EXCLUSIVEThe Berlin Film Festival, European Film Market, and the Berlin Film Festival are all about big screen. However, the Berlinale Series, which has been steadily growing in popularity over the last few years, is gaining more attention. Julia Fidel is the Series Head. Julia has observed as the boundaries between film and television have been smashed and stars, writers, and execs from the biggest films have made the decision to oversee TV projects.
There are seven shows in the Berlinale Series this year and many more Series Market Selects, ranging from a world premier for Amazon Prime’s Argentinian Yosi the Regretful Spyto Sky UK’s supernatural crime thriller The Rising to Czech Republic/French co-pro Podezření (Suspicion). We caught up with Julia about this year’s crop and got her thoughts on the much-evolving TV landscape.
DEADLINE: Talk us through this year’s Series list?
JULIA FIDELWe are so excited about these seven titles, starting with Argentina’sYosiFrom Daniel Burman. He’s one of only four former Berlinale winners ever to have come back with a series and this is one of the main reasons we started presenting series at the fest, as we realised people we’ve been welcoming on the film side are now leaning towards TV. Then we have shows like Canada’s Le temps des Framboises – Last Summers of the Raspberries, which is so hilariously and sensitively put together, and Denmark’s The ShiftA hospital series unlike any other. These creators are great at storytelling. The creators have made it clear that they want to create something episodic in order to tell a different story. This has been done with great care.
DEADLINE: This year, you doubled the entries to 200. How did you manage to reduce them to seven?
FIDEL: I’ve been asking myself the same question! The challenge of discussing the shows from a distance (due to Coronavirus), was that we had eight members. We started to notice themes emerge from the shows we were watching. You’re looking for balance but don’t be afraid to follow what you like. We chose three Scandi shows as an example.
DEADLINE: Yes, I was going on to this. Nearly half of the shows (The Shift, Sweden’ Lust and Iceland’s Svörtu sandar (Black Sands)) are from Scandinavia. How has Scandinavian television evolved since the days when there was no TV? The BridgeThe Killing?
FIDELScandi TV is a strong network and we have more Series Market Selects. They are able to tell stories with a certain fearlessness. We have a few other big themes related to dark entities.LustA Swedish comedy about women in their mid-40s who want to live amazing sex lives. It’s very original, very Swedish and very honest.
DEADLINE:LustHBO Max is the host of this HBO Max series. Do you think we’re going to be seeing more from this new generation of streamers in the years to come?
FIDELIt does feel a bit like the future is still in front of us. We will be watching for the 2023 and 2024 lineups. A second interesting development is the fact that many of the talented producers who have worked in larger drama indies are now setting up their own companies and are now talking to new streamers. These projects will be realized quickly. The Series Market has a small German showcase. However, it was difficult to choose because there are so many international showcases. A European streamer origins quota could also be of benefit.
DEADLINE – What about Series Market Selects. Which ones are the best?
FIDEL: We have series from all around the world in the Selects. All these countries are strong in TV. We also have two German series (Oh hell! ZERV (Divided We Stand).) and I noticed in these shows there are Eastern European characters who are portrayed as very cool – they are the heroes. This is a significant improvement over 10 years ago, when they were described in a different manner. It’s as if TV writers have discovered that Eastern Europeans are pretty cool.
DEADLINE – What other trends can we expect from the global television market?
Fidel:My opinion is that there’s a little less experimentation and a lot more strong, traditional storytelling. Creators set a framework for themselves, such as in detective or hospital shows. Then they push the boundaries. Non-English content is also on the rise. Portugal may not be on the radar of every large sales company, but maybe it should. We had our first LatAm shows last year and lots of entries this year, and it’s also been a strong year for Eastern Europe.
DEADLINE: Do you believe TV will continue to be an increasingly important part of larger festivals?
FIDEL: We have been in a strong position at the festival for some time and we are now playing a larger part on the market side. This is because TV and film are interconnected more than art and business. I would love to see more cultural discussions and discussion about series. They are well worth the intense discussion. Our program’s function is to produce a number of series that can be discussed and dissected by people. To stimulate these exchanges, some festival creators are involved in talks with market participants.