24/03/2023 - The platform shared teasers of its upcoming French, German and Nordic flagship series

r-l: Katja Hofem, Jenny Stjernstromer Bjork, Damien Couvreur and journalist Rebecca Leffler during the presentation (© Sylvain Lefevre)

It was amidst a vigorous atmosphere of thumping music and impactful trailers and music videos that Netflix’s heads for France, for the Germany-Austria-Switzerland region and for the Nordic countries presented their upcoming local productions at the Series Mania Forum (the professional sidebar of the Series Mania Festival).

If "authenticity" really is the platform’s cardinal editorial value - as insisted upon by Damien Couvreur, Katja Hofem and Jenny Stjernstromer Bjork - we should be more than a little worried about life in Berlin and Vienna where rival gangs clash, as depicted in the series Criminel, Netflix’s second collaboration with Marvin Kren (the creator of Freud and 4 Blocks) whose trailer screened in Lille promises a surge in all kinds of violence.

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It’s the same on the French side of the tracks, with Furies, which delves into the world of organised crime in Paris, influenced by Nikita and John Wick. Toplined by Lina El Arabi, Marina Foïs and Mathieu Kassovitz, and further starring Steve Tientcheu, Quentin Faure, Jérémy Nadeau, Sandor Funtek, Axel Brendemühl, Anne Azoulay and Eye Haïdara, this action series created and written by Jean-Yves Arnaud and Yoann Legave (and directed by Cédric Nicolas-Troyan, Samuel Bodin and Laura Weaver) is produced by Empreinte Digitale and Daïmôn Films.

The first images from Julius Berg’s French thriller Anthracite (6x50’) were also unveiled, a work created by Fanny Robert and Maxime Berthemy, revolving around an accidental duo (rapper Hatik – who featured in The Lockdown Tower [+see also:
trailer
film profile] and in the series Validé – and Switzerland’s Noémie Schmidt – revealed via L’étudiante et Monsieur Henri [+see also:
trailer
film profile]) investigating a murder linked to a collective suicide which took place 30 years previously in a small village in the Alps. This mini-series is steered by Anthracite Productions (of the Mediawan Group).

A thriller (set against a backdrop of mystery tinged with science-fiction) is also en route on the German side too, in the form of Hello, a four-episode mini-series set to be launched at the beginning of 2024, toplined by Peri Baumeister, Yuna Bennett and Florian David Fitz (who’s also credited for the series’ writing, alongside Nadine Gottmann and Kim Zimmermann). This Bon Voyage Films produced is directed by Sebastian Hilger and Philipp Leinemann.

The Nordic countries won’t be outdone either, thanks to the two series Barracuda Queens (a Swedish heist series based on real events, revolving around a girl gang – helmed by the same producers of Quicksand [+see also:
interview: Evin Ahmad
series profile] and Love & Anarchy [+see also:
series review
interview: Gizem Erdogan
interview: Lisa Langseth
series profile]) and The Nurse [+see also:
trailer
series profile] (likewise inspired by a true story about a Danish nurse convicted of the attempted manslaughter of four patients in hospital).

Original French productions nonetheless dominated this collective presentation, thanks to an extract of Tapie (Wonderman – read our article), the announcement of season 2 of the political comedy En place (starring Jean-Pascal Zadi as the President of the Republic – produced by Studio 14) and an exclusive sneak peek behind the scenes of season 3 of Lupin (produced by Gaumont), starring Omar Sy in a new variety of disguises. That’s without forgetting the upcoming work Fiasco, whose cast is led by Pierre Niney (who created the series with Igor Gotesman and who plays the director of a debut feature film on which shooting proves especially tumultuous – produced by Five Dogs and Ninety Films), the documentary series Tour de France (produced by Box to Box and Quad) and Olivier Marchal’s action series Pax Massilia (produced by Gaumont).

Worth a final mention at the close of this highly theatrical Lille-based presentation were the making-of images shared in relation to the Spanish series Berlin (the spin-off of Money Heist) and the Italian animated series for adults This World Can't Tear Me Down by Zerocalcare, without forgetting the little bit of promo for the imminent release of Transatlantic (created by Anna Winger – Unorthodox [+see also:
series review
series profile] - and Daniel Hedler) on 7 April, which is set to screen in Series Mania’s closing slot, and for the French series Jusqu’ici tout va bien, directed by and starring Belgian comedian Nawell Madani.

(Translated from French)