22/03/2023 - The 6 x 30min Ukrainian war thriller project, steered by Toy Cinema and co-produced by Poland, was singled out by the jury at the close of the Series Mania Forum pitching sessions

The winners with their award

Out of the 15 projects selected for and presented at yesterday’s Co-Pro Pitching Sessions - hosted by the Series Mania Festival’s professional sidebar, the Series Mania Forum (read our article and interview with director Francesco Capurro) - the jury led by British national Caroline Hollick (Channel 4) and further composed of fellow Brit Lindsey Martin (CBS Studios International), Italy’s Michele Zatta (RAI), France’s Françoise Guyonnet (StudioCanal) and Finland’s Jarmo Lampela (YLE), has singled out the Ukrainian war thriller project Unspoken. Their reasoning? "The powerful, relatable tale of a father prepared to go to any lengths to save his family is a bold and original take on the most urgent subject matter of our time."

Unspoken (which walked away with an award consisting of 50,000 euros, courtesy of Series Mania) is produced by Dmytro Sukhanov on behalf of Ukrainian firm Toy Cinema, alongside Natalia Libet for her compatriots at 2Brave Productions and Anna Rożalska for Poland’s Match&Spark. Penned by Zhanna Ozirna and Filip Syczyński, the story revolves around 42-year-old Evgenyi who is travelling from Poland to the heart of darkness in Ukraine with only one thing in mind: getting his wife and three children away from the grave danger presented by the Russian invasion. Time and resources are limited: the assault on Kiev is closing in by the hour and the only link he has with his family is his phone… Based on a true story, the series is set during the first six days of the war in Ukraine.

For the record, the Series Mania Forum has previously served as a springboard for series such as No Man’s Land [+see also:
interview: Souheila Yacoub
series profile] (France), Banking District (Switzerland), Eden (France), Keeping Faith (UK), Manor House (Czech Republic), Stella Blomkvist (Iceland), Tabula Rasa (Belgium), Trepalium (France), Warrior (Denmark), Devils (Italy), The Head [+see also:
series review
trailer
series profile] (Spain), Ever After (Italy), The Last Socialist Artefact [+see also:
series review
series profile] (Slovenia, Finland) and We Got This (Sweden).

(Translated from French)