Berlinale Series Market Selects” — will highlight the series of high commercial potential that are being screened at the market. A total of 15 projects have been picked by the Berlinale Series committee, with 12 of them being European productions. Among those picks are the biker gang story of a Danish stockbroker in Grow by Milad Avaz; four teenagers escaping from a psychiatric institution in Alive and Kicking by Roger Gual (Tasting Menu [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
); while a group of high-society kids enter Munich’s catacombs in Echos by Jakob M. Erwa and Florian Kamhuber. Starring Alessandro Gassman, Standing Tall by Gianluca Maria Tavarelli is an investigation family drama, while a criminology student is thrown in an investigation in her hometown in Outlier by Arne Berggren and Kristine Berg. Set in the late 70s, UFOs by Antony Cordier (Gaspard at the Wedding [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Antony Cordier
film profile
]
) follows a space engineer trying to solve a UFO mystery, and Henriette Steenstrup’s Suck It Up stars Steenstrup as a woman who tries to find some time for herself despite the troubles surrounding her. Finally, Roger Goldby’s (The Durrells) Finding Alice, with Keeley Hawes in the leading role, is among the projects receiving the new label.

Here are the selected titles from Series Market Selects 2021:

Aftertaste
Creators: Julie De Fina, Matthew Bate
Director: Jonathan Brough
Production company: Closer Productions (Australia)
Broadcaster: ABC (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)
World Sales: ABC Commercial

Alive and Kicking
Creator: Albert Espinosa
Director: Roger Gual
Production company: Movistar Plus+ (Spain)
Co-production: Dynamo Audiovisual
Broadcaster: Movistar Plus+
World Sales: Beta Film

Dreams of Alice
Creator: Anastasia Volkova
Showrunners: Valeriy Fedorovich, Evgeniy Nikishov
Director: Andrey Dzhunkovskiy
Production company: 1-2-3 Production (Russia)
Broadcaster: TV-3
World Sales: 1-2-3 Production

Echos
Creators-Showrunners: Jakob M. Erwa, Florian Kamhuber
Director: Jakob M. Erwa
Production company: NEUESUPER (Germany)
Broadcaster: ProSiebenSat.1, JOYN
Word Sales: Beta Film

Finding Alice
Director: Roger Goldby
Production company: Red Production Company (UK)
Broadcaster: ITV
World Sales: STUDIOCANAL

Grow
Creator-Director: Milad Avaz
Production companies: SF Studios Productions, Rocket Road Pictures (Denmark)
Broadcasters: TV2 Denmark, TV4 Sweden
World Sales: ZDF Enterprises

Outlier
Creators-Showrunners: Arne Berggren, Kristine Berg
Directors: Ken Are Bongo, Arne Berggren, Kristine Berg
Production Company: Shuuto Norway (Norway)
Broadcaster: A Media
World Sales: REinvent International Sales

Seeds of Deceit (Documentary)
Director: Miriam Guttmann
Production company: De Familie Film & TV (the Netherlands)
Broadcaster: VPR
World Sales: Dogwoof

Son of Mine
Creators: Michel D'Astous, Anne Boyer
Director: Mariloup Wolfe
Production companies: Quebecor, Duo Productions (Canada)
Broadcasters: Club Illico, TVA
World Sales: Oble

Standing Tall
Creators: Leonardo Fasoli, Maddalena Ravagli
Director: Gianluca Maria Tavarelli
Production company: Publispei (Italy)
Broadcaster: RAI
World Sales: ZDF Enterprises

Suck it up
Creator: Henriette Steenstrup
Directors: Gunnar Vikene, Charlotte Blom
Production company: Monster Scripted (Norway)
Broadcaster: Viaplay

UFOs
Creators: Clémence Dargent, Martin Douaire
Director: Antony Cordier
Production company: Montebello Productions (France)
Broadcaster: CANAL+
World Sales: STUDIOCANAL

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